hypnotic addition to the mix. Its segments are entertainingly clever, each radically different from the last, provocative examples of how extraordinary human creativity can be. i While on one hand this project time-consuming to absorb, and likely not for all tastes, it's challenging and always compelling. One small complaint: I wish that more information about this "son- osaurus" and his work had been included with the actual package, rather than on the record label's website. I already spend enough time at a computer screen; and not off his latest solo exploration "Oraleveryone has one at their immedi- Oralizations Paul Dutton Ambiances Magnetiques 130 CD AM Like a train traveling up a steep hill, [literally speaking] Paul Dutton starts izations" with a bang. "Wassum"? ate disposal. "What's um?" and "Mmmmm?" - Alison Melville these are just some of the questions he poses in the opening piece Mercure. Paul reaches into the depth of the universe to articulate his language and wrap it into as many imaginable colours as possible. A piece such as Else expresses the desire for new words. [Then again, it could be just a need for better words.] Over the length of an hour, he stretches his vocal chords and comes up with some of the most bizarre, the silliest [imagine werewolf and donkey imitations in the span of one track], the most painful and extreme sounds you'd probably heard in your life. Some of his sounds are somewhat reminiscent of Tuvan throat singing [it's almost as ifrus stomach was talking to us]. Certainly, this can never be taken as background music. Paul's music begs for and demands your complete attention. There are too many minute nuances that are sure to pass you by if you had used it simply to multi-task. I don't know how Paul does what he does with his throat, and I'll probably never learn the secrets of his trade, but here and now, "Oralizations" feels like Christmas morning, as I'm unwrapping my first present that I found under the tree. Tom Sekowski Performance Note: "Oralizations" will be launched on March 18 at the Tranzac Club with sets by Paul Dutton, solo, and with guests Rob Clutton (bass) and Tomasz Krakowiak (percussion). Free admission. DISCS OF THE MONTH Pauline Viardot-Garcia - Lieder /Chansons/Canzoni/Mazurkas Isabel Bayrakdarian, soprano; Serouj Kradjian, piano Analekta AN 2 9903 Just as any part of culture, classical singing is subject to market pressures. There is an endless demand for sopranos who can shatter glass with high notes, dazzle listeners with the power of their vocal chords and make even the most reasonable men desire them. Too bad most often those divas are like any other goods on the market: over-priced, over-advertised and overrated. That is why it is so exciting when a real deal appears: a woman with a great, well trained, powerful voice, who also seems to understand what she is singing regardless of what language she is singing in. A woman, who on top of all this is also an ideal stage Cleopa - ra, Rosina, Pamina, Zerlina and Susanna. Isabel Bayrakdarian is a class act, and her thlrd solo album proves it beyond any doubt. Her singing is lyrical, beautiful, but at · the same time also intelligent and technically flawless. That is why I wish the marketing geniuses who so often foist on us inferior singers would make an effort to convince millions of classical music lovers to buy this album. As for marketing of divas, the idea is not so new, it turns out. The French composer Pauline Viardot Garcia was one of them ·- in the 1830s. Coming from an incredibly musical family, Pauline was coached by her father, a famous voice teacher. Moreover, she was the younger sister of the famous La Malibran, a tragically short-lived soprano who inspired Vinzenzo Bellini. Berlioz described Pauline as "one of the greatest artists ... in the past and present rustory of music" and both Schumann and Saint Saens dedicated works to her. How fitting then, that the true diva, Ms. Bayrakdarian, has chosen music of such pedigree to assert her position. Bravo! Robert Tomas York and would go on to found the Toronto Dance Theatre, led to 20 years of collaboration and the creation of more than 40 modern dance scores for TOT, Danny Grossman, Dancemakers and Rachel Brown. In the course of the documentary we hear personal reminiscences from Beatty and others including pianists Eve Egoyan and Christina Petrowska Quilico and composer Mary Gardiner, with whom Southam founded the Association of Canadian Women Composers in 1980. Cornfield is thorough and obviously devoted to his subject. More importantly he tells a good story and his collage makes compelling Canadian Composer Portraits - Ann Southam listening. It also provides an excellent cross-section of South- Christina Petrowska Quilico am's acoustic compositional output Centrediscs CMCCD 10505 and a number of electronic dance works through excerpts woven in "She's proudly, politically female and around the texts. in a stuffy male universe." So says Where this Canadian Composer Eitan Cornfield in the CBC docu- Portrait differs from its seventeen meptary produced for this Ann d · · th JI Southam Portrait. We learn that a meeting in 1966 with Patricia Beata selection of whole works in dif- nineteen solo piano works: the three sets of Rivers (1979-1981). Christina Petrowska Quilico gives an outstanding performance of these intricate minimalist works that range from contemplative to ebullient. In the documentary Southam speaks of her fondness for bagpipes and drones and even in the busiest of these pieces, where one imagines simply a blur of fingers, there is an overall sense of calm created by the wash of sound. The presentation is not numerically linear, rather the pieces have been carefully arranged in a seemingly random order. We are not told whether this was the choice of the pianist or the composer, but I suspect, like so many of Ann Southam's endeavours, it was a collaborative decision. The result is magical. But my next project is to program the discs to experience the pieces "in sequence". I hope thls isn't just my "stuffy male" view of the universe, wanting to re-impose order - I'm genuinely curious about the different ways of listening to this marvelous music. David Olds Editor's Note: For those curious to hear more of Southam's chamber music I suggest "Glass Houses" (CBC Records MVCD 1124). A number of her electronic dance scores are presented in their en- pre ecessors 1s m e a -music tirety on "Seas till" (F uriant supplementary discs. Rather than Records FMDC 4604-2). ty, who had just returned from stud- ferent genres, here we are preying with Martha Graham in New seated with an extended cycle of 78 WWW.THEWHOlENOTE.COM MARCH 1 - APRIL 7 2005
DISCOVERIES has the JUNOS covered All twenty nominees in the four classical categories already reviewed We're proud of our Canadian CD coverage in DISCoveries and during the past 18 months we have reviewed all 20 discs nominated in the four Classical categories for JUNO awards this year. Here are the nominees and the issues in which you can read our assessment of them. Check them out online at www.tbewholenote.com. CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: SOLO OR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE - Dvorak, Janacek, Smetana: Romantic Pieces; James Ehnes/ Eduard Laurel; Analekta (April 2004) - Nicolai Kaspstin Piano Music; Marc-Andre Hamelin; Hyperion (November 2004) - Bach: The English Suites; Angela Hewitt; Hyperion (December 2003) - Takemitsu: Toward the Sea; Robert Aitken/New Music Concerts; Naxos (October 2003) - Drumtalker; NEXUS; Nexus (February 2004) CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: LARGE ENSEMBLE OR SOLOIST(S) WITH LARGE ENSEMBLE ACCOMPANIMENT - Frenergy: Music of John Estacio; Edmonton Symphony; CBC (December 2004) - Hummel; James Ehnes/London Mozart Players; Chandos (December 2004) - Mahler: Symphony No.4; Orchestre Metropolitain; ATMA (May 2004) - Dardanus: Music of Jean-Philippe Rameau; Tafelmusik; CBC (February 2004) - Borodin; Vancouver Symphony Orchestra; CBC (February 2004) CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: VOCAL OR CHORAL PERFORMANCE - Cleopatra; lsabel Bayrakdarian/Tafelmusik; CBC Records (November 2004) - So Much to Tell; Measha Brueggergosman/Manitoba Chamber (December 2004) - Brahms Lieder; Marie-Nicole Lemieux; Analekta (November 2004) - Bach: Psaume 51; Karina Gauvin/Daniel Taylor/Violons du Roy; Analekta (December 2004) - Italian Oratorios; Matthew White/Tafelmusik; Analekta (May 2004) CLASSICAL COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR - lstvan Anhalt - The Tents of Abraham; Centrediscs (November 2004) - John Estacio - A Farmer Symphony; CBC (December 2004) - Jose Evangelista - Nuevas monodies espaiiolas; Earwitness (April 2004) - Jeffrey Ryan - Pangaea; Thunder Bay Symphony (December 2004) - Robert Turner - Third Symphony; Centrediscs (May 2004) David Olds MARCH 1 - APRIL 7 2005
