here are any indication, they seem to feelquite at home in the desolate (musical) landscapesof Australia. British-born Steven Kenttrained as a French horn player but whileworking in Australia as music director ofCircus Oz he developed a profound interestin Aboriginal culture and immersed himselfin the didjeridu. He states, “The didjeriduis played with the greatest respect for theAboriginal Peoples of Australia and thestruggle for rights in their homeland.”At the time of recording Peter Sculthorpewas still alive. I can’t help but feel that thisposthumous release is an appropriate monumentto a man who let his art speak for hisconscience, with no compromise to either. Animportant example to us all.Toward the end of his life and already sickwith cancer, Claude Debussy (1862-1918)conceived the project of composing “sixsonatas for diverse instruments” of which hecompleted only three; the first for cello andpiano, the third for violin and piano and asecond which spawned a whole new genre,for flute, viola and harp. Two recent releasesexplore the repertoire created for this unusualcombination of instruments.Tre Voci is anensemble createdat the MarlboroMusic Festival in2010 consisting ofCanadian-born flutistMarina Piccinini(an internationallyrenownedsoloist now teaching at the Peabody Institutein Baltimore and at the Hochschule inHannover, Germany), American violistKim Kashkashian and Israeli harpist SivanMagen. Their inaugural recording Takemitsu/ Debussy / Gubaidulina (ECM 2345) featuresDebussy’s seminal work from 1915 whichbegan it all, and two works which take poetryas their point of departure. The disc openswith And then I knew ‘twas Wind by ToruTakemitsu (1930-1996) which takes its inspiration,or at least its title, from a poem byEmily Dickinson. It is a single-movementwork composed in 1992 which, like muchof Takemitsu’s last work, is quite reminiscentof Debussy albeit within the JapaneseVOCALMozart – RequiemSoloists; Accentus; Insula Orchestra;Laurence Equilbeynaïve V 5370There are manyrecordings of Mozart’sRequiem. My ownfavourite is the liverecording made in2001 by Les Violonsdu Roy and LaChapelle de Québec,conducted by Bernardcomposer’s own quiet and lush sensibility.Following the three-movement Debussysonata – Pastorale, Interlude, Final: Allegro –the disc concludes with the mostly contemplativeThe Garden of Joys and Sorrows,by Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina(b.1931) dating from 1980 which is repletewith rich flute tones, “bent” harp notes andGubaidulina’s characteristic overtone-seriesharmonics from the viola. The work endswith an ad libitum recitation of a poem byMoscow poet Iv Oganov: “When is it trulyover? When is the true end? […] Tomorrow wewill play another game.”The sound on this disc is as pristine andwarmly clear as we have come to expect fromECM under Manfred Eicher’s careful supervision,and the performance leaves nothingto be desired. I was a bit surprised however,to find that the 28-page booklet includedsix photographs of the musicians (and oneeach of the composers) but no biographicalinformation at all about the performersand only cursory bits about the composersin the otherwise impressive liner notes (inGerman and English, including the textsof the poems). If it weren’t for the pressrelease sent with the recording (which didn’tmention Piccinini’s Canadian upbringingother than her success in the CBC YoungPerformers Competition) I would have beenleft Googling to find out about the players.It seems a surprising oversight, especiallyconsidering Kashkashian has been an ECMartist since 1985. The booklet does howevercredit the abstract cover photo (which Itake to be a very stunning cloudscape) toKashkashian, revealing another side of thisaccomplished artist.Canadian Trio Verlaine (Lorna McGhee,flute; David Harding, viola; Heidi Krutzen,harp) released their first CD Fin de Siècle –Music of Debussy and Ravel back in 2008(reviewed in these pages by John Keillor inMay of that year). Although now based indifferent cities (Krutzen is principal harp ofthe Victoria Opera, McGhee and Harding nowlive in Pittsburgh working as principal fluteof the Pittsburgh Symphony and professorat Carnegie Mellon University respectively)they continue to perform and record together.Six Departures (Ravello Records RR7895Labadie, with Karina Gauvin, Marie-NicoleLemieux, John Tessier and Nathan Berg assoloists, and with a brilliant cameo part bythe trombonist Alain Trudel (on Dorian; atpresent only available as an MP3).The Requiem was unfinished when Mozartdied and was subsequently completed byhis student, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, withsome input by Jakob Freystädtler and JosephEybler. It is likely that they based their workon sketches by Mozart himself but, sincethese sketches no longer exist, we cannot becertain about that. Most performances adoptthe Süssmayr completion: it may not be allMozart but it is the closest we can get toMozart’s conception of the work. The Labadieperformance, however, uses a revision andtrioverlain.com) exploresrepertoire createdon the Debussymodel with musicby Sir Arnold Bax,Jeffrey Cotton, R.Murray Schafer andAndré Jolivet.In addition to Bax’sElegiac Trio and Jolivet’sPetite Suite, both staples of the repertoire,the disc includes two world premiere recordingsof works written for Trio Verlaine: thetitle track by Cotton, an American composerwho died last year at the age of 55, commissionedby the Seattle Chamber Music Society,and Schafer’s Trio for Flute, Viola and Harp,co-commissioned by Michael Koerner, theOttawa Chamber Music Festival and Music onMain. The first is based on the baroque suite,a set of six dances beginning with a preludeand including two Passacaglia movements.Cotton’s lyrical tonal language reflects “thedeceptively sunny Los Angeles of his childhoodfiltered through the haunted Germanexpressionism he encountered as a student ofHans Werner Henze.” Schafer’s trio soundsparticularly French to my ear, perhaps referencingthe origins of this instrumentalcombination. The three movements – Freelyflowing; Slowly, calmly; and Rhythmic –are again lyrically tonal in their languagewith no shortage of Schafer’s characteristicplayfulness.Recorded earlier this year, the performancesare committed and commendable, thecrisp attacks and seamless ensemble playingcaptured admirably in the warm acoustic ofSt. Mark’s Anglican Church in Vancouver.We welcome your feedback and invitesubmissions. CDs and comments should besent to: DISCoveries, WholeNote Media Inc.,The Centre for Social Innovation, 503 – 720Bathurst St. Toronto ON M5S 2R4. We alsoencourage you to visit our website thewholenote.comwhere you can find addedfeatures including direct links to performers,composers and record labels and additional,expanded and archival reviews.David Olds, DISCoveries Editordiscoveries@thewholenote.comcompletion by Robert D. Levin.The version on the present recording ismore traditional. It features a new periodensemble, the Insula Orchestra, and a veryfine choir, Accentus, which has been in existencefor 20 years. The soloists are SandrinePiau, soprano, Sara Mingardo, contralto,Werner Güra, tenor, and Christopher Purves,bass-baritone. They are also very good. Thebooklet that comes with the CD has a usefulchart outlining what Mozart completedand what was completed by others. I could,however, do without passages like: “And so helaid down his pen after the first eight bars ofthe ‘Lacrymosa’ ... For he was not God, but aman, and could bear no more.”74 | November 1 - December 7, 2014 thewholenote.com
Although my allegiance is still to theLabadie performance, I liked the new one andrecommend it.Hans de GrootMozart – Don GiovanniSoloists; Fondazione Orchestra Regionaledelle Marche; Riccardo FrizzaCmajor 717408After some 230years the fascinationfor Mozart’s greatestopera has neverceased. In fact thereseems to be a renaissancethese days withnew productions allover the world: NewYork, London, Milan,even Toronto. But weneed not go to thoseglittering, superexpensivecentres (atLa Scala tickets went for 2,300 euros!) as herewe have a DVD from a small town in centralItaly, Macerata, which most of you I daresaynever heard of, produced on a limited budget;an elegant, rapt and joyful reading thatputs those grandiose, star-studded productionsto shame.This success that “will enter the annalsof opera” (ForumOpera.com) can be attributedto many things, not least to the work ofItaly’s gran maestro of staging and set designPier Luigi Pizzi’s brilliant and inspired direction.His vision is that of vast amusementyet sympathetic understanding of the foiblesof men (and women), a dramma giocosoas Mozart envisioned it. A big, unmadebed is ever present and much of the actiontakes place in and around it, reminding usconstantly what all this fuss is all about. Yet,his taste is impeccable without any vulgarity.The cast is virtually flawless: all young singers,mainly Italian, energetic and attractive withvoices that could rival any of the big stars;The women especially, among whom CarmelaRemigio (Donna Elvira) is probably the mostmemorable.But what delivers the biggest punch is DonJuan himself, Ildebrando d’Arcangelo, whosecareer I’ve followed in the last ten years fromhumble bit roles to his major break in Viennaas a very unlikely Henry VIII in Donizetti’sAnna Bolena. Here he is a phenomenon, alife force, the essence of the show no onewill likely forget. Another young Italian,conductor Riccardo Frizza’s upbeat tempi, abit on the fast side, keep everything movingforward with the supreme glory of Mozartalways shining through.Janos GardonyiMercadante – I BrigantiSoloists; Camerata Bach Choir, Poznan;Virtuosi Brunensis; Antonino FoglianiNaxos 8.660343-44Saverio Mercadante was a prominent early19th-century Italian composer. He wrote 57operas. Few peopleliving now will haveseen any, althoughthere are now recordingsof several, mainlyon the Opera Raralabel. The present CDwas recorded live atthe XXIV Rossini inWildbad Festival in July 2012. The libretto isbased on Schiller’s play Die Räuber, as isVerdi’s later opera I Masnadieri. The cast onthis recording is cosmopolitan: the tenor isRussian, the soprano Bulgarian, the baritoneItalian, the chorus Polish and the orchestraCzech. The soloists are very good and theyperform with virtuosity and with gusto.This world premiere recording uses anew edition based on research by MichaelWittmann, who also contributes an informativenote. He argues that Mercadante’s operasrepresent a movement away from the elaboratedecorations of bel canto opera in favourof a greater emphasis on the dramatic aspect.It was left to Verdi, Wittmann suggests, to takethis a stage further and to place “veracity ofexpression above its beauty.” I find the argumentconvincing but I also think that weshould appreciate the opera on its own terms,not just as a missing link between Belliniand Verdi.Hans de GrootSchoenberg – Moses und AronFranz Grundheber; Andreas Conrad;SWRSO Baden-Baden und Freiburg; SylvainCambrelingHanssler Classic 93.314ArnoldSchoenberg’s selfauthoredlibretto forhis dodecaphonicbiblical spectacularMoses und Aron(the latter protagonistis intentionallyrespelled so thatthe title contains exactly 12 letters) calls forthe on-stage appearance of rape, murder,butchery and camels. (Take that, Verdi!)Though he intended the work to includethree acts, the composer completed onlythe first two from 1930 to 1932. In essencehowever the work is closer in spirit to anoratorio and is often effectively presented assuch. Recordings of Moses have been slowbut steady following the composer’s death in1951, with about a dozen available in variousformats. What has kept this opera in theshadows (it was not staged in this hemisphereuntil the Metropolitan Opera presented it in1999) has less to do with the lurid scenariothan the extensive and hugely demandingchoral writing – the most recent staging inWales saw the chorus rehearsing the work forsome 18 months.I consider the true stars of this newrecording to be the members of the eliteEuropaChorAkademie who have thoroughlymastered the score with spectacularresults. In the lead roles the magisterial FranzGrundheber makes a lasting impression in thehalf-sung, half-spoken interpretation of thetongue-tied Moses and is effectively pairedwith the forceful Heldentenor of AndreasConrad as his eloquent spokesman Aron. TheFrench conductor and new music specialistSylvain Cambreling leads the SWR radioorchestra (sadly scheduled to be dissolved in2016) in a finely balanced and lucid accountof the score miraculously cobbled togetherfrom no less than four different performancesin as many venues during a 2012European tour.Daniel FoleyDean Burry – Baby Kintyre, An OperaSoloists; Ensemble; John Hess; Dairine NiMheadhraCentrediscs CMCCD 20314Composer/librettistDean Burry has takena gruesome piece ofToronto history andcreated an episodic,edge-of-seat serialradio opera thrilleroriginally performedin six consecutive2009 broadcasts of CBC’s Saturday Afternoonat the Opera.I remember the media frenzy surroundingthe horrific event. In 2007, a home renovatordiscovered a mummified baby wrappedin a 1925 newspaper in the floorboards of anEast Toronto home. Burry was so moved bythe discovery, that he used the news detailsof the characters to create so appropriatelyemotional, strong and larger-than-life operaticcharacters.Burry’s libretto weaves a spellbinding talewith splashes of slapstick-flavoured humourin this story set in both the 2007 renovator’sdiscovery, and the 1920s’ life in the house onKintyre Ave. The vocal melodies are tonallycontemporary yet accessible. Burry’s use of“Amazing Grace” and “By the Light of theSilvery Moon” add a popular music sentiment.The performances by all the singersare clear and colourful. Eileen Nash is especiallyoutstanding in her performance andchildlike vocal tuning of the ten-year-oldRita. The small orchestra, with super pianistJohn Hess, plays with abandon and colour.Snippets of newscasts, cell phones and othermodern day tidbits complete the soundscape.The CBC Radio Metro Morning documentaryBaby Kintyre – Part 1 & 2 is included afterthe opera, pushing the story back into thereal world.Dean Burry has written a clever, thoughtprovokingand solid opera that requires novisual set to keep the listener enthralled! Oh,the secrets that families hold.Tiina Kiikthewholenote.com November 1 - December 7, 2014 | 75
Choral Scene: Uncharted territory: three choirs finding paths forward; Music Theatre: Loose Tea on the boil with Alaina Viau’s Dead Reckoning; In with the New: what happens to soundart when climate change meets COVID-19; Call to action: diversity, accountability, and reform in post-secondary jazz studies; 9th Annual TIFF Tips: a filmfest like no other; Remembering: Leon Fleisher; DISCoveries: a NY state of mind; 25th anniversary stroll-through; and more.
Online in flip through here, and on stands commencing Tues SEP 1.
Following the Goldberg trail from Gould to Lang Lang; Measha Brueggergosman and Edwin Huizinga on face to face collaboration in strange times; diggings into dance as FFDN keeps live alive; "Classical unicorn?" - Luke Welch reflects on life as a Black classical pianist; Debashis Sinha's adventures in sound art; choral lessons from Skagit Valley; and the 21st annual WholeNote Blue Pages (part 1 of 3) in print and online. Here now. And, yes, still in print, with distribution starting Thursday October 1.
Alanis Obomsawin's art of life; fifteen Exquisite Departures; UnCovered re(dis)covered; jazz in the kitchen; three takes on managing record releases in times of plague; baroque for babies; presenter directory (blue pages) part two; and, here at the WholeNote, work in progress on four brick walls (or is it five?). All this and more available in flipthrough HERE, and in print Tuesday Nov 3.
In this issue: Beautiful Exceptions, Sing-Alone Messiahs, Livingston’s Vocal Pleasures, Chamber Beethoven, Online Opera (Plexiglass & All), Playlist for the Winter of our Discontent, The Oud & the Fuzz, Who is Alex Trebek? All this and more available in flipthrough HERE, and in print Friday December 4.
July/August issue is now available in flipthrough HERE, bringing to a close 25 seasons of doing what we do (and plan to continue doing), and on stands early in the week of July 5. Not the usual bucolic parade of music in the summer sun, but lots, we hope, to pass the time: links to online and virtual music; a full slate of record reviews; plenty new in the Listening Room; and a full slate of stories – the future of opera, the plight of small venues, the challenge facing orchestras, the barriers to resumption of choral life, the challenges of isolation for real-time music; the steps some festivals are taking to keep the spirit and substance of what they do alive. And intersecting with all of it, responses to the urgent call for anti-racist action and systemic change.
"COVID's Metamorphoses"? "There's Always Time (Until Suddenly There Isn't)"? "The Writing on the Wall"? It's hard to know WHAT to call this latest chapter in the extraordinary story we are all of a sudden characters in. By whatever name we call it, the MAY/JUNE combined issue of The WholeNote is now available, HERE in flip through format, in print commencing Wednesday May 6, and, in fully interactive form, online at thewholenote.com. Our 18th Annual Choral Canary Pages, scheduled for publication in print and flip through in September is already well underway with the first 50 choirs home to roost and more being added every week online. Community Voices, our cover story, brings to you the thoughts of 30 musical community members, all going through what we are going through (and with many more to come as the feature gets amplified online over the course of the coming months). And our regular writers bring their personal thoughts to the mix. Finally, a full-fledged DISCoveries review section offers cues and clues to recorded music for your solitary solace!
After some doubt that we would be allowed to go to press, in respect to wide-ranging Ontario business closures relating to COVID-19, The WholeNote magazine for April 2020 is now on press, and print distribution – modified to respect community-wide closures and the need for appropriate distancing – starts Monday March 30. Meanwhile the full magazine is right here, digitally, so if you value us PLEASE SHARE THIS LINK AS WIDELY AS YOU CAN. It's the safest way for us to reach the widest possible audience at this time!
FEATURED: Music & Health writer Vivien Fellegi explores music, blindness & the plasticity of perception; David Jaeger digs into Gustavo Gimeno's plans for new music in his upcoming first season as music director at TSO; pianist James Rhodes, here for an early March recital, speaks his mind in a Q&A with Paul Ennis; and Lydia Perovic talks music and more with rising Turkish-Canadian mezzo Beste Kalender. Also, among our columns, Peggy Baker Dance Projects headlines Wende Bartley's In with the New; Steve Wallace's Jazz Notes rushes in definitionally where many fear to tread; ... and more.
Visions of 2020! Sampling from back to front for a change: in Rearview Mirror, Robert Harris on the Beethoven he loves (and loves to hate!); Errol Gay, a most musical life remembered; Luna Pearl Woolf in focus in recordings editor David Olds' "Editor's Corner" and in Jenny Parr's preview of "Jacqueline"; Speranza Scappucci explains how not to reinvent Rossini; The Indigo Project, where "each piece of cloth tells a story"; and, leading it all off, Jully Black makes a giant leap in "Caroline, or Change." And as always, much more. Now online in flip-through format here and on stands starting Thurs Jan 30.
Welcome to our December/January issue as we turn the annual calendar page, halfway through our season for the 25th time, juggling as always, secular stuff, the spirit of the season, new year resolve and winter journeys! Why is Mozart's Handel's Messiah's trumpet a trombone? Why when Laurie Anderson offers to fly you to the moon you should take her up on the invitation. Why messing with Winterreisse can (sometimes) be a very good thing! And a bumper crop of record reviews for your reading (and sometimes listening) pleasure. Available in flipthrough here right now, and on stands commencing Thursday Nov 28. See you on the other side!
On the slim chance you might not have already heard the news, Estonian Canadian composing giant Udo Kasemets was born the same year that Leo Thermin invented the theremin --1919. Which means this is the centenary year for both of them, and both are being celebrated in style, as Andrew Timar and MJ Buell respectively explain. And that's just a taste of a bustling November, with enough coverage of music of both the delectably substantial and delightfully silly on hand to satisfy one and all.
Long promised, Vivian Fellegi takes a look at Relaxed Performance practice and how it is bringing concert-going barriers down across the spectrum; Andrew Timar looks at curatorial changes afoot at the Music Gallery; David Jaeger investigates the trumpets of October; the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution (and the 20th Anniversary of our October Blue Pages Presenter profiles) in our Editor's Opener; the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir at 125; Tapestry at 40 and Against the Grain at 10; ringing in the changing season across our features and columns; all this and more, now available in Flip Through format here, and on the stands commencing this coming Friday September 27, 2019. Enjoy.
Vol 1 of our 25th season is now here! And speaking of 25, that's how many films in the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival editor Paul Ennis, in our Eighth Annual TIFF TIPS, has chosen to highlight for their particular musical interest.
Also inside: Rob Harris looks through the Rear View Mirror at past and present prognostications about the imminent death of classical music; Mysterious Barricades and Systemic Barriers are Lydia Perović's preoccupations in Art of Song; Andrew Timar reflects on the evolving priorities of the Polaris Prize; and elsewhere, it's chocks away as yet another season creaks or roars (depending on the beat) into motion. Welcome back.
What a range of stuff! A profile of Liz Upchurch, the COC ensemble studio's vocal mentor extraordinaire; a backgrounder on win-win faith/arts centre partnerships and ways of exploring the possibilities; an interview with St. Petersburg-based Eifman Ballet's Boris Eifman; Ana Sokolovic's violin concert Evta finally coming to town; a Love Letter to YouTube, and much more. Plus our 17th annual Canary Pages Choral directory if all you want to do is sing! sing! sing!
Arraymusic, the Music Gallery and Native Women in the Arts join for a mini-festival celebrating the work of composer, performer and installation artist Raven Chacon; Music and Health looks at the role of Healing Arts Ontario in supporting concerts in care facilities; Kingston-based composer Marjan Mozetich's life and work are celebrated in film; "Forest Bathing" recontextualizes Schumann, Shostakovich and Hindemith; in Judy Loman's hands, the harp can sing; Mahler's Resurrection bursts the bounds of symphonic form; Ed Bickert, guitar master remembered. All this and more in our April issue, now online in flip-through here, and on stands commencing Friday March 29.
Something Old, Something New! The Ide(a)s of March are Upon Us! Rob Harris's Rear View Mirror looks forward to a tonal revival; Tafelmusik expands their chronological envelope in two directions, Esprit makes wave after wave; Pax Christi's new oratorio by Barbara Croall catches the attention of our choral and new music columnists; and summer music education is our special focus, right when warm days are once again possible to imagine. All this and more in our March 2019 edition, available in flipthrough here, and on the stands starting Thursday Feb 28.
In this issue: A prize that brings lustre to its laureates (and a laureate who brings lustre to the prize); Edwin Huizinga on the journey of Opera Atelier's "The Angel Speaks" from Versailles to the ROM; Danny Driver on playing piano in the moment; Remembering Neil Crory (a different kind of genius)' Year of the Boar, Indigeneity and Opera; all this and more in Volume 24 #5. Online in flip through, HERE and on the stands commencing Thursday Jan 31.
When is a trumpet like a motorcycle in a dressage event? How many Brunhilde's does it take to change an Elektra? Just two of the many questions you've been dying to ask, to which you will find answers in a 24th annual combined December/January issue – in which our 11 beat columnists sift through what's on offer in the upcoming holiday month, and what they're already circling in their calendars for 2019. Oh, and features too: a klezmer violinist breathing new life into a very old film; two New Music festivals in January, 200 metres apart; a Music & Health story on the restorative powers of a grassroots exercise in collective music-making; even a good reason to go to Winnipeg in the dead of winter. All this and more in Vol 24 No 4, now available in flipthrough format here.
Reluctant arranger! National Ballet Orchestra percussionist Kris Maddigan on creating the JUNO and BAFTA award-winning smash hit Cuphead video game soundtrack; Evergreen by name and by nature, quintessentially Canadian gamelan (Andrew Timar explains); violinist Angèle Dubeau on 20 years and 60 million streams; two children’s choirs where this month remembrance and living history must intersect. And much more, online in our kiosk now, and on the street commencing Thursday November 1.
Presenters, start your engines! With TIFF and "back-to-work" out of the way, the regular concert season rumbles to life, and, if our Editor's Opener can be trusted, "Seeking Synergies" seems to be the name of the game. Denise Williams' constantly evolving "Walk Together Children" touching down at the Toronto Centre for the Arts; the second annual Festival of Arabic Music and Arts expanding its range; a lesson in Jazz Survival with Steve Wallace; the 150 presenter and performer profiles in our 19th annual Blue Pages directory... this is an issue that is definitely more than the sum of its parts.
In this issue: The WholeNote's 7th Annual TIFF TIPS guide to festival films with musical clout; soprano Erin Wall in conversation with Art of Song columnist Lydia Perovic, about more than the art of song; a summer's worth of recordings reviewed; Toronto Chamber Choir at 50 (is a few close friends all it takes?); and much more, as the 2018/19 season gets under way.
PLANTING NOT PAVING! In this JUNE / JULY /AUGUST combined issue: Farewell interviews with TSO's Peter Oundjian and Stratford Summer Music's John Miller, along with "going places" chats with Luminato's Josephine Ridge, TD Jazz's Josh Grossman and Charm of Finches' Terry Lim. ) Plus a summer's worth of fruitful festival inquiry, in the city and on the road, in a feast of stories and our annual GREEN PAGES summer Directory.
In this issue: our sixteenth annual Choral Canary Pages; coverage of 21C, Estonian Music Week and the 3rd Toronto Bach Festival (three festivals that aren’t waiting for summer!); and features galore: “Final Finales” for Larry Beckwith’s Toronto Masque Theatre and for David Fallis as artistic director of Toronto Consort; four conductors on the challenges of choral conducting; operatic Hockey Noir; violinist Stephen Sitarski’s perspective on addressing depression; remembering bandleader, composer and saxophonist Paul Cram. These and other stories, in our May 2018 edition of the magazine.
In this issue: we talk with jazz pianist Thompson Egbo-Egbo about growing up in Toronto, building a musical career, and being adaptive to change; pianist Eve Egoyan prepares for her upcoming Luminato project and for the next stage in her long-term collaborative relationship with Spanish-German composer Maria de Alvear; jazz violinist Aline Homzy, halfway through preparing for a concert featuring standout women bandleaders, talks about social equity in the world of improvised music; and the local choral community celebrates the life and work of choral conductor Elmer Iseler, 20 years after his passing.
In this issue: Canadian Stage, Tapestry Opera and Vancouver Opera collaborate to take Gogol’s short story The Overcoat to the operatic stage; Montreal-based Sam Shalabi brings his ensemble Land of Kush, and his newest composition, to Toronto; Five Canadian composers, each with a different CBC connection, are nominated for JUNOs; and The WholeNote team presents its annual Summer Music Education Directory, a directory of summer music camps, programs and courses across the province and beyond.
In this issue: composer Nicole Lizée talks about her love for analogue equipment, and the music that “glitching” evokes; Richard Rose, artistic director at the Tarragon Theatre, gives us insights into their a rock-and-roll Hamlet, now entering production; Toronto prepares for a mini-revival of Schoenberg’s music, with three upcoming shows at New Music Concerts; and the local music theatre community remembers and celebrates the life and work of Mi’kmaq playwright and performer Cathy Elliott . These and other stories, in our double-issue December/January edition of the magazine.
In this issue: conversations (of one kind or another) galore! Daniela Nardi on taking the reins at "best-kept secret" venue, 918 Bathurst; composer Jeff Ryan on his "Afghanistan" Requiem for a Generation" partnership with war poet, Susan Steele; lutenist Ben Stein on seventeenth century jazz; collaborative pianist Philip Chiu on going solo; Barbara Hannigan on her upcoming Viennese "Second School" recital at Koerner; Tina Pearson on Pauline Oliveros; and as always a whole lot more!
In this issue: several local artists reflect on the memory of composer Claude Vivier, as they prepare to perform his music; Vancouver gets ready to host international festival ISCM World New Music Days, which is coming to Canada for the second time since its inception in 1923; one of the founders of Artword Artbar, one of Hamilton’s staple music venues, on the eve of the 5th annual Steel City Jazz Festival, muses on keeping urban music venues alive; and a conversation with pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, as he prepares for an ambitious recital in Toronto. These and other stories, in our October 2017 issue of the magazine.
In this issue: a look at why musicians experience stage fright, and how to combat it; an inside look at the second Kensington Market Jazz Festival, which zeros in on one of Toronto’s true ‘music villages’; an in-depth interview with Elisa Citterio, new music director of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; and The WholeNote’s guide to TIFF, with suggestions for the 20 most musical films at this year’s festival. These and other stories, in our September 2017 issue of the magazine!
CBC Radio's Lost Horizon; Pinocchio as Po-Mo Operatic Poster Boy; Meet the Curators (Crow, Bernstein, Ridge); a Global Music Orchestra is born; and festivals, festivals, festivals in our 13th annual summer music Green Pages. All this and more in our three-month June-through August summer special issue, now available in flipthrough HERE and on the stands commencing Thursday June 1.
From science fact in "Integral Man: Music and the Movies," to science fiction in the editor's opener; from World Fiddle Day at the Aga Khan Museum to three Canadians at the Cliburn; from wanting to sashay across the 401 to Chamberfest in Montreal to exploring the Continuum of Jumblies Theatre's 20-year commitment to the Community Play (there's a pun in there somewhere!).
In this issue: Our podcast ramps up with interviews in March with fight director Jenny Parr, countertenor Daniel Taylor, and baritone Russell Braun; two views of composer John Beckwith at 90; how music’s connection to memory can assist with the care of patients with Alzheimer’s; musical celebrations in film and jazz, at National Canadian Film Day and Jazz Day; and a preview of Louis Riel, which opens this month at the COC. These and other stories, in our April 2017 issue of the magazine!
On our cover: Owen Pallett's musical palette on display at New Creations. Spring brings thoughts of summer music education! (It's never too late.). For Marc-Andre Hamelin the score is king. Ella at 100 has the tributes happening. All; this and more.
In this issue: an interview with composer/vocalist Jeremy Dutcher, on his upcoming debut album and unique compositional voice; a conversation with Boston Symphony hornist James Sommerville, as as the BSO gets ready to come to his hometown; Stuart Hamilton, fondly remembered; and an inside look at Hugh’s Room, as it enters a complicated chapter in the story of its life in the complex fabric of our musical city. These and other stories, as we celebrate the past and look forward to the rest of 2016/17, the first glimpses of 2017/18, and beyond!
In this issue: a conversation with pianist Stewart Goodyear, in advance of his upcoming show at Koerner Hall; a preview of the annual New Year’s phenomenon that is Bravissimo!/Salute to Vienna; an inside look at music performance in Toronto’s health-care centres; and a reflection on the incredible life and lasting influence of the late Pauline Oliveros. These and more, in a special December/January combined issue!
In this issue: David Jaeger and Alex Pauk’s most memorable R. Murray Schafer collabs, in this month’s installment of Jaeger’s CBC Radio Two: The Living Legacy; an interview with flutist Claire Chase, who brings new music and mindset to Toronto this month; an investigation into the strange coincidence of three simultaneous Mendelssohn Elijahs this Nov 5; and of course, our annual Blue Pages, a who’s who of southern Ontario’s live music scene- a community as prolific and multifaceted as ever. These and more, as we move full-force into the 2016/17 concert season- all aboard!
Music lover's TIFF (our fifth annual guide to the Toronto International Film Festival); Aix Marks the Spot (how Brexit could impact on operatic co-production); The Unstoppable Howard Cable (an affectionate memoir of a late chapter in the life of of a great Canadian arranger; Kensington Jazz Story (the newest kid on the festival block flexes its muscles). These stories and much more as we say a lingering goodbye to summer and turn to the task, for the 22nd season, of covering the live and recorded music that make Southern Ontario tick.
It's combined June/July/August summer issue time with, we hope, enough between the covers to keep you dipping into it all through the coming lazy, hazy days. From Jazz Vans racing round "The Island" delivering pop-up brass breakouts at the roadside, to Bach flute ambushes strolling "The Grove, " to dozens of reasons to stay in the city. May yours be a summer where you find undiscovered musical treasures, and, better still, when, unexpectedly, the music finds you.
INSIDE: The Canaries Are Here! 116 choirs to choose from, so take the plunge! The Nylons hit the road after one last SING! Fling. Jazz writer Steve Wallace wonders "Watts Goode" rather than "what's new?" Paul Ennis has the musical picks of the HotDocs crop. David Jaeger's CBC Radio continues golden for a little while yet. Douglas McNabney is Music's Child. Leipzig meets Damascus in Alison Mackay's fertile imagination. And "C" is for KRONOS in Wende Bartley's koverage of the third annual 21C Festival. All this and as usual much much more. Enjoy.
From 30 camp profiles to spark thoughts of being your summer musical best, to testing LUDWIG as you while away the rest of so-called winter; from Scottish Opera and the Danish Midtvest, to a first Toronto recital appearance by violin superstar Maxim Vengerov; from musings on New Creations and new creation, to the boy who made a habit of crying Beowulf; it's a month of merry meetings and rousing recordings reviewed, all here to discover in The WholeNote.
2016 is off to a flying start! We chronicle the Artful Times of Andrew Burashko, the violistic versatility of Teng Li, the ageless ebullience of jazz pianist Gene DiNovi and the ninetieth birthday of trumpeter Johnny Cowell. Jaeger remembers Boulez; Waxman recalls Bley's influence, and Olds finds Bowie haunting Editor's Corner. Oh, and did we mention there's all that music? Hello (and goodbye) to the February blues, and here's to swinging through the musical vines of the Year of the Monkey.
What's a vinyl renaissance? What happens when Handel's Messiah runs afoul of the rumba rhythm setting on a (gasp!) Hammond organ? What work does Marc-Andre Hamelin say he would be content to have on every recital program he plays? What are Steve Wallace's favourite fifty Christmas recordings? Why is violinist Daniel Hope celebrating Yehudi Menuhin's 100th birthday at Koerner Hall January 28? Answers to all these questions (and a whole lot more) in the Dec/Jan issue of The WholeNote.
"Come" seems to be the verb that knits this month's issue together. Sondra Radvanovsky comes to Koerner, William Norris comes to Tafel as their new GM, opera comes to Canadian Stage; and (a long time coming!) Jane Bunnett's musicianship and mentorship are honoured with the Premier's award for excellence; plus David Jaeger's ongoing series on the golden years of CBC Radio Two, Andrew Timar on hybridity, a bumper crop of record reviews and much much more. Come on in!
Vol 21 No 2 is now available for your viewing pleasure, and it's a bumper crop, right at the harvest moon. First ever Canadian opera on the Four Seasons Centre main stage gets double coverage with Wende Bartley interviewing Pyramus and Thisbe composer Barbara Monk Feldman and Chris Hoile connecting with director Christopher Alden; Paul Ennis digs into the musical mind of pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, and pianist Eve Egoyan is "On the Record" in conversation with publisher David Perlman ahead of the Oct release concert for her tenth recording. And at the heart of it all the 16th edition of our annual BLUE PAGES directory of presenters profile the season now well and truly under way.
Paul Ennis's annual TIFF TIPS (27 festival films of potential particular musical interest); Wu Man, Yo-Yo Ma and Jeffrey Beecher on the Silk Road; David Jaeger on CBC Radio Music in the days it was committed to commissioning; the LISTENING ROOM continues to grow on line; DISCoveries is back, bigger than ever; and Mary Lou Fallis says Trinity-St. Paul's is Just the Spot (especially this coming Sept 25!).
