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8 years ago

Volume 9 Issue 4 - December 2003

  • Text
  • Toronto
  • December
  • Jazz
  • Theatre
  • January
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  • February
  • Musical
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(that is not my goal),

(that is not my goal), but very dynamic, rich and original artistically, and powerful enough to support many major projectS, such as the Bach cantata cycle, baroque operas, and orchestral recordings involving many great Canadian and international musicians. I am now 51 , old enough to see things with objectivity, and young enough to still have the guts to realize dreams, as we say... . FOLWW-UP Just a couple of things: I was wondering about the name A'IM4 itself. the origins of it; and I was trying to see if there is a pattern.to the. projects you choose. Atma means Soul in Sanskrit ... Soul of Music. As to a pattern, it is true that .I have a passion for Early music; it has proven to be behind the success of the label and I love it because it leaves a huge space for creativity. But I arri trying to build a catalogue that will establish a personality for ATMA, even if it covers wide-ranging repertoire from the Middle-Ages to contemporary music. In the latter, ATMA currently supports the Molinari quartet, SMCQ (Sociere de Musique contemporaine du Quebec), · NEM (Nouvel Ensemble· Modeme) and ECM (Ensemble Contemporain Cle Montreal). I had some nice surprises with such titles as the Schafer quartets, Claude Vivier and Elliot Carter works. I work closely with . artists and groups to construct projects in partnership with their concert seasons. I am faithful to the people who contribute to my label - ~d I often follow their own desires. For example, the Mahler.4th doesn't correspond to my definition oforiginal repertoire. However, as I have future plans with conductor Yannick Nezet-seguin, I followed . Yannick'sowndream, and, indeed, he has something to say in that music. The Bach cantatas on the.other hand are. my' own -I should say- need: that music gives meaning to my life. So, there are no real . rules, rather' mainly intuition and enthusiasm. I love voices, nice voices and I like players with strong personalities. I like projects that bring me pleasure to work on. ATMA reflects the Canadian musical scene as Hyperion reflects the British scene, and Bis the Swedish scene. More and more, however, ATMA will be open to the best musicians, regardless of where they come from. GJtEAT -~001ECf AtfZf NG fN / CMSSfCAt &JAZZ DISC VE RIES EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION BY DA VJD OLDS Well it's a bumper crop of reviews this month, just in time for the holiday season. We ' ve replaced the Discs of the Month section with Seasonal Fare in which Sarah Hood provides a look at some of the Christmas CDs that have crossed our desk and Phil Ehrensaft and Tiina Kiik give their suggestions for seasonal giving. A~d a number of reviewers have contributed their suggestions in our Stocking Stuffers, section ..: brief notes on some of their favourite things. In additioµ there are more than 40 i:liscs reviewed, and still there was neither room nor time for all titles we would have liked to cover. One late arrival was the much-anticipated Remembrance (Marquis 7 74718 1307 2 3), Stuart Laughton's contemplative trumpet disc featuring collaborations with pianist Peter Tiefenbach, works · by Britten, Hovhaness, Tomasi and Canadians J. Scott Irvine, John Burge, Alexina Louie, Howard Cable and R. Murray Schafer. Highlights include Tiefenbach's Remembrance, commissioned by Toronto's ubiquitous new music aficionado Roger D. Moore especially for this project, and The Silver Rose featuring the haunting voice of Patricia O'Callahan. Johanne Goyette's ATMA label (see our Snapshots section) released two titles in its "SMCQ Live" series this past-month, featuring Canada's longest running new music organization, the Societe ·de musique contemporaine du Quebec, under the direction of Walter Boudreau. Trois Concertos (ACD2 2282) features three of Montreal's finest young contemporary performers - violinist Julie-Anne Demme •. pianist Marc Couroux and trombonist Alain Trµdel - performing new works by Isabelle Partneton, Sean Ferguson and Vincent Collard. Les . Laureats (ACD2 2281) presents a selection of the winners of the "Prix Quebec-Flandre", an international collaboration between the SMCQ and the Vooruit Cultural Centre in Belgium that is awarded in recognition of a talented composer or performer specializing" in contemporary music. The laureates in on this collection include pianist Louise Bessette, performing a work by Andre Villeneuve, and the Jules, Leger prize-winning young composer Andre Ristic, along with Belgian composers Wim Henderix, Peter Swinnen and Annelies van Parys. Both these discs provide valuable a·nd welcome insights into the contemporary music scene of La belle province. One disc I don't feel so bad about missing is pianist Alain Lefevre's recording "Concertos - Mathieu, Addisell & Gershwin" (Analekta AN 2 9814) with the Orchestre symphonique de Quebec and Yoav Talmi. According to October reports, Lefevre was the top selling classical artist in Canada, so obviously word of this excellent recording has gotten out without our help. I'm especially pleased to know . that Andre Mathieu's virtually unknown Concerto de Quebec is deservedly finding a large new audience. CONTINUED ON Pl\GE 62 D ECEMBER 1 2003 - FEBRUARY 7 2004

0Rer Ontar:" POULENC La Voix Humaine Elle I Lyne Fortin MASSENET Le Portra,it de Manon Chevalier des Grieux I The6dore Baerg Aurore I Laura Whalen Jean I Louise Guyot Tiberge l Steeve Michaud Two French operas. Two depictions of wom~n from two different era? by two different masters. One evening of great operatic the9;tte. e Centre In The Squ 9.5!8.1570 I 800.2 Hamilton Place I Jan 31, 05.526.65561800.575.1 DECEMBER 1 2003 - FEBRUARY 7 2004 WWW. THEWHOLENOTE,COM

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