Beat Columns (Live Music)

“It’s such an incredibly simple instrument. You can hold philosophical, physical or constructional arguments against this view, but it still won’t change the fact that it is, in its very heart of hearts, an incredibly simple instrument. And yet it is so hard to make it sound beautiful. That is what makes it so fascinating. You start practising and it sounds ridiculous. It is the most amazing challenge to create a small, but personal musical universe with this instrument.”

The subject of this description — the recorder — is an instrument that I personally find very beautiful. I love the organ-like chuff of its breath in consort, and the purity of its angelic voice in solo repertoire. If you’re of like mind, you’ll be very pleased at the prospects before you this month; if you are not, well, be prepared to be converted, as not one, but two internationally famous virtuoso recorder players are performing in Toronto, one at the beginning of February and one near the end. The details:

The comment which begins this article was uttered by a truly amazing musician, the Swiss virtuoso Maurice Steger, who appears near the start of the month. Steger has been called “the Paganini of the recorder”; one concert review states that he’s “unquestionably an artist operating to the furthest boundaries of what is technically and tonally possible on the recorder.” Several reviews about him mention the spontaneity of his technique — arising, no doubt, from the challenge he gives himself to create a “personal musical universe” in the music he plays. He’ll be displaying his uncanny abilities in music by Telemann, Sammartini and Geminiani, in a concert which also features the wonderful chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy. With music director Bernard Labadie, Les Violons will contribute music by Handel and Geminiani. The performance takes place on February 5 at Koerner Hall.

When one considers touring recorder players, one can’t help thinking of Marion Verbruggen, the celebrated Dutch virtuoso who has brought the warmth of her personality to audiences all over the world for many years. With her sheer good-natured presence and verve as a performer, I think she could win anyone over to the love of the recorder. She’s back in Toronto to add a colourful presence to Tafelmusik’s “Virtuoso Vivaldi” concerts, which feature a splash of concertos: mandolin, viola d’amore and lute, cello, bassoon, and recorder played by Verbruggen. Except for the Concerto for Recorder and Bassoon by Telemann, the music is all by Vivaldi. These concerts will take place on February 21 at George Weston Recital Hall, and February 23 to 26 at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre.

So many musical treasures this month, with some of them unfortunately occurring on the same evening:

• February 8 to 12: One of Tafelmusik’s biggest and most ambitious artistic creations to date, “House of Dreams,” is the latest of Alison Mackay’s multi-media programmes. The audience is taken to five European cities where baroque music and art intersect. Stunning images, paintings and a concert played from memory make this truly a tour de force.

• February 17: “Anger Management,” in the hands of I Furiosi, means subtle procedures such as calling up the spirits of the dead to exact revenge on one’s enemies. With guest, mezzo Laura Pudwell, this will be “a concert of anxiety and discord” — but undoubtedly with some exquisitely performed and lovely music.

• February 18: “Fresh Baroque” are almost the first words to appear in the Aradia Ensemble’s website. Their February concert is no exception, combining glorious instrumental and vocal music from 17th- and 18th-century Venice with newly-composed works by Rose Bolton and Chris Meyer (winner of last season’s Baroque Idol competition). As well, the freshness of youth appears in the participation of the Toronto Youth Chamber Orchestra, led by violinist Elyssa Lefurgey-Smith.

• February 18: Another of early music’s shining lights is in town, for Scaramella’s concert “The Angel and the Devil.” Gambist Liam Byrne currently resides in England and is professor of viola da gamba at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He’s also in great demand as soloist and ensemble musician. Scaramella’s programme features music by rival viol players from the French Baroque — Marin Marais (who played “like an angel”) and Antoine Forqueray (possessing the virtuosity of “the devil”). Liam’s collaborators are harpsichordist Sara-Anne Churchill and gambist Joëlle Morton.

• February 18: Intriguing mini-dramas, stories of the interaction of nymphs and shepherds, make for a delightful programme of duets and dialogues from the 16th and 17th centuries as the Musicians In Ordinary presents “When Tircis Met Chloris.” Soprano Hallie Fishel and theorbist John Edwards are joined by guest tenor and baroque guitarist, Bud Roach.

• February 19: in Kitchener: Spiritus Ensemble, dedicated to the performance of great religious music, presents an “All-Bach Concert” of two cantatas, the Magnificat in D, and the Sinfonia from Cantata 29.

• February 19: In their programme “The Art of Conversation,” the Windermere String Quartet, on period instruments, explores Goethe’s comment on the string quartet: “One hears four rational people conversing with one another.” They’ll illustrate this thought with works by Haydn, Mozart and Boccherini.

• February 24: Two of the Canterbury Tales are interspersed with lively English songs and instrumental pieces, and also music by the Frenchman Machaut and his contemporaries, in Sine Nomine Ensemble’s “The Road to Canterbury: Music for Chaucer’s Pilgrims.”

• February 26: A programme of early 17th-century German chamber music is presented by Toronto Early Music Centre’s Musically Speaking series, featuring violinists Elyssa Lefurgey-Smith and Christopher Verrette, and harpsichordist Sara-Anne Churchill.

• March 1 in Toronto, March 2 in Kitchener: These concerts, (at Koerner Hall and Perimeter Institute, respectively), by world-renowned gambist/scholar/conductor Jordi Savall and his group Hespèrion XXI take place, in spite of the death of Savall’s partner in life and in music, soprano Montserrat Figueras.

• March 3: Tallis Choir recreates the passion of Holy Week in “Stabat Mater: Music for Passiontide.” A brilliant six-voice Monteverdi mass, Missa in Illo Tempore (“Mass In That Time”) interweaves themes from an earlier motet by Gombert. Lotti’s Crucifixus and settings of the Stabat Mater by Palestrina and Scarlatti, along with plainsong for Holy Week, will also be heard.

• March 3: “God give you good morrow my masters, past three o’clock and a fair morning …” The street cries of Gibbons’ London contrast with his magnificent music for the cathedral, when the Toronto Chamber Choir presents “Gibbons: Canticles and Cries.” With organ, lute and the viols of the Cardinal Consort, they’ll perform Renaissance canticles, anthems, madrigals and vendors’ cries by Gibbons, Byrd and others.

Simone Desilets is a long-time contributor to The WholeNote in several capacities who plays the viola da gamba. She can be contacted at earlymusic@thewholenote.com.

The lack of space for a full-out “In With The New” column this month is more than somewhat offset by the fact that several of our other columnists in the issue have stolen my thunder anyway!

Robert Wallace, page 8, talks about Obeah Opera, Nicole Brooks’ new work, as well as about Queen of Puddings’ Beckett Feck-it, at Canadian Stage. Chris Hoile, pages 18 and 19, talks about two works I would otherwise have drawn attention to: the COC production of Kaija Saariaho’s opera, L’Amour de loin, playing at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts; and Toronto Operetta Theatre’s first professional rollout of the John Beckwith/James Reaney opus Taptoo!

And there’s more. Pamela Margles, in the concert notes to her review of Kaija Saariaho: Visions, Narratives, Dialogues (“BookShelf,”) draws attention to four other concerts that will feature Saariaho’s music during the composer’s visit. (Three of these, by the way, are under Soundstreams’s auspices — and I will return to a discussion of Soundstreams.) Even our CD reviewers get into the act. Andrew Timar’s review of a Finnish Radio Symphony recording of Saariaho’s music, page 62, references L’Amour de loin. And a Leslie Mitchell-Clarke review, on the same page, of two + two, a new release by TorQ Percussion Quartet, is followed by a note pointing out TorQ’s appearance in the final concert of the U of T New Music Festival (February 5).

Of Toronto’s major presenters of new music (Array, Contact!, Continuum, Esprit, Gallery 345, Music Gallery, New Music Concerts, Queen of Puddings, Soundstreams and Tapestry New Opera), Soundstreams is the one to which we have, so far this season, devoted the least ink in this column. This month is as good as any to redress that, because the company has an extraordinary diversity of material on offer. In addition to the three Saariaho contributions referred to earlier, Soundstreams also presents two full-fledged Koerner Hall productions. The first of these, The Sealed Angel, billed as a music drama, is the work of Rodion Shchedrin, a Russian composer born in 1932. In typical Soundstreams fashion, this concert is an intensely collaborative project, involving the Amadeus Choir, Elmer Iseler Singers and ProArteDanza dance company. And then, book-ending the current listings period, Soundstreams is, as far as I can tell, the first of the aforementioned major presenters out of the blocks with a concert celebrating the 100th anniversary of composer John Cage’s birth. Titled “So Percussion: Cage @100” the concert will feature works by Cage and turntablist Nicole Lizée.

With the 100th anniversary of Cage’s birth not till September, pianist Kate Boyd is also fast off the mark, with back to back performances Thursday, February 16: first a noon hour lecture/recital on Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes at University of Waterloo; then a concert the same evening of the complete Sonatas and Interludes, for the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society. Not to be outdone, the Music Gallery, a week earlier, on February 10, presents a programme titled “Post-Classical Series: The Cold War Songbook – Pilgrims and Progress” which also features Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes (1948) performed by Vicky Chow, piano. The “Cold War Songbook” then continues February 11 with a programme of piano works by Ustvolskaya, Carter and Feldman, featuring the pianistic post-classical virtuosity of Stephen Clarke and Simon Docking.

The next day, February 12, at the Music Gallery, it’s Continuum Contemporary Music back in action with a a programme featuring music by Ligeti, Oesterle, Current, Klanac and Richard Marsella, who also guests on the barrel organ. And it’s busy busy as usual all month at upstart Gallery 345, with concerts worth noting on February 19 (pianist Adam Sherkin), 20 (soprano Xin Wang), 25 (mezzo Marta Herman), and 28 (Les Amis Concerts); and on March 7 (Norman Adams, cello; Lee Pui Ming, piano; Erin Donovan, percussion).

It’s a bit ironic to be giving the city’s largest ensembles the shortest shrift in this column, but that’s sometimes the way things fall out. First, Esprit Orchestra continues the season’s torrid pace with their third, full-scale Koerner Hall concert, on February 26. Titled “Gripped By Passion,” it features works by Vivier, Scelsi, Rea and Schnittke, the vocal magic of mezzo, Krisztina Szabó and dazzling TSO violist Teng Li.

And March 1, 3 and 7, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra presents its eighth annual New Creations Festival of which we will have much more to say in the coming issue.

This february has become a month for new opera. Toronto will see a world premiere of a Canadian work, the professional world premiere of another Canadian work and the Canadian premiere of an acclaimed 21st century opera. In the depths of winter we already see the new growth of spring. The world premiere is Obeah Opera by Nicole Brooks running February 16 to March 4. For more on that work, see Robert Wallace’s interview with Brooks in this issue.

First to appear is the Canadian premiere of L’Amour de loin (Love from Afar or more accurately “The Far-Away Love”) by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho at the Canadian Opera Company. Not only will this be the first time the COC has staged an opera by a Finnish composer, it will also mark the first time it has staged an opera by a female composer.

This opera that premiered in 2000 at the Salzburg Festival tells the story of a world-weary 12th century troubadour from France who carries on a long-distance love affair with a beautiful woman living in Tripoli, Lebanon, whom he called in Languedoc his “amor de lonh.” Although they never see or speak to each other, their feelings develop and grow through the efforts of an enigmatic Pilgrim, who carries messages of love and yearning between the two. Saariaho drew her inspiration for the work from the life and song texts of Jaufré Rudel (died c.1147), a French prince and troubadour who wrote of his obsessive love for an ideal, unattainable woman. This is the well-known theme known as “courtly love” that swept Europe during this period. The yearning expressed has a religious component, due to the rise of Mariolatry, that leads the poet to ask whether such a love is best preserved from afar.

Reviewing the opera in 2000, New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini wrote that Saariaho’s music “combines vivid orchestration, the subtle use of electronic instruments and imaginative, sometimes unearthly writing for chorus ... The vocal writing is by turns elegiac and conversational. Her harmonic language is tonally grounded, with frequent use of sustained low pedal tones, but not tonal. Bits of dissonance, piercing overtones and gently jarring electronic sound spike the undulant harmonies, but so subtly that the overall aural impression is of beguiling consonance … Her evocations of the troubadour songs, with medieval modal harmony and fragments of elegiac tunes, are marvelous.”

The new COC production is conducted by COC music director Johannes Debus and directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, known for his work with Cirque du Soleil. It features an all-Canadian cast. Baritone Russell Braun is Jaufré Rudel, soprano Erin Wall is his beloved Clémence and mezzo Krisztina Szabó sings the role of the mysterious Pilgrim. Sung in the original French of Lebanese librettist Amin Maaloof, L’Amour de loin (which, unlike other companies, the COC insists on calling Love from Afar) runs for eight performances from February 2 to 22. For more, visit www.coc.ca.

Taptoo! is the opera receiving its professional world premiere, with music by John Beckwith and libretto by James Reaney. The opera written in 1995 was given its world premiere by Opera McGill in 1999 and was later staged by the University of Toronto Opera Division in 2003. Toronto Operetta Theatre is presenting its professional premiere as part of the national commemorations of the bicentennial of the War of 1812. The title refers to the last drum-and-bugle signal of the day that would later expand into what is now known as a military tattoo.

The work was conceived as a prequel to Harry Somers’ opera Serinette which had had a highly successful premiere in 1990 at the Elora Festival. As Beckwith writes in Unheard Of: Memoirs of a Canadian Composer, to be published in February 2012, “Where Serinette was set in York and Sharon during the 1830s, the new piece deals with the founding of York by John Graves Simcoe in 1783 and covers a time period from the American War of Independence to just before the War of 1812.” Beckwith says that the opera features a number of Reaneyesque devices: “Cast members assume a variety of roles, changing age or gender rapidly, functioning solo for one scene and in the next, as part of a chorus; the orchestral players are sometimes required to join in the action.” In the TOT production, he says, a cast of 18 singers will cover 26 characters including historical figures, like Simcoe and Colonel “Mad Anthony” Wayne, and other imaginary ones like boy soldiers Ebenezer and Seth, the aboriginal Atahentsic, settlers and adventurers.

TOT lays claim to the work because Beckwith himself says he was inspired by ballad operas, the earliest examples of what would later become operetta. As Beckwith says, “Two period productions of early music theatre affected me around this time [of composing]. John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera and Thomas Arne’s Love in a Village were the most-often-performed ballad operas of 18th century England … I saw Taptoo! as the modern equivalent of a ballad opera, in which scraps of familiar songs and dances would now and then drift into the musical score. I included about 20 such musical references — hymn tunes, popular sentimental or patriotic songs, dances, marches and, of course, historical military music.”

The TOT cast includes Michael Barrett as Seth, Robert Longo as Wayne, Todd Delaney as Simcoe, Allison Angelo as Atahentsic, with Mark Petracchi and Sarah Hicks as Mr. and Mrs. Harple, Eugenia Dermentzis as Mrs. Simcoe and boy sopranos Daniel Bedrossian and Teddy Perdikoulias. The composer’s son, Larry Beckwith, conducts and TOT general director Guillermo Silva-Marin directs. Taptoo! runs only February 24 to 26. For more information see www.torontooperetta.com.

Beckwith says of his collaborations with James Reaney, “Without articulating our objectives further, I believe we wanted to affect our audiences in two ways — to move them and to cheer them.” We must thank TOT for giving Taptoo! a chance to achieve these goals.

Christopher Hoile is a Toronto-based writer on opera and theatre.  He can be contacted at opera@thewholenote.com.

When writing a monthly column that involves regularly working your way through over 500 detailed listings, you look for ways to inject a little bit of silliness into a task that, at times can be, shall we say, a tad dryish. So, I keep my eyes open for quirks and curiosities. This month, for example, I noticed that several of Canada’s finest pianists performing “classical and beyond” repertoire have first names starting with the letter “A.” Granted, there are also many (close to 30) whose names do not. Nonetheless, the “A list” struck me as, well, quirky; as good a place as any to start.

Another quirky thing: the proliferation of concerts (22 to be exact) featuring works by Brahms: orchestral, chamber, piano solo, piano and orchestra, violin and orchestra, piano and violin duo, solo singers, full choirs (with and without orchestra). Was there a special Brahms birthday or anniversary? Let’s see. Born May 1833, died April 1897. Nope, that’s not it. Must simply be a case of wanting to “Beat the February Blahs with Brahms.” So let’s begin.

A is for André, Arthur (x2), Anton, Angela and Aaron

André Laplante, Arthur Ozolins, Arthur Rowe, Anton Kuerti (performing three concerts), Angela Park and Aaron Chow (performing in the same concert) will all be gracing stages, both in and beyond the GTA, in February. (So will Adam Sherkin, Feb 19, and Angus Sinclair, March 6, but their repertoire falls outside my beat.)

Anton Kuerti is synonymous with great Beethoven playing, so it comes as no surprise that he will be performing works by Beethoven in all three of his concerts. First up is the majestic Piano Concerto No.5, the “Emperor,” with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, on February 2 and 4 at 8pm. Also on the programme is Symphony No.10 by Shostakovich. The great Günther Herbig conducts. Next, Kuerti entertains the young ones in Mooredale Concerts’ Music and Truffles series with “Beethoven – Immortal Musical Genius” at 1:15pm, Walter Hall, February 12. Last, Kuerti will perform an all-Beethoven recital for Barrie’s Georgian Music on February 19.

Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra conducted by Norman Reintamm features the acclaimed Arthur Ozolins February 4, in a performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2, along with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony at the P.C. Ho Theatre.

The New Orford String Quartet will perform Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F Minor, with Arthur Rowe, for the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society on Feb 10, at the KWCMS Music Room in Waterloo, and again the next day in London’s Wolf Performance Hall, as part of the Jeffrey Concerts; Rowe is the artistic director for that series.

Back in the GTA, the Aurora Cultural Centre has landed the always electrifying André Laplante for its Great Artist Piano Series! Laplante will perform works by Liszt (his specialty) and Schubert at the Centre on February 17, 8pm. And speaking of Liszt, all you die-hard romantics looking for a post-Valentine’s Day fix can hear Angela Park and Aaron Chow, along with soprano Eve Rachel McLeod and Rachel Mercer, cello, in “A Romantic Music Tryst with Liszt,” presented by the Neapolitan Connection, in a matinee on February 19, at the Toronto Centre for the Arts.

B is for Brahms

Space limitations won’t permit me to delve into detail on all 22 Brahms concerts I mentioned in the introduction. I’ll focus on a few (and you can check out others in Part C at the end of the column).

“Warhol Dervish” is a pretty intriguing concert title. February 3 at 8pm, at Gallery 345, the concert should prove equally intriguing, featuring, among other more twisty repertoire, Brahms’ Horn Trio and Mozart’s Clarinet Trio — both in E-flat major, both arranged for violin, viola and piano — played by John Corban, Pemi Paull and Katelyn Clark, respectively. And another winner in the concert title category, given that they’re performing sextets by Brahms and Dvořák, is Via Salzburg’s “Six Degrees of Separation.” Catch all degrees of fun at Rosedale United Church, February 10, 8pm.

Show One Productions is presenting a very special event on February 23 at Koerner Hall. Legendary violinist Vladimir Spivakov and outstanding pianist Olga Kern will perform as a duo — a first for Toronto! And their programme is absolutely sumptuous: Brahms’ Sonata No.3 in D Minor Op.108; Franck’s Sonata in A; Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne (based on his ballet music for Pulcinella); and Spiegel im Spiegel by Pärt. As an added attraction, in this case “B” is also for Bösendorfer. At her request, Kern will perform on a nine-and-a-half foot, 97-key Imperial Bösendorfer grand (courtesy Robert Lowrey Piano Experts), apparently the only piano that could withstand Liszt’s powerful touch. Not only is it Kern’s preference, it was also the choice of jazz great Oscar Peterson. The magic begins at 8pm.

And last, Ontario Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Marco Parisotto, has programmed a magnificent all-Brahms concert, which it will perform twice. “A Journey Into Brahms” plays on February 25, at the Regent Theatre in Oshawa, and then “journeys into Toronto” on February 28, for a concert jointly presented with Mooredale Concerts, at Koerner Hall. The exciting soloist featured in the compelling Violin Concerto in D Major is young Korean violinist, Ye-Eun Choi, in her Toronto debut. A protégée of Anna-Sophie Mutter, Choi debuted with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Alan Gilbert in 2009. Also on the programme is Brahms’ Symphony No.2. It promises to be a fine evening.

C is for Classical Column Concluding with Concise Quick Picks (details are in our concert listings):

• February 9, 7:30: Royal Conservatory. Discovery Series: Hiroko Kudo, piano and Tobias Bäz, cello. Works by De Falla, Brahms and Martinů. Mazzoleni Concert Hall.

• February 19, 2:00: Royal Conservatory. Mazzoleni Masters Series. All-Brahms programme. Members of the Arc Ensemble.

• February 21, 12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company. Passion and Poetry. Works by Schubert, Brahms and Chopin. Mehdi Ghazi, piano. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre.

• February 22 and 23, 8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Brahms Symphony 4. Also works by Fauré and Britten. Karina Gauvin, soprano; Jean-Marie Zeitouni, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall.

• February 23, 1:30: Women’s Musical Club of Toronto. Music in the Afternoon: Roger Chase, viola and Michiko Otaki, piano. Works by Ireland, Bowen, Delius, Bach and Brahms. Walter Hall.

• February 25, 8:00: Canadian Sinfonietta. Wine and Cheese. Works by Brahms, Schnittke and Ravel. Michael Esch, piano; Joyce Lai, violin; Olivia Brayley Quackenbush, horn. Heliconian Hall.

• February 28, 4:30: Guelph Connection Concerts. Doug Miller and Friends. Works by Bach and Brahms. Doug Miller, flute; Darius Bagli, piano. St. George’s Anglican Church, Guelph.

• March 6, 8:00: Music Toronto. Piano Series: Richard Goode. Brahms: Eight Pieces Op.76; Chopin: short works tba; Sonata No.3 in b Op.58. Jane Mallett Theatre.

This month’s column was brought to you by the letters A, B and C. Avail yourself of all the listings, beat those blahs, catch a concert or two and enjoy!

Sharna Searle trained as a musician and lawyer, practised a lot more piano than law and is listings editor at The WholeNote. She can be contacted at classicalbeyond@thewholenote.com.

In october 1995, in the second ever issue of this magazine (then known as Pulse), we ran as a cover image, not a photograph but a kind of abecedarius — a stylized alphabetical list consisting for the most part of presenters, performers or composers featured in the issue’s concert listings. The Penderecki Quartet came to our rescue for both P and Q. For Z we resorted to jazZ (where were you that month, Winona?), which was a bit lame. And A was as problematic as Z, but for the opposite reason — too many candidates rather than too few.

Until the last few years, musical theatre buffs in Toronto and the GTA had to rely on commercial theatres to satisfy their tastes, looking to companies like Mirvish Productions to keep them up-to-date with Broadway and West End hits. Today, things have changed to the point where musical theatre regularly appears in the city’s not-for-profit (NFP) theatres in forms new and old. And performers who cut their teeth in shows produced by Mirvish, Dancap and (the now-defunct) Livent Corp. are achieving marquee status with new and different audiences.

Very recently I attended bebop-singing pioneer Sheila Jordan`s 83rd birthday celebration in New York City. There was a great turnout of well-wishers present, including loved ones, friends and pupils. Seconds into the third song of the first set, a rude patron became engaged in conversation and if that wasn’t bad enough, he began snickering audibly, repeatedly, obnoxiously, as if it the Blue Note was a Yuk Yuk’s. ”Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!” I thought silently to myself, but the insensitive man was unaware of the filthy looks he was receiving from numerous angles. Thankfully, an angered music appreciator approached the clueless culprit and aggressively shushed him, as if putting out a kitchen fire with baking soda. (Heroes like this particular shusher prove that we’ve all got to get over our shyness when it comes to shushing. Sheesh!)

QUIET NIGHTS

In Toronto’s jazz spots, as well, it is usually up to audience members, rather than the venue staff to monitor those who choose to be inconsiderate. Even the most prominent music venues in our club listings do not have a strict quiet policy, in fear of losing business: the likely argument being that those who need to be shushed are often those who order enough to make the live music economically viable.

Since the early 1990s, Mezzetta has been an admirable exception: the Mediterranean restaurant at St. Clair and Christie has been presenting a weekly live jazz and world music series on Wednesday evenings, with a strict quiet policy in effect. St. Clair West has guitarist Brian Katz to thank for initiating this series. An active musician and educator in various genres including classical, jazz, folk, klezmer and free music, Katz reflects on music at Mezzetta:

“Approximately twenty years ago I noticed what appeared to be a charming Mediterranean style new restaurant in my neighbourhood and after visiting just once it struck me as an excellent place — acoustically and vibe-wise — to have a live music series. When I approached the then owner, Yossi Omessi, about the possibility of launching a weekly music series there he, surprise, surprise, seemed incredibly enthusiastic. It only got better: When I suggested that there not be talking while the music was being performed he replied, “of course!” Jane Bunnett and myself opened up the series shortly after to a packed house, and I remained the booker for the venue for twelve years, contacting musicians, writing the blurbs … and eventually running out of adjectives to describe the world class musicians who continue to grace Mezzetta’s stage.”

For the musicians and the audience, how does Mezzetta compare to other music venues?

“In terms of relating Mezzetta to the majority of small, intimate venues in Toronto, the difference is that the crowd comes with the intention to listen to the music (and enjoy a lovely dinner beforehand if they wish), and the musicians walk in knowing that they will be listened to; jazz players especially are often not used to getting such listening attention, and what is strikingly different is that those musicians who are most often accustomed to playing in noisy venues have to actually adjust to the fact that we are presenting an intimate concert, and I believe that brings their playing to a higher level — with the audience being the lucky recipients!  During the first few months of operation, I actually remember one very well-known jazz musician speaking with me just minutes before he went on the stage, insisting that he was sure that people were going to talk during his performance. Goes to show you the “normal” expectation amongst jazz players when it comes to being listened to. I assured him that people came to listen, without talking, and he was pleasantly shocked…I was truly happy to do this for many years, to support the jazz and world music communities, and even happier to see that in time the series could sustain itself without me doing the booking. Safa Nematy, the owner for many years now, does that these days.”

I asked Nemati, how strict the restaurant is about this policy, and why it is important: “At Mezzetta we take our no-talking policy very seriously,” says Nemati. “At the start of the show we remind our audience of this policy and ask them to keep their voices to a minimum volume. I believe that by creating a listening atmosphere, musicians and audience find a perfect setting to perform and enjoy music … the intimate ambience at Mezzetta enhances the experience that could only be found in much bigger concerts.”

The January schedule is not available as of press time, but there will be three concerts in December: baritone saxophonist David Mott in duet with bassist Rob Clutton on the 7th; vocalist Maureen Kennedy with guitarist Reg Schwager on the 14th; and the Roland Hunter trio on will play holiday music on the 21st.

HOLIDAY BLEND

Speaking of holiday music, I have two concerts to recommend, both by vocal groups so polished, they sparkle. The first one is a CD release and listening party by Cadence; the group’s new holiday recording Cool Yule will be celebrated on Sunday December 4 at 7:30pm at the Trane Studio. Dubbing themselves as “four men, four microphones, no instruments,” Cadence’s formula is charm, skill, humour and heart aplenty.

Another a cappella quartet appearance of note will take place at the Green Door Cabaret, a new venue which I wrote extensively about in the October issue. On December 9 at 8pm, don’t miss a rare appearance by the Hampton Avenue 4, a distilled version of award-winning vocal group Hampton Avenue, with vocals by Suba Sankaran, Dylan Bell, Tom Lillington and director Debbie Fleming. Expect beautiful arrangements, exceptional musicianship and infectious joy from a group that performs all too rarely these days. Hampton Avenue’s acclaimed CD All I Want for Christmas (1996) will be available for sale. Tickets are likely to sell out for this concert, so be sure to get yours in advance by visiting www.greendoorcabaret.com or by calling 416-915-6747. See you there!

Ori Dagan is a Toronto-based jazz vocalist, voice actor and entertainment journalist. He can be contacted at jazz@thewholenote.com

Mark miller is probably the finest author of jazz books that this country has ever produced. There. Having stated my case right off the top, I am pleased to say that there is a new addition to his now substantial body of work. It is called Way Down That Lonesome Road, the story of Lonnie Johnson in Toronto, where he lived for the last five years of his life from 1965 to 1970.

There might well be a lot of readers who would ask “Who was Lonnie Johnson?”

Well, he was born into a musical family in New Orleans, in 1899, and was destined to be a pioneer jazz guitarist, credited with being the first to play single string solos on that instrument. In his early career he was pretty well regarded as a blues player although he wasn’t happy to be pigeon-holed as such. But he went on to make recordings in 1927 with Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five as a guest on I’m Not Rough, Savoy Blues and Hotter Than That, and in 1928 with Duke Ellington on Hot and Bothered, Move Over, and The Mooche.

The book covers in some detail the early career of Johnson, but the meat of this work deals with the years spent in Toronto and no one is better qualified than Mark Miller to tell that story.

But in the grand scale of things, Lonnie Johnson is overlooked, like so many other musicians. And therein is a clue as to what makes Mark Miller, the author, click.

He is drawn to the stories of musicians who made significant contributions, but have been neglected because they weren’t “stars.”

Who else would have so diligently researched and written an informative and entertaining book on the life and music of Valaida Snow or an equally rewarding look at the life of Herbie Nichols — again, hardly household names. He likes to look for the overlooked.

It came as no surprise when I learned that Miller was researching a book on Lonnie Johnson’s final years when he called Toronto home. It is a fascinating read set at a time before Yorkville became fashionable and traditional blues and jazz were relatively popular. To those readers who were around in the days of “flower power” and hippies, the book is a nostalgic trip down memory lane and a detailed study of Johnson’s life in a town where he felt welcome.

Another important side of Miller’s life was his time as a reviewer and critic. He was the sometimes controversial jazz columnist for Toronto’s Globe And Mail newspaper from 1978 to 2005. His reviews showed the same insightful and well-crafted standard of writing which is now so clearly evident in his books.

His views were at times open to question with some of his readers, but nobody could ever deny the quality of his writing.

Some of those same readers were of the opinion that Miller had a definite preference for the more contemporary and “avant-garde” players and are surprised, for example, that he would devote the time and energy to a book on the aforementioned Valaida Snow or Lonnie Johnson. A look at the contents of A Certain Respect For Tradition, a volume of his selected writings, will in fact show a knowledge and appreciation of a broad spectrum of the music. Mr. Miller does indeed have a refreshingly open mind to his chosen craft.

He eventually elected to give up writing his pieces for the newspaper. By way of explanation he had this to say: “The business of jazz, the media in general and the Globe in particular have all moved in new directions. Their various interests, and mine, simply diverged.”

Perhaps he saw the writing on the wall, given that nowadays the mainstream media have by and large abandoned coverage of jazz. In the last few years more than half of all arts journalists were either dropped or moved to other positions. On the other hand there are arts blogs now competing for attention online by the hundreds of thousands. But the lack of arts coverage in conventional newspapers speaks volumes about where we are culturally right now.

When asked to name some of his favourite musicians the list ranged from contemporary bassist Renaud Garcia-Fons to Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers via Django Reinhardt, Thelonious Monk and Gil Evans – it was a Gil Evans recording that first opened his ears and mind to jazz – showing a healthy open-minded approach which is reflected in the subject matter of the ten books he has had published.

Looking at the evolving nature of the music, Miller sees a future in which jazz will be seen as a small period of time in the overall development of improvised music in which melody, rhythm and a melding of musical influences from other cultures played an essential part and after which the texture of jazz changed radically, evolving and reinventing itself while still retaining its creative force.

If there is a tougher way of making a living in jazz by playing, then it surely is surviving as a writer about jazz. It is also a lonely occupation with no instant feedback from an audience, no applause for a well written chapter or a well-placed turn of phrase.

The loneliness isn’t necessarily a hardship. Some writers enjoy the solitary working life and I suspect that Miller fits the description. But that sits quite comfortably with his personal life in which he admits to enjoying tv, sports and the company of friends.

He might also have included his interest in photography, but since his next project is likely to be a book of his own photographs, perhaps that now goes into the “work in progress” category, eventually to become book number 11 in the ongoing tale of this Miller.

As always, happy listening and, I might add, enjoy some reading. (In fact, you might want to start with a short excerpt from the preface to Mark Miller’s Way Down That Lonesome Road.below.)

Jim Galloway is a saxophonist, band leader and former artistic director of Toronto Downtown Jazz. He can be contacted at jazznotes@thewholenote.com.

Here is an excerpt (from the internet) from the preface to Mark Miller’s Way Down That Lonesome Road: Lonnie Johnson in Toronto, 1965–1970. It gives a taste of Johnson, and just as importantly of what makes Mark Miller tick.

I want all you people to listen to my song

I want all you people to listen to my song

Remember me after all the days I’m gone

— Mr. Johnson’s Blues, 1925

So sang Lonnie Johnson on the very first recording that he made under his own name, 86 years ago in St. Louis, mindful even then of his own mortality. If he has indeed been remembered after all the days, and now decades, since his death, 41 years ago in Toronto, it has been largely for his early and essential contribution to the histories of both blues and jazz.

… These, at least, are among the memories of some of the many people whose paths he crossed in Toronto between 1965 and 1970, the final years of his life — the years that serve as the time frame of this book. As much, however, as Way Down That Lonesome Road is a biographical study of Lonnie Johnson in this period, it is also a social and cultural history of the scene that he encountered in Toronto. As such, it takes its lead from my book Cool Blues, which found in the visits of the legendary alto saxophonist Charlie Parker to Montreal and Toronto in 1953 an opportunity to bring the modern jazz communities in each of those cities back to life. And like Cool Blues, Way Down That Lonesome Road (which takes its title from a song that Johnson recorded in 1928) is populated by a cast of secondary characters — musicians, critics, friends and fans — who have stories of their own to tell.

… The story of his years in Toronto combines both — the happiest of times and the hardest, a Dickensian sort of paradox, albeit in a tale of just one city. This is that tale; here is that city.

— Published October 19, 2011 by The Mercury Press/teksteditions © Mark Miller 2011

As if the looming Christmas Concert season wasn’t enough to deal with, this is a combined December/January issue, so I have twice as much activity as usual to contemplate. Even so, before looking at the weeks that lie ahead, there have been a few musical events in my life over the past few weeks that warrant more than passing notice, so indulge me, dear reader.

The first of these was the collaboration of the Hannaford Street Silver Band and the Amadeus Choir in a performance of The Armed Man: a Mass for Peace by the contemporary Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. Having heard this work before in its original form for chorus and orchestra, I was anxious to hear how it might fare with a transcription for brass band. This arrangement exceeded any expectations I might have had; I enjoyed it much more than the original. For this work, the band and chorus seemed made for each other. From the fiendishly difficult parts for every section of the band to the haunting solo passages for the flugelhorn and euphonium the instrumentalists and vocalists were as one. If I had any concern, it would be that there was far more to this work than I could absorb in a single performance. I hope that this arrangement will be recorded so that I may hear it again.

The other noteworthy musical event was totally unexpected. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto and former participant in various alumni functions over the years, I was invited to the launch of a massive fund raising campaign for the university. I had expected a few inspirational speeches followed by a distribution of pledge cards, but the university’s Convocation Hall was filled to capacity, and every aspect of the evening was as overwhelming as the fund raising goal for the next year of $2 billion (yes that’s a “b”) dollars. But it was the music that I found most inspiring. While we were being seated, we were treated to a vocal octet of students from the faculty of music. Then the spotlight shifted to the two upper galleries on either side of the organ where two brass choirs, under the direction of the Faculty of Music’s Gillian MacKay, performed an amazing work by graduate music student Aaron Tsang. While it was referred to in the programme as the Opening Fanfare, with four french horns, five trombones, four tubas and trumpets too numerous to count, it was much more than that, and warrants more performances in the future. After the various addresses, we were treated to a massive video presentation with a musical score by another Faculty of Music student Kevin Lau and after all being awarded “Doctorates in Boundless Opportunity” left Convocation Hall for the reception in a massive marquee tent, in the corners of which there were four small stages where there were alternating performances of a small jazz group, vocalists singing operatic arias and a brass quintet among others. With our honorary degrees in hand, we all left with the assurance that the future of music in this part of the world is certainly going to be in good hands.

Now on to December. What’s in store in the band world? Needless to say, Christmas music and other seasonal works dominate all programmes. Most bands have guests, with various types of choirs dominating the scene. Here’s a condensed list, from those bands whose listings we received, featuring choirs. Needless to say you will have to consult the concert listings for details:

City of Brampton Concert Band has the Mayfield Singers at the Rose Theatre (Dec 10); Etobicoke Community Band presents “You’d Better Watch Out: Holiday Favourites,” with the Toronto Police Services Men’s Chorus (Dec 16); Milton Concert Band performs for the very first time in the newly constructed Milton Centre for the Arts with St. Paul’s United Church Choir (Dec 10); Pickering Community Concert Band offers “Celebrate with the Sounds of Christmas” with the William Dunbar School Choir as guest (Dec 11); Wellington Winds will have “A Christmas with the Wind and Young Voices,” with the Inter-Mennonite Children’s Choir (Dec 18); Whitby Brass Band offers “A Christmas Celebration,” with classics, Salvation Army and pop arrangements, and guests, the O’Neill Chamber Choir (Dec 9). On the professional side, Hannaford Street Silver Band presents “Yuletide Celebration” with Ariana Chris, mezzo, and the Canadian Children’s Opera Company Youth and Principal chorus (Dec 13).

With guests other than choirs, Chinguacousy Concert Band presents “Brampton Christmas Pops” featuring the Chinguacousy Swing Orchestra (Dec 11); East York Concert Band’s “Christmas Festival” will be a holiday sing-along (Dec 12); Markham Concert Band will have “A Seasonal Celebration” featuring Christmas and Chanukah songs with guest Lisa Kallasmaa-Bavis on vocals (Dec 4). Of the bands with December concerts that we heard from, only two did not include guests in their programs. Scarborough Concert Band will be presenting a “Community Concert Series” at three locations over the holiday season (Dec 7, x and y). And Wilfrid Laurier University Wind Orchestra has a single performance (Dec 3). For details of time and place of these events, consult the listings sections.

Of all of the bands that we were made aware of, one stood out as having no public Christmas concerts. That does not mean that the Newmarket Citizens’ Band will not be busy. On the contrary, a visit to their website told a very different story. Unlike all of the other community bands, this band marches and plays in parades. In the six week period between November 6 and December 20, this band was booked to play in no fewer than 11 parades, including six Santa Claus parades in surrounding communities. They also had scheduled five concerts at retirement residences and long term care facilities. This is a band that takes community service seriously. All of their activity will be topped off with an annual banquet to present various awards to members.

Recently, I was asked to write some programme notes for a concert discussing the evolution of Christmas music from the earliest day to the present. That project is still in its infancy. However, there is certainly no question that the programme of a modern band concert would bear little resemblance to that of a concert a century ago. Of the repertoire being performed by the bands of today, there seems to be a common theme: diversify. No longer do they stick to the traditional Christmas carols and such shopping mall favourites as Sleigh Ride or Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Increasingly we are seeing a wide spectrum of medleys of seasonal and/or Christmas melodies along with such humorous spoofs as Good Swing Wenceslas or How the Grinch Stole Christmas. And many bands are now including some excellent arrangements of Chanukah music.

As in other years, the period from Christmas to mid-January appears to be one for rest and reflection, with little thought of public performance. For the rest of January, traditionally community ensembles will now have filed away all of the seasonal music and have begun sampling a broad spectrum of music to challenge band members and hopefully please audiences in the coming months. So far we have not heard of any plans for band concerts in January except for the Hannaford Street Silver Band’s presentation of “A Latin Celebration” with guests the Boston Brass on January 22. Can’t think of a better start.

Definition Department

This month’s lesser known musical term is Gelatinissimo: to play with a bouncing style that sticks to a well defined mould.

We invite submissions from readers.

Jack MacQuarrie plays several brass instruments and has performed in many community ensembles. He can be contacted at bandstand@thewholenote.com.

What is “World Music” and who are its performers? For years I have been alternately intrigued by the question or flatly dismissed it as irrelevant to the music I loved and made myself. Now that I’ve served as your faithful world music columnist for some months, however, I thought I’d use this end of year soapbox to finally tackle this slippery musical subject. Please brace yourself for a further series of annoying questions arising from my simple initial one. The woods get much thicker before we can clearly see the trees, let alone the clearing beyond.

Is world music a commercial marketing category, coined by record label executives in 1980s London, equipped with its own sales charts, radio category, journalistic terminology and record awards? Or a term coined in the early 1960s by the late ethnomusicologist Robert E. Brown at Wesleyan University, Connecticut for his groundbreaking world music studio and academic programs there, which became a model for universities, colleges and conservatories around the world?

Is it “local music from out there,” or “someone else’s local music” as some have proposed? Is it about “our” vs. “their” music, or about the way musicians variously recombine the music you were born into with the music you chose, moved into? Or is it a musical football match playing out a disagreement between perceived authenticity (i.e. indigenous music) and hybridized musical categories, especially those seemingly “diluted” by pop culture?

In the face of such a bewildering range of questions, just what can we agree on? One thing, perhaps, is that the definitions of world music are multiple, dynamic and overlapping. Another is that over the last 30 years world music has clearly gone through a process of gradually increasing “sub-genrefication,” not unlike other kinds of music (heavy metal is a good example). By sub-genrefication I mean an extension of the genre’s original definition of a perceived unmediated “roots music” to include a mounting list of newly created hybrid sub-genres. Part of this process is no doubt the result of pressures on genre boundaries in the overall climate of a globalising pop culture. There are commercial pressures at play here too. According to a 2002 Unesco report by the latter half of the 1990s the value of global record sales hit a historic peak. Significantly slipping sales ever since have meant the record and publishing company financial support for world music, has declined. On the one hand this has led, overall, for world music as well as for many other music categories, to a precipitous decline in overall album sales. Paradoxically it may also be directly linked to the vigour of the modest but vital local live world music performance scenes dotted around the planet, and to the touring companies who (hope they will) pack our largest halls, often wrapped up in elaborately costumed and staged extravaganzas.

There are examples of both on display in my column this issue. Happily for all of us, musicians of all stripes continue to make both established and newly minted hybrid kinds of music that someone may choose to dub world music — or not.

I hope I haven’t lost you in my overview of some 50 years of world music, because, as you can see from what follows, our GTA concert scene over the next two months reflects and underscores many of the issues I have mentioned.

Parvaz Homay and his Mastan Ensemble present “Love, Wisdom and Human” [sic] at Roy Thomson Hall on December 2. Described as a newly created concert “opera” by Iranian musician Parvaz Homay, this production (in Farsi) is presently touring Canada and the US. Judging from this group’s multiple albums and international tour dates they seem to enjoy a sold fan base among the Iranian diaspora. At its Toronto stop, the Mastan Ensemble, a traditional Persian instrumental group, is reinforced by a Western orchestra directed by Toronto conductor Kerry Stratton. A brief trailer video on his website reveals Homay as a singer with a folksy voice. On the other hand, soprano Darya Dadvar sings in a distinctly operatic manner. The dramatic baritone, Soli, rounds out the concert cast.

On December 6, the world music Christmas calendar begins in earnest with the Nathaniel Dett Chorale’s concert titled “An Indigo Christmas: Navidad Nuestra” at Koerner Hall. The artistic director, Brainerd Blyden-Taylor has programmed a vibrant mix of Afro-Latin and Andean rhythms and harmonies. The Latin music quartet, Maderaz, and the celebrated dance collective COBA will add to the choir’s celebration of Afro-centric dance, music and folkloric traditions invoking the spirit of Christmas. The concert features two choral gems by Argentinean composer Ariel Ramírez (1921–2010). His Misa Criolla (1964), now a staple of the choral repertoire, is spiritually charged and at the same time deeply rooted in multiple music/dance forms from across South America including the chacarera, carnavalito and estilo pampeano, as well as Andean influences and instruments. Here, COBA choreographer BaKari E Lindsay, COBA brings it to life through staged dance representations of the dance rhythms intrinsic to Ramírez’s score. Ramírez’s signature Yuletide Navidad Nuestra, which serves as the concert’s centrepiece, is a suite of Argentinean carols marked by characteristic Hispanic American music. The evening is rounded out by Haitian-born Sydney Guillaume’s Dominus Vobiscum interweaving Gregorian melodies with Creole texts and rhythms; a trio of African-American spirituals by Minnesota composer Robert L. Morris; an a cappella interpretation of Go Tell It On The Mountain arranged by Bruce Saylor; and Craig Courtney’s impassioned arrangement of Mary Had A Baby.

Music Gallery’s concert on December 16 also has a Christmas theme, but one that reaffirms the commitment to experimentation in the Music Gallery’s “New World Series.” Titled “Asalto Navideño Reimagined: A Latin Christmas Concert,” the concert has three layers: a remix of a classic salsa Christmas album, a seasonal celebration and a resolute statement of pan-Latino culture. Originally a statement about New York Hispanic life, Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe’s popular salsa Christmas album Asalto Navideño, now 40 years old, is ripe for reinvention. Its lyrics speak of the joy of Christmas, but they also explore themes of home and diaspora and even propose new festive traditions. Today’s Latin sounds continue to mix music from across the Americas, increasingly with the intervention of electronics. Therefore it’s natural that four “producers” have been commissioned to remix the album’s now-iconic material: Toronto’s DJ Linterna & Ulladat, DJ Javier Estrada from Monterrey, MX, and Sonora Longoria from Austin, TX. All are known for their individual combinations of music genres, groove and experimentation. Their electronic contributions will be mixed with live instruments including Steve Ward on trombone and vocals. Vocalist Lido Pimienta, who splits her time between Toronto, London, Ontario, and Colombia, is a key voice in the evening; her striking hybrid performance style combining unaffected vocals and electronics.

Moving into the New Year, on January 10, 2012 at noon, the Little Pear Garden Collective presents a different sort of festive entertainment, performing classical and contemporary dance works with Chinese music at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. The collective, directed by Emily Cheung, is Toronto’s Jingju or Peking opera company. That this concert is part of the “Dance Series: Chinese Traditions Then and Now” is yet another reminder that world music performances also sometimes include dance.

Keeping with the Chinese music and dance theme, on January 12 to 15, Falun Dafa presents “Shen Yu Performing Arts” at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts. This massive NYC based company certainly aims high. It was established in 2006 with no less a mission than “reviving 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture.” Its mission statement makes an eloquent ideological case, “After more than 60 years of Communist Chinese rule …Chinese traditional culture has been all but completely demolished. However, the deeper spiritual core of the ancient culture, with its values of benevolence, honor, propriety, wisdom, and sincerity, as well as a reverence for the gods and the heavens, cannot be destroyed. In order to restore … Chinese traditional culture, a group of overseas Chinese artists established Shen Yun in New York.”

At the core of Shen Yun’s performances appears to be a vast staged pageant, with tableaux enacted by dozens of performers clothed in impressive, brilliantly coloured, custom-made costumes and supported by an original musical score performed by a Western orchestra, classical Chinese and regional ethnic dance styles, instruments such as erhu and pipa, and characteristic vocalists. The show’s narrative is transparent. It moves audiences from the Himalayas to tropical lake-filled regions, “from the legends of the culture’s creation over 5,000 years ago through to the story of Falun Dafa in China today.” With over 100 artists “Shen Yu Performing Arts” might be one of the primary proponents of the “go big because you can’t go home” school of world music (and dance) performance.

May you all have wonderful Holidays, a stellar 2012 and be able to go home if you want to.

Andrew Timar is a Toronto musician and music writer.  He can be contacted at worldmusic@thewholenote.com.