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Volume 13 - Issue 4 - December 2007

EDITOR'S CORNERby David

EDITOR'S CORNERby David OldsSeasO~ 'Qreettn:It's as if Christmas came early. Amongst themany discs under consideration for the currentissue I found a wealth of material in which personalconnections abound. William Bolcom -Complete Works for Cello (Naxos8.559348) relates not only to my interest as anamateur cellist, but also to my affiliation withNew Music Concerts which presented Bolcom's music for two pianos earlier this seasonwith Elizabeth and Marcel Bergmann (performingworks available on their own NaxosCD 8.559244). Norman Fischer's performancesare compelling. Of particular note arethe solo eel lo suite and Dark Music with itsunusual pairing of cello with timpani.A related pair of Naxos releases from theAmerican Classics Series features the music ofNed Rorem. World premiere recordings of hisPiano Concerto No. 2 (1951) performed bySimon Mulligan and the Cello Concerto (2002)with Wen-Sinn Yang (8.559315)juxtapose theyouthful and fully mature styles of the composer.This portrait is enhanced by a companion release(8.559316) with the Double Concerto for Violinand Cello featuring Jaime Laredo and SharonRobinson whom l had the pleasure ofinterviewingduring my tenure at CJRT-FM. The l 998concerto is accompanied by After ReadingShakespeare (1981) for solo cello which showcasesMs Robinson at her finest. Speaking ofCJRT, the incredible Russian Male ChoirAkafist has just released its 2006 CanadianTour CD (Bittersweet ProductionsBPROOl www.bittersweet.com) which takesme back to a previous visit when I had the privilegeto record one of their performances forCJRT "Concert."Waxing nostalgic about CJRT, it was therethat l first met the young Canadian composerVivian Fung, who is now making a brilliant careerfor herself in the United States. The CedilleRecords CD release of music by young AmericansComposers in the Loft (CDR 90000100) includes Fung's Miniatures for Clarinetand String Quartet and I see from our listingsthat the Ying Quartet will perform Fun g's Pizzicatofor string quartet at Music Toronto on December13. On that same Music Toronto concertthe Ying siblings will perform a work by ChouWen-chung who will be in Toronto January 12and 13 for New Music Concerts performances ofhis own recent works and historically significantpieces by Edgard Varese, with whom he workedfor many years. The January l 2th performanceincludes the world premiere screening ofawardwinningfilm maker Frank Scheffer 's new documentaryabout Varese "The One All Alone".This leads me to one of the many marvellousDVD releases received this month: Tea, a filmby Frank Scheffer about the making of TanDuo's opera of the same name (JuxtapositionsDVD9DS32) which l found entirely captivating.Incidentally, it was New Music Concerts that firstpresented Tan Dun 's music in Toronto back in1995, a year before Toru Takemitsu chose himWWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COMfor the honour of the Glenn Gould City ofToronto"Protege" Prize.The other DVDs that captured my attentionthis month were portraits of three of the mostimportant pedagogical figures of the 20th century:Leonard Bernstein (who's populist TVprograms brought classical music to a muchbroader public), Nadia Boulanger (whoseclasses were attended by some of the mostdistinguished composers of our time includingAaron Copland and Jean Papineau-Couture)and Olivier Messiaen (whose analysis classeswere taken by the likes of Pierre Boulez, KarlheinzStockhausen andGilles Tremblay).Mademoiselle, BrunoMonsaigneon 's insightful portraitof Nadia Boulanger(ldeale AudienceDVD5DM41) with the participationof Leonard Bernsteinand Igor Markevitch,includes footage from Boulanger's salons and an interviewwith the then 90-yearoldMademoiselle herself.Narrated by Lauren Bacall,The Gift of Music - An IntimatePortrait (DeutscheGrammophon 00440 0734336) brings together footagesparming more than halfa century of Leonard Bernstein'scelebrated careerand an interview with themaestro from 1990, shortlybefore his death. l found itinteresting that these twoDVDs gave us the opportunityto hear Bernstein speakingcomfortably in both Frenchand German. In the majestic opening scenes ofOlivier Messiaen: La Liturgie de Cristal(Juxtapositions DVD9DS44) set against thebackdrop of breathtaking mountains in Utah, wefind out that one of the peaks there has been renamedMount Messiaen in honour of the lateFrench composer whose centenary wi 11 be celebratednext December. In a series of interviewsrecorded over a period of years we hear in Messiaen'sown words about his fascination with colour,landscape and most particularly, bird songwhich he collected-transcribing with pencil andpaper - throughout his life and extensive travels.This wonderful film provides a glimpse into thesoul of one of the last century's great musicalminds.But what I really want to tell you about aretwo exceptional CDs ofCanadian song. Avowals- works for solo voiceby John Beckwith(Centrediscs CMCCD12907) brings togetherCONTINUES ON PAGE 620 EC EMB ER1 2007- F EBRUA RY 7 2008

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