overall exuberance of the performances bring freshness to the material. Montreal is a true fusion of musical styles. Cook's usual brand of rumba flamenco is abundant, but there are also tastes of Middle Eastern and Egyptian music (singer Maryem Toller guests), Brazilian San1ba, and even funk, courtesy of bass player, Colin Barrett. The band members give us some very exciting performances, most notably Chris Church, on violin. Flamenco guitarist, Nicolas Hernandez, adds depth with his rhythmic support and a base from which Cook can take flight, as he does often. But the high point is from the drummers and percussionists. Art Avalos and Paul Antonio are dle mainstays, but when special guests, Samba Squad, led by Rick Lazar, take dle stage to play on Mario Takes a Walk and Baghdad, me energy really gets ratcheted up. This is a worthwhile addition to anyone's disc collection, whether already a Cook fan, or omeone just venturing into the world of 'world music'. Cathy Riches My Love is like a Red, Red Rose Meredith Hall; La Nef ATMA Classique ACD 2 2336 Scottish icon Robert Bums sprang from a musical folk tradition that he extended and transmuted through his own compositions and through his new words for familiar airs. On this recording, expressive soprano Meredith Hall joins dle versatile early music ensemble La Nef in a collection of25 pieces from among Bums' 325-plus songs. While respecting the feel of the late- I 700s, dle musicians give an eloquent performance of bod1 "auld acquaintances" and less well known songs without constraining themselves to an over-literal, museum-piece approach to the repertoire. Love, loss and flirtation emerge fresh and fluent from well articulated texts and re onant arrangements that feature Baroque guitar, theorbo, recorder, bagpipes, viola da gan1ba, Celtic harp and percussion. Above all, dle recording achieves a lilting grace and easiness of touch that these gentle and intelligent songs cry out for, with nothing forced or falsely hearty about them. Sarah B. Hood Well Tempered Klezmorim Hu Tsa Tsa lndependent HCDOl "Well Tempered Klezmorim" is the first CD of a unique voice in the Klezmer world. This genre of Eastern European Jewish folk music has enjoyed a tremendous revival in Nord1 America the last couple of decades, with new bands springing up everywhere. Usually characterized by a lively, raucous, gypsy-like quality, Klezmer music was dle traditional entertainment at Jewish weddings and other celebratory events, performed by traveling Klezmorirn. Toronto based Hu Tsa Tsa (Rona Goldensher, violin, Jonna Lightstone, clarinet and Eric Stein, cirnbalom, mandocello & piano) present Klezmer in a gentler vein. Mosdy arrangements of traditional nmes, the flavour of this recording is introspective rather than extroverted, dlat of intimate chamber music, which the trio delivers wid1 delicate sensitivity. The violin and clarinet are typical for dlis genre, but the use of cirnbalom (a type of baoliller dulcimer) and mandocello lends an atypical "magical" air to this recording. The arrangements are well informed, based on collections of ethnomusicologist Moshe Beregovsky, and recordings from the 1920s of famed clarinetist Naftule Brandwein and cimbalom player Joseph Moskowitz, but with Hu Tsa Tsa's unique stan1p. The liner notes give excellent background information on each selection. A nice addition to any Klezmer endmsiast's collection. Karen Ages Concert note: Violinist Rona Goldensher appears in Baroque Music Beside the Grange's "Sonata Fantastica" Saturday February 19 . Karl Jenkins - The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace National Youth Choir of Great Britain; London Philharmonic Orchestra; Karl Jenkins Virgin Records 7243 8 11015 2 0 CDVE956 This dramatic choral and symphonic composition was commissioned by me British Royal Armouries to inspire a millennial reflection on mankind's history of waging war, and the hope that these proclivities may someday be transcended. Beginning with the medieval theme of L'Homme Arme, the 'armed man who must be feared', the piece continues with a Muslim call to prayer, settings of texts and psalms from dle Bible, a passage from me Mallabharata, poems on dlemes of war and peace by Kipling, Dryden, Jonathan Swift, Japanese poet Togi Sankichi, and Alfred Lord Tennyson. The drama inherent in setting dlese texts dealing wim courage, bravado, heroism, fear, terror, regret, mourning and hope are juxtaposed with the most sensitive and in piring settings of the Mass Ordinary. Karl Jenkins, a Welsh composer known for his versatility (Palladio of diamond commercial fan1e, Adiemus, ballet scores, soundtracks and pop music), proves his flexibility once again in dle variety of musical style found in this piece. The perfom1ance by The National Youth Choir of Great Britain, from whose ranks the soloists were chosen and The London Philharmonic Orchestra are top-notch: clear, crisp military march styles are handled as adepdy as passages evoking dread and terror and the peaceful and serene movements of the mass. An awe-inspiring performance of an awe-inspiring work. Dianne Wells Concert notes: Just Singers Chamber Choir and the Choir of Centenary United Church, Han1ilton wiJI perform Jenkins' The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace under Shawn Grenke's direction in Toronto at the DISCS OF THE MONTH Church of Saint George the Martyr on February 5 and at Centenary United Church, 24 Main St. West, Hamilton on February 6. Adams - On the Transmigration of Souls New York Philharmonic; New York Choral Artists; Brooklyn Youth Chorus; Lorin Maazel Nonesuch 79816-2 John Adams does not write music. Oh yes, be creates works that on many occasions push dle envelope of contemporary mu ic, but his creations are not simply musical compositions. They are chronicles of our times, tapping uncannily into that which saddens or perplexes us most - the banality of evil and the humanity of dle evil-doers. From Nixon in China, through the Death of Klinghoffer to On the Transmigration of Souls, Adams offers a chilling look at our times without unduly exploiting the tragedy therein. On the Transmigration of Souls is a tribute to me victims of September 11, but even more so an exploration of the national mourning. Though some comparisons were drawn to Charles Ives' response to the "Lusitania" tragedy (the rarely performed From Hanover Square North. ..), On the Transmigration of Souls is Adams at his best - lyrical, mournful and delivering dle moment of transformative grace just when all seems lost. The texts, woven from desperate me sages posted by the families of victims, snippets of recorded conversations and names of the victims, transcend dle political, national and sometimes jingoistic response of America to the September l I tragedy, providing us instead with what is undoubtedly most needed - a heartfelt guide to mourning and healing. This short work somehow manages to evoke comparisons with the greatest requiems of all time - those of Mozart and Brallms. The chronicler of our times, John Adan1s, yet again gives us the tools to make sense of our frequently irrational world. Robert Tomas WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM FEBRUARY 1 - MARCH 7 2005
February10, 12, 13, 16, 2005 Toronto Centre for the Arts February 18, 23, 25, 2005 Living Arts Centre liacd February 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 2005 Living Arts Centre March 3, 5, 10, 12, 2005 Toronto Centre for the Arts April 23, 24, 26, 28, 30, 2005 Living Arts Centre May 5, 7, 12, 14, 2005 Toronto Centre for the Arts Box Office: 905-306-6000 Administration: 905-306-0060 s TO 0 TO CE TR 0 F Box Office: 416-872-1111 Administration: 416-322-0456 www. Roya I Op eraCanad a. co m
