Till Fellner: Clarity FirstPAUL ENNISTill Fellner was 18 in 1990 when he was askedto play for Alfred Brendel. It was arguably thepivotal moment of his life. Three years laterhe won the Clara Haskil piano competitiongaining a modicum of name recognition and an entréeinto the world of recordings.The head of the keyboard department at the Viennaconservatory, where Fellner had been a student since1981, had suggested a meeting with Brendel in a castlein Grafenegg not far from Vienna where the notedpianist was giving a recital. Fellner was invited tolisten to Brendel’s rehearsal in the morning and thenplay a few pieces for him. The older pianist immediatelystarted teaching by correcting what the youngerman was playing. His first lesson had just begun.Brendel then suggested that Fellner call him andarrange another.Over the next 10 to 12 years, two or three times eachyear, Fellner visited London where Brendel lived andfor two or three days at a stretch, for three to five hourseach day, the lessons continued. As Fellner told me ina recent email exchange, Brendel “has been the mostimportant influence in my musical life. As a teacher healways gave me an overview of a whole piece, but also showed me howto work on all of its details. His attitude as an interpreter, who alwaystried to serve the music and the composer, will remain a model for me.”The Vienna-born Fellner has served his mentor well. In 2010 he wrotean appreciation of Brendel for The Gramophone. “Some musicians are soconcerned with detail that they can sound pedantic and lose the senseof line,” he wrote. “Others play with a lot of passion but miss some ofthe refinement.” He attributed Brendel’s great playing to his ability tocombine these two concerns.While waiting to follow up on Fellner’s answers to the questions I hademailed, I spent several hours listening to his ECM Bach recordings of theWell-Tempered Clavier Book I and Two-Part Inventions, Sinfonias andFrench Suite No. 5. His unflinching legato playing is never overbearing.Far from it. His naturalism, which flows organically, can be transformative,its clarity hypnotic; dynamism within a well-defined dynamicrange. And you only notice his formidable technique when he effortlesslyplays a passage quicker than almost anyone else, but never withouta musical reason for doing so.Fellner’s answers to my emailed questions were fascinating, conciseand informative. When I spoke to him the next day by telephone from hishome in Vienna after an intense, fulfilling tour around France, I foundhim to be thoughtful, engaged and soft-spoken but forthright.His Toronto debut March 10 under the auspices of Music Torontoincludes four preludes and fugues from Book II of the Well-TemperedClavier. I asked him to briefly characterize each of them:“As usual with Bach, the characters of the pieces are very different. ThePrelude in E major is a subtle, atmospheric piece, the eccentric E-minorPrelude is drier, more harpsichord-like. The Prelude in F major has aflowing, water-like quality, whereas the F-minor Prelude is an intimate,private piece (as often with Bach’s F-minor works). The F-major Fugueseems to me a religious piece. The fiery E-minor Fugue is written in avirtuoso style (a similar way of piano writing as in the G-major Fugue ofBook I), and the Fugues in F major and F minor are more dance-like.”Even before Fellner met Brendel, the Bach recordings of Brendel’sown teacher Edwin Fischer had been a revelation to Fellner. Every piecesounded differently and had its own distinct character. He told me thathe remembered Fischer saying in one of his books that clarity alwayscame first.The two Mozart pieces in Fellner’s March 10 recital – the Rondo in Aminor K511 and the Sonata in E-flat major K282 – are among the mostdeceptively simple yet singularly beautiful of the composer’s works. I... a musical person mustbe able to write downthe score just throughlistening to your playing.told Fellner that I’m always amazed by the brief darkness in the sonata’sfirst movement right after the first repeat where Mozart seems to go intoa hauntingly chromatic space before slipping into an almost Chopinlikemoment.“I have just studied the Sonata in E flat major” he replied, “and all Ican say is that the first movement seems to me the most beautiful anddifficult one. It is unusual for Mozart to begin a sonata with a slow movement.The chromatic passage you have mentioned can be seen as a linkto the Rondo K511, in which chromaticism plays a major role. This latepiece is very intimate, melancholic, but also gracious. There are a lot ofsurprising dynamic and articulatory markings.”Wilhelm Kempff has said that he considers Schumann’s compositionsOpus 1 through 28 the greatest, the most significant works the composerever wrote, finding “compressed genius” in every bar. I asked Fellner forhis thoughts on the final piece in his Toronto program Kreisleriana Op.16 and on Kempff too.“Kreisleriana is definitely one of Schumann’s masterworks. Whileother piano pieces were inspired by the writer Jean Paul (like the Papillonsand the Davidsbündlertänze) the character of the KapellmeisterKreisler was invented by E. T. A. Hoffmann. As I am very fond of thesewriters, I find such literary references very appealing. Another inspirationin all of Schumann’s works was of course his beloved Clara, andAlfred Brendel is probably right in characterizing the slow movementsof Kreisleriana as portraits of Clara. Another obvious influence worthmentioning in connection with my present recital program is J. S. Bach.“Although I have some personal favourites between Op. 1 and Op. 28(Davidsbündlertänze Op. 6, Fantasiestücke Op. 12, Sinfonische EtüdenOp. 13, Kinderszenen Op. 15, Kreisleriana Op. 16, Fantasie Op. 17, andHumoreske Op. 20), I am not going to argue with Wilhelm Kempff,one of the greatest pianists of all time. His recording of Kreisleriana isoutstanding.”Asked about what goes into planning a program such as this one,Fellner mentioned how appropriate Stankovski’s Traumprotokoll(Dream Journal) was. Fellner commissioned the five-to-six-minutepiece (which consists of eleven mini-bagatelles) last fall and finds thatits dream-like, night atmosphere goes very well with “this very eccentricand kind of crazy Schumann piece” which it immediately precedesin the Toronto recital.Fellner likes to play two programs per year, one for the fall season andanother for the spring (which he has just now begun and will play untilContinues to page 788 | March 1 - April 7, 2015 thewholenote.comBEN EALOVEGA
O Dowland!DAVID PODGORSKILet us now take a moment to praise John Dowland. The earlymusic movement owes much to the famed English composerand master of the Renaissance lute song. He gave us a sizeablebody of work that has come to function as a kind of soundtrack tothe English Renaissance for modern listeners. As impressive, in his owntime, Dowland was famous throughout Europe, not only as a composerof popular songs (nearly 90) but also for his solo lute music (nearly 90of those works as well).As a Catholic in late Elizabethan England, though, Dowland found itdifficult to make a living in the early stages of his career. Although hewas a trained musician with a Bachelor of Music from Oxford (apparentlythey gave out music degrees in the 16th century too), Dowlandblamed intolerance against Catholics for his inability to get a positionin the English court, eventually leaving England in 1594, to make hisfortune abroad on the Continent. His exceptional talents took him farand wide, and he earned renown from Denmark to Italy. After nearlytwo decades abroad, Dowland finally returned to England as a lutenistin the Catholic court of James I. Although the well-travelled composerwas a citizen of the world who, as the story goes, eventually camehome to England, he has come to symbolize a particularly Englishsound for the music of his time.I emphasize Dowland’s Englishness this way because there’s agroup playing in Toronto in March that proposes an alternate historyfor him. The weekend of March 27 and 28 will see Dowland reimaginedas a composer of Irish folk music by Montreal early music groupLa Nef, who will come to Trinity St-Paul’s Centre as part of the TorontoConsort’s guest artist series.Granted, there is some evidence that supports this appropriation/repatriationof Dowland, but the way I see it, it’s spurious atworst, and circumstantial at best. He was a Catholic, it’s true, butthere were more than a few English Catholics at the time. There’salso the dedication Dowland affixed to his song “From Silent Night”to “my loving countryman, Mr. John Foster the younger, merchant ofDublin, in Ireland,” but Foster could very well have been an Englishexpat. There’s not a whole lot else to convince a sceptic like me thatthe composer merits repatriation. Nevertheless, Ensemble La Nef hasboldly decided to reimagine the father of English song as a full-onIrish composer, rearranging his music in a folk style and playingthe tunes on folk instruments like the cittern, the Irish flute and theviolin along with historical instruments like the viola da gamba andtheorbo. So if it seems like La Nef was determined to turn the earlymusic world on its ear when they released Dowland in Dublin in2012, they succeeded. It was a great success for the group, selling outevery copy at several concerts on a North American tour. When La Neffinally makes a stop in Toronto to promote the album, Toronto audienceswill not only hear a new perspective on Dowland’s music, but asimportant, get to decide for themselves if it works..“When I first thought of the project, I was doing folk song versionsof art songs and I was interested in taking so-called serious music andseeing if it could work in a folk context,” says citternist Seán Dagher.“I realized that Dowland’s music could serve those particular needs –his music has some really beautiful, simple melodies that lend themselvesto a folk adaptation.”Dagher’s interpretations finally came to fruition when he foundhimself performing on his cittern at a party with some members ofLa Nef in attendance. He decided to take a risk and perform his ownfolk-inspired version of Dowland’s tune “Come Again” for the veteranmedieval and Renaissance group. La Nef was delighted with Dagher’sperformance and decided then and there that this was an idea thathad enough potential for a full album. Combing Dowland’s 90 songs,they selected 17 that would lend themselves to a folk interpretationand proceeded to make a total overhaul of the music – stripping awayalmost all of the composer’s arrangements and making their own inthe process.“I really tried to treat Dowland’s music like it’s an arrangement ofTILL FELLNER, PianistELIAS QUARTETThursday,March 26at 8 pmwww.music-toronto.com416-366-7723 1-800-708-6754order online at www.stlc.comthewholenote.com March 1 - April 7, 2015 | 9atCanadianHeritageTuesday,March 10at 8 pmThursday, March 19 at 8 pmELLIOT MADOREBaritonePatrimoinecanadien
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!).
