Views
8 years ago

Volume 7 Issue 4 - December 2001/January 2002

  • Text
  • Toronto
  • December
  • Theatre
  • January
  • Choir
  • Symphony
  • Jazz
  • Musical
  • Singers
  • Wholenote
  • Stuffers
  • Dvds
  • Discs

W1sattWi3jiL1 STOCKINGS

W1sattWi3jiL1 STOCKINGS & HORNS -A COMP EN DI UM OF SEASONAL CDs Continued from page 4 J.S. Bach - The Goldberg Variations. Arranged for strings and continuo by Bernard Labadie. Les Violons du Roy; Bernard Labadie, director. Dorian Recordings XCD-90281 A fabulously lush treatment of this famous harpsichord work, showing off his ensemble to great advantage. Les Violons du Roy performs Handel's Messiah at Massey Hall Dec 8. D.O. Naida Cole_ Faure, Chabrier, Masaaki Suzuki, conductor BIS CD-941/942 A vital, spirited performance on original instruments. Suzuki studied with the Dutch Bach specialist Ton Koopman whose risk-taking influence is present throughout. L.B. M.A. Charpentier: La Descente d'Orphee aux Enfers. Les Arts Florissants. William Christie, director. ERATO 0630-11913-2 A rarely-heard gem from the 1680s, featuring rich, economical, inspired writing for a small collection of instruments and voices, including a profound performance by English tenor Paul Agnew (a frequent visitor to Tpronto) as Orpheus. L.B. Noel: Early Canadian Christmas Music. Elmer Iseler Singers/ Michael Schade/Norine Burgess Elmer Iseler, conductor Satie, Ravel. Naida Cole, piano. MARQUIS 81227-2 Deutsche Gramlnophon 7697 48021-2 Iseler's last recording, a charming collection of five centuries of Canadi- Young Toronto pianist Naida Cole's ana. Imaginative, entertaining music excellent debut CD on Deutsche and first rate performances. L.B. Grammophon places her in Bartok: The Miraculous prestigious company indeed. You can Mandarin; Concerto for OrcheStra hear her live at Music Toronto on Concertgebouw Orchestra; January 22. D. 0. Riccardo Chailly, conductor Christmas with Chanticleer Featuring special guest Dawn Decca 458841-2 Playing like this and superb recording Upshaw. Teldec Classics 8573 to boot are what make some full price 85555-2 discs worth every penny. Mandarin A beautiful disc providing the perfect is a lurid, opulently scored tour-deforce for virtuoso orchestra. Both ambience for a peaceful Christmas · eve m · fr on t o f a roanng · fir ep 1 ace. works are of demonstration The Chanticleer male choir provides quality· Get this disc! B.S. a wonderful ground for Upshaw's Richard Strauss: An Alpine shining soprano in some very clever Symphony; Rosenkavalier Suite and convincing arrangements of less The Vienna Philharmonic; familiar Christmas repertoire. Christian Thielemann. Chanticleer (Dec 6) and Upshaw (Jan Deutsche Grammophon 469519-2 9) appear (separately) at the Toronto Strauss's father was a horn player and Centre for the Performing Arts in the · that iristrument stars in many of his next two months. D. 0. works, nowhere better employed than Harry Somers _ Somers String here. Stunning, flawless perform- Quartets. Accordes String ances, all the more incredible when Quartet. Centrediscs CMCCD you know that it is a live recording! 750l Brilliant sound. Inaudible audience. A One of three discs in the second 11'U/St have! B.S. installment of the CM Cs A Window Lady Day: The Best of Billie' on Somers project; three striking Holiday. COLUMBIA/LEGACY additions to the string quartet reper- C2K 85979 (2 CDs) toire by one dfCanada's most signifi- The young Billie aged 18 to 29. cant eomposers, performed by one of These 36 tracks from the complete Toronto's foremost contemporary Columbia recordings feature many of ensembles. The Accordes and Joseph her 'signature' tunes, as brilliantly re;- Macerollo premiere a new CBC- mastered for the deluxe edition. commissioned work by Hope Lee for Musicians include Lester Young, string quartet and accordion for New Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Teddy Music Concerts on January 20. D.O. Wilson Ben Webster, Buck Clayton, Bach: Christmas Oratorio and others. An enchanting memento Bach CollegiumJapan of the years before her less than idyllic late period. B.S. 5 2 Wholenote DECEMBER 1, 2001 - JANUARY 31, 2002 Liszt - B Minor Sonata. Tenst Walters, piano. Archangelus CDA 7'17T2 Hardly a household name, American pianist Teresa Walters' recording of Liszt's B Minor Sonata and several evocative "religious" piano works by the Abbe Liszt is equal to any "big name" pianist's performance. C.E. Mozart, Beethoven, Witt: Piano & Wind Quintet.s. James Campbell, James Mason, Jamie Somerville, James McKay, Anton Kuerti CBC Musica Viva MVCD 1137 Four Jameses teamed up with an Anton, creating a tastefully balanced and blended recording of classical music for winds and piano. Works by Mozart, Beethoven and Witt are featured on this fine CBC disc. C.E. ' The Producers Original Broadway Cast Recording Sony Classical SK 89646 Listening to this CD of the new Mel Brooks musical, you realize why it's THE hot ticket on Broadway this year. I literally fell out of my chair with laughter the first time! . M. W. John Pizzarelli Meets the Beatles RCA 07863-67636-2 Pizzarelli' s talce on the Lennon and McCartney songbook; full of sur- . prises and pleasures thanks to Don Sebesky's brilliant arrangements. M.W. Noel Joan Baez. Vanguard VMD-79230 Joan Baez's plaintive voice, coupled with quirky neo-Renaissance arrangements by Peter Schickele of P.D.Q. Bach fame. This may be hard to find, but out of the sixty-plus Christmas CD's I have, it's one of my favourites. M. W. Handel Sacred Arias. Daniel Taylor, Arion, Monica Huggett ATMA ACD2 2222 Spritely, winsome support from Arion (under the leadership of Monica Huggett) for the mellifluous introspective singing of countertenor Daniel Taylor. [See Pamela Marg/es review under Concen Prep. &L] Traditional Celtic Melodi~s Skye Consort, Matthew White ATMA Refreshingly sparkling arrangements of traditional Celtic tunes, played on Baroque instruments and lovingly sung by countertenor Matthew White. F.N. Trockne Blumen Barthold Kuijken, baroque Dute Accent A glorious taste of early 19th-century music.for-flute and keyboard, by a fabulous flute player. A.M. Nordic Roots (A Northside Collection). Various groups Northside 6016 A sampling of tunes by various great bands from Scandinavia, each with their own clever takes on their musical traditions. Trust me, you don't have to come from Minnesota to enjoy this! A.M. The Little Barleycorne. Toronto Consort. Dorian · · The Consort's contribution to the plethora of festive season CDs, this one of Yuletide treats, made it to a glowing review in the New York Times. A.M. Sequenzas. Luciano Berio DGG 457 038-2 Virtuoso works for fourteen different solo instruments by one of the masters of modem music, encapsulating what is.most fascinating and ertjoyable in twentieth century music - lots to explore and enjoy in this well-produced and beautifully packaged set of extraordinary . performances. P.M. Battaglie & Lamenti. Montserrat Figueras. Hesperion XXI; Jordi Savall, conductor. Alia Vox AV9815 The incomparable Monserrat Figueras singing Monteverdi's thrilling Lamento d' Arianna; just one, of the endless glories of ~s wonderful collection of vocal and instrumental works from the Italian baroque, performed by some of the foremost specialists of the period under the sublime direction of master gamba player Jordi s.avall. P.M. French Opera Arias. Ben Heppner, tenor. London . Symphony Orchestra; Myung­ Whun Chung, conductor. DGG 2894713722 With a voice like molten steel wrapped in velvet, Canadian tenor Ben Heppner is the perfect singer for these gorgeous arias from linjustly neglected French operas by Berlioz,1 Massenet, Halevy and Meyerbeer. P.M. Arnold Schoenberg: Piano Concerto, Klavierstucke op.11 &19 . Alban Berg: Sonata op.1 · Anton Webern: Variations op. 27 Mitsuko Uchida, piano. Cleveland Orchestra; Pierre Boulez, conductor. Philips 468033-2 Passionate yet rigorous performances demonstrating convincingly how beautiful and accessible these essential pia00 works from the early part of

the last century are - a real treat to have them all on one disc, and played so magnificently. P.M. American Dreaming. Marc Couroux, piano. Xuotavip Records -Bashaw • Various artists Arktos Recordings-20039/40 Two excellent recordings of new Canadian music by influential artists. Couroux, a pianist venturing into improvisation, is a force to be reckoned with, an uncomfortable, peripatetic individual striving to find the link between his art and his culture. Howard Bashaw's double CD set is the work of a highly analytical recluse living in Edmonton, one of the finest composers of his generation. In the words of Joe Strurnmer, "dig the new before it digs you." P.S. ·* * :' ting own horns John Beckwith: A la claire fontaine: Music in Krieghoff's Quebec The Beckwith Ensemble Opening Day ODR 9321 During 2000 and 2001, five Canadian cities saw "Images of Canada," the first big.Cornelius Krieghoff retrospective. This CD preserves a program, arranged for the show's Toronto run, of Quebec songs, fiddle music, and dances from Krieghoffs heyday (1860-80). Evocative, nostalgic, fun. Colin Eatock: Brass Feast Niagara Brass. Echiquier I should like to toot my own horn (and a few other people's horns as well) with an announcement of a new CD which will be launchj:XI by the Niagara Brass at a concert at the Royal Conservatory of Music on Jarmary 13. The disc features a wide- . ranging variety of brass chamber music (or brass with piano) by Alexander Rapoport, Michael Horwood, Scott Irvine, Michael Hynes, Penelope Walcott, Shannon Thomson, Morley Calvert and myself. Daniel Foley: Canadian Music for Piano. Louise Bessette, CBC Musica Viva MVCD1064 - Sundogs. University of Calgary Orchestra. UNICAL UC-CD9901 - Foliage, Riverdale Ensemble Furiant FMCD 4619-2 - 25 Miniatures. Arraymusic Artifact ART 025 My most accessible work is available in two versions. The original ve!'Sion for piano, Oiseaux Excentriques, was recorded by Louise Bessette in 1993. A later, orchestral version of this piece, entitled Menagerie, is included along with the opening movement of my aboriginally-derived Athabascan Dances on the University of Calgary Orchestra's first release. Most recently Toronto's own Riverdale Erisemble commissioned my Hommage ii Henri Rousseau for their archly titled debut album, Foliage, while my equally eponymous La Falla is one of the 25 Miniatures recorded by the Arraymusic. Alison Melville: Midnight Sun . Ensemble Polaris Dorian 93195 · · New takes on traditional music from Scandinavia, the Salties and Scotland, from an eclectic band with wideranging instrumental colours (Elliott/ Gay /Grossman/Keenan/Mc Kenna/ Melville/Savage). A Disc of the Month, Classic CD, August 2000. Fruit of a Different Vine Alison Melville & friends ATMA 2 2206 ., Many people are astonished.to discover that there's a wealth of wonderful mid-20th-century music for recorder( s) and piano. Here's one of the few CDs available - Hi~demith, Genzmer, Berkeley, Leigh and others. Alison is joined by Alayne Hall, piano, and Colin Savage and Natalie Mic~ud, recorders. Merlin Williams: So far this year, I've done three big band recordings - all as a sideman, on baritone sax, clarinet & bass clarinet. Watch for forthcoming CD's by Paul Grosney and His MusicMakers, The Greg Runions Big Band, and tl1e Ron Collier Orchestra. I'm also on the three discs put out by the Canadian Tribute to Glenn Miller. Contributors: David Olds D.O. Larry Beckwith L B Bruce Surtees B.S Colin Eatock C.E Merlin Williams M. W. Frank Nakashima F.N Alison Melville A.M. Pamela Margles P.M. Paul Steenhuisen P.S. Daniel Foley 'D.F. AK ING SOUND BETTER CLASSICAL DECEMBER 1, 2001 - JANUARY 31, 2002 Wholenote 53

Volumes 26-29 (2020- )

Volumes 21-25 (2015-2020)

Volumes 16-20 (2010-2015)

Volumes 11-15 (2004-2010)

Volumes 6 - 10 (2000 - 2006)

Volumes 1-5 (1994-2000)