Modern and Contemporary

Bouliane; Gougeon; Rea Joseph Petric;
Nouvel Ensemble Moderne;
Lorraine Vaillancourt
ATMA ACD2 2395

Lorraine Vaillancourt and the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM) deliver a vibrant performance in this most recent of an ongoing series of releases celebrating the new music of Montreal. Equally precise and passionate, they play the music like they own it.

Denys Bouliane’s Rythmes et échos des rivages anticostiens is an exciting work based on his imagined historical reconstruction of the music of Anticosti Island. The composer is particularly interested in the encounter between European and First Nations cultures, a project in which he brings to bear both his European academic background and more recent research into First Nations music. Sophisticated use of devices such as simple repetition achieve highly complex results, propelling the piece though an intense and inventive timbral tour of the NEM’s resources.

In En accordéon, Denis Gougeon, the self-described “knitter of sounds,” bases his ideas on the alternating squeezing and stretching of the accordion’s bellows. Dramatic gestures abound in this contemporary rendition of the classic concerto genre, as Joseph Petric’s virtuosic passage work and the silvery tone of his accordion are juxtaposed and combined with the sound of the ensemble. In Mutation, the composer’s use of musical gesture lengthens to encompass the entire work, giving it a strong sense of sweep and clarity.

John Rea’s fascination with music’s essential foundation, time, connects him with György Ligeti, to whom his piece Singulari-T is dedicated in its subtitle. Listeners will be fascinated to follow various musical manipulations of our sense of time: from metronomically steady, speeding up or slowing down, to irregular and unpredictable. At certain moments, some tendency reaches a breaking point and everything suddenly changes.

In all, a highly recommended album.

Eatock, Colin – Chamber Music
Various Artists
Centrediscs CMCCD 17812

Toronto-based renaissance artist Colin Eatock is successful and thought provoking at whatever he attempts. As a writer and critic, he is thorough and relentless at unearthing the truth. As a composer, he is justified in his acknowledgement of such musical influences as Shostakovich, Messiaen and Crumb, as he experiments and develops the truth of his own sound.

The six works featured here were composed from 1987 to 2010, and are colourful examples of his favourite musical worlds. Eatock is strongest in the three vocal works. Especially noteworthy is the final movement of Three Songs from Blake’s “America” (1987). The transparent piano part exposes the bass-baritone (Andrew Tees) in a haunting hummable melody. This ethereal sparse quality again surfaces in the “Elegy” movement of the Suite for Piano (1995) performed by Timothy Minthorn. The stillness of this movement is a welcome rest after the previous jaunty Toccata with its movie music chase lines.

Eatock’s compositions are carefully written works that accommodate the performer while pushing them to enter his harmonic nuances. All the musicians on this studio release recorded at various times since 1999 are superb in their interpretations. Recording quality is of an equally high standard.

Premieres: Music by Bruce Broughton, Ronald Royer and Kevin Lau
Conrad Chow; Sinfonia Toronto;
Ronald Royer; Bruce Boughton
Cambria Master RecordingsCD-1204
www.cambriamus.com

The concept of this project is new works that are inspired by earlier musical styles. Bruce Broughton’s Triptych: Three Incongruities for violin and chamber orchestra (in this case 15 solo instruments) is essentially a type of concerto, with each movement written in a different style. Thus, we hear influences of J.S. Bach’s violin music in the first movement, Prokofiev and more romantic expressions in the second and rhythmic, dance-like elements of Scottish fiddle music in the third. Another composition by Broughton, Gold Rush Songs, is based on three American songs associated with the California Gold Rush.

Ronald Royer’s Rhapsody displays influences of French impressionism and Spanish violin music, among others, with mysterious elements in the first movement and more rhythmic expressions in the second. Royer’s In Memoriam J.S. Bach is based on different motifs from Bach’s works. Sarabande is expressive, even romantic at times, while Capriccio carries playfulness coupled with recognizable Bach rhythms.

Joy for solo violin and string orchestra by Kevin Lau is a lyrical, meditative piece that lets the soloist explore different colours and textures. Conrad Chow’s tone has a wonderful quality of sweetness, which is most prominent in Chopin’s Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor, No.20 Op. posth., the encore piece on the album. His playing is rhythmical and precise, and he easily traverses the variety and depth of expression in each piece.

Some may argue that contemporary classical music should be forward-looking and not an evocation of the styles and musical tastes of the past. This, however, should not limit the scope of creativity and inspiration, which can spring from all objects and times. If your musical tastes enjoy revisiting compositional styles of the previous centuries while using contemporary expressions and techniques, this recording is a wonderful opportunity to hear Toronto composers in collaboration with Toronto musicians.

Pasión
Beatriz Boizán
Galano Records GLO–2813 
www.beatrizboizan.com

Latin American piano music is not commonly found on record. Even the Brazilian master, Hector Villa-Lobos, only sometimes gets acknowledged for his piano output. How refreshing then, that the Cuban-born Canadian pianist Beatriz Boizán has decided to change this on her debut disc. Oh, sure, there is an occasional Soler and Albeniz here, but the spirit of this album is an unbridled fiesta. The pianist has a light, precise touch that serves her well in the break-neck pace of some of the pieces, and infuses the whole with a sense of fun.

Most of the pieces will be both unfamiliar and very familiar at the same time, as they reflect the region’s tradition of rhythmic dance. Whether filled with carnival fervor or moments of whimsy, the music of Lecuona, Cervantes and Ginastera shimmers with light and colour — and of course, the “Passion” of the title. This delightful disc is a musical equivalent of sangria— a perfect accompaniment to a hot summer evening. Muy caliente!