Volume 30 Issue 3 | December 2024 & January 2025

egrammophon.com/en/catalogue/products/fantasia-magdalena-hoffmann-13555).The focus this time is on the Baroqueperiod, with a collection of fantasias andpreludes originally composed for keyboardor lute by J. S. Bach, his sons WilhelmFriedmann and Carl Philipp Emanuel, pluscontemporaries George Frideric Handel andSilvius Leopold Weiss.Hoffmann uses the music here to explorethe resonance and versatility of her instrument in a delightful recitalof predominantly brief works, Bach’s sons providing the three moresubstantial offerings: W. F. Bach’s Fantasia in D Minor, F19; and C. P. E.Bach’s Fantasia in E-flat Major, H348 and in particular his remarkableFantasia in F-sharp Minor, H300, “C. P. E. Bachs Empfindungen.”It’s more outstanding playing from a supremely-gifted performer.On Pastiches guitarist John Schneider adopts a fascinating andinnovative approach to pieces that pay homage to music of the past(MicroFest Records M-F 27 microfestrecords.com/pastiches).Schneider wondered how works written“in the style of” pastiches would soundif performed in the appropriate temperamentsof the period they evoke. The resultis a CD using a variety of refretted guitarsand Well-Tempered, Meantone and JustIntonation tunings.There are older works by Manuel Ponce,Alonso Mudarra and Mauro Giuliani, with Dusan Bogdanovich’sRenaissance Micropieces from 2014 the most recent. PercussionistMatthew Cook provides support on six short pieces by Lou Harrisonand Benjamin Britten’s Courtly Dances from Gloriana, all arranged bySchneider. Gloria Cheng adds harpsichord to Ponce’s Preludio in E.It’s an interesting experiment, but I’m not sure that it ever amountsto anything more than that; despite the fine playing there’s a resultingand understandable loss of brightness to many of the pieces – mostof which were after all written for a modern instrument – andconsequently a limited dynamic range.VOCALWalter Braunfels – Jeanne d’ArcJuliane Banse; Salzburger Bachchor andKinderchor; ORF Vienna Radio SymphonyOrchestra; Manfred HoneckCapriccio C5515 (naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=C5515)! Her brief buteventful life andagonizing deathhave been depictedin paintings, books,plays, films andseveral operas,most notablythose by Verdiand Tchaikovsky. In 1943, Walter Braunfelscompleted the three-act opera he titledSzenen aus dem Leben der Heilige Johanna(Scenes from the Life of Saint Joan). It wasn’theard, however, until 2001 in a concertperformance in Stockholm conducted byManfred Honeck (since 2008 the musicdirector of the Pittsburgh SymphonyOrchestra). At the 2013 Salzburg Festival,Honeck again conducted a concert performance,preserved in this two-CD set.Braunfels’ self-written libretto traces, inseven scenes, Joan’s life from when she firstreceives her marching orders from SaintsCatherine, Margaret and Michael until herimmolation at the stake. It’s dramaticallycompelling throughout, illuminatedby Braunfels’ powerful score, composed inthe post-Wagnerian Germanic idiom thatAlexander von Zemlinsky and Franz Schrekeremployed in their increasingly admiredoperas – rapturous flights of vocal lyricismamid intense, tonally indecisive harmoniesand boldly-coloured orchestral strokes.The chorus provides some of the opera’smost thrilling passages – the stirring sceneas the entire ensemble prepares to marchoff to the besieged city of Orleans, singingof the victory to come; the exalted grandeurof King Charles’ coronation; and the angrymob of Rouen’s townspeople demandingJoan’s death. The opera’s closing minutes areextraordinarily emotion-wrenching – Joan’secstatic, final outburst at her trial for heresy(Braunfels quoted her words from the actualtrial documents), Gilles de Rais’ anguishedaria as he witnesses Joan’s execution and thechorus of townspeople, having seen Joan’sheart unburned and a dove rising from herashes, proclaiming a holy miracle.Leading the superb cast are soprano JulianeBanse (Joan), her light, bright voice perfect forthe teenage heroine, tenor Pavel Breslik (KingCharles), bass-baritone Johan Reuter (Gillesde Rais) and bass Ruben Drole (Duke of LaTrémouille). As the opera requires an additional12 soloists plus chorus and children’schorus, in today’s economic climate theexpense of mounting a fully-staged productionof such an unfamiliar opera may be toorisky an enterprise. But it surely deserves tobe seen as well as heard! (Texts and translationsare included.)Michael SchulmanSilenced – Unsung Voices of the 20thCentury (Schreker; Ullmann; Kapralova;Zemlinsky)Ian Koziara; Bradley MooreCedille CDR 90000 231 (cedillerecords.org/albums/silenced-unsung-voices-of-the-20th-century)! They wereenjoying successfulcareers ascomposers andconductors untiltheir Jewishancestry resulted intheir “voices” being“silenced” by the Nazis, their music banned,their podium engagements cancelled, theirlives altered. Franz Schreker (1878-1934)suffered a fatal stroke; self-exiled VitežslavaKaprálová (1915-1940) succumbed to diseasein France; Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871-1942) died, forgotten, in New York; ViktorUllmann (1898-1944) was murdered inAuschwitz. But their music survives, hereperformed with operatic fervour by Americanheldentenor Ian Koziara; Bradley Moore scintillatesin the often elaborate, extended pianoaccompaniments.Three early songs by Schreker are highlightedby the surging, ecstatic Frühling(Spring), celebrating “spring’s splendour.”Heightened drama imbues five songsby Zemlinsky – two filled with reverentialreligiosity, two bitterly sardonic aboutwartime mutilation and mortality; the fifth, adespairing “dance of death.” Of the ten chromatic,emotionally-laden songs by Kaprálová,the first Czech woman to conduct professionally,I particularly enjoyed the rhapsodic Jitro(Morning), the wild, surrealistic Jamí Pout’(Spring Fair), the regretful Navždy (Forever)and the passionate Čím Je Můj Žal (What IsMy Grief).Ullmann, despite studying with ArnoldSchoenberg (who studied with Zemlinsky!),never embraced serialism, although his musicis tonally ambiguous. Three of this CD’s sevensongs stand out: the robust Schnitterlied(Reaper-Song), the satiric Die Schweitzer (TheSwiss) and the ruminative Abendphantasie(Evening Fantasy). Abendphantasie,composed during Ullmann’s internmentin Terezin, ends with the supremelyironic words, “my old age will be peacefuland serene.”Michael Schulman48 | December 2024 & January 2025 thewholenote.com

Where Waters MeetCanadian Chamber Choir; SherrylSewepagahamIndependent (canadianchamberchoir.bandcamp.com/album/where-watersmeet)! Formed in1999, the CanadianChamber Choir hasa unique approachto music making.Under the directionof Julia Davids andassociate conductorJoel Tranquilla, theensemble drawsmembers from all parts of the country andconvenes periodically in different citiesacross Canada spending three or four daysin rehearsal before presenting concerts orworkshops.This newest recording titled Where WatersMeet featuring singer Sherryl Sewepagahamis an homage to Canadian Indigenous cultureand appears at a particularly fortuitous timewhen the Indigenous presence in Canada isreceiving long-overdue recognition.Sewepagaham, a Cree-Dene artist fromLittle Red River Cree Nation in NorthernAlberta, opens the recording with thehaunting Morning Drum Song. The remainderof the pieces appropriately have an aquatictheme, including Hussein Janmohamed’s Sunon Water which comprises a true melding ofcultures in its use of texts from Hindi, Islamic,Christian and Cree cultures.The major piece in the program, WhereWaters Meet by Canadian arctic composerCarmen Braden with texts by First Nationsplaywright Yolanda Bonnell, is in fourmovements, interspersed throughout therecording. The words are inspired by varioussources, with the third movement based ona 2022 Toronto Star article focusing on theissue of poor water quality found in manyIndigenous communities.What a wonderful sound this ensembleachieves, at all times demonstrating a keensense of dynamics and phrasing. All thewhile, Sewepagaham, as a soloist either withor without the choir, delivers a compellingperformance, the voice of a culture too longunder-acknowledged. Attractive packagingand detailed notes further enhance an alreadyfine recording.Richard HaskellLuna Pearl Woolf – JacquelineMarnie Breckenridge; Matt HaimovitzPentatone PTC5187341 (pentatonemusic.com/product/jacqueline)! “It is with aheavy heart thatI must cancelmy engagements,”announcesJacqueline duPré towards theend of Canadian-American composerLuna Pearl Woolf’s gripping chamber opera,Jacqueline. It’s 1973, and the incomparableBritish cellist is only 28 years old. Butthe ravages of MS have forced her to stopperforming.Woolf and her librettist, Canadian RoyceVavrek, focus on du Pré’s most significantrelationship – with her cello. There are justtwo performers. It’s a daring artistic choice,and it works brilliantly here. The charismaticAmerican soprano Marnie Breckenridge isdu Pré, and cellist extraordinaire, MontrealbasedMatt Haimovitz, is her cello. It is asdramatic as it is moving.Other performers will undoubtedly wantto take on these two challenging roles. Butit’s hard to imagine anyone surpassing eitherBreckenridge or Haimovitz. Breckenridgeevokes du Pré with untethered intensity.Yet her voice retains its luminous allurethroughout. Haimovitz does full justice to duPré’s matchless sound with his richly expressivetone and effortless technique.Vavrek, newly-appointed Artistic Directorof Against the Grain, shows why his workis in such demand by composers today. Hislibretto is unsparing. But it’s poetic andplayful enough to offset the grimness ofdu Pré’s struggles, recalling joyful childhoodmemories and key works that definedher career.Pentatone has produced an especiallyattractive CD set, with a booklet containingthe full libretto and photos of the originalstaging by Toronto’s Tapestry Opera in 2020.Pamela MarglesKris Defoort – The Time of Our SingingClaron McFadden; Mark S. Doss; SimonBailey; Levy Sekgapane; La MonnaieChamber Orchestra; Kwamé RyanFuga Libera FUG837 (outhere-music.com/en/albums/kris-defoort-time-our-singing)! BelgiancomposerKris Defoort’smultilayered operaThe Time of OurSinging followsmembers of amixed-race familythrough the years1939 to 1992. Repeatedly they are torn apartby the pernicious effects of the racism theyeach have to confront in their lives. But theirshared passion for music always brings themback together.Defoort and his compatriot, librettist Petervan Kraaij, have adapted a 629-page novelby Richard Powers, published over 20 yearsago. In contrast to the novel, which jumpsaround in time, the opera follows a traditionalchronological narrative. The harmoniclanguage is familiar, the rhythmic structureclear. Yet it sounds startlingly new, and fundamentallyof our time.The many musical references are takendirectly from Powers’ novel. Since they areintegral to the story, Defoort weaves themright into the texture of the opera. The soundsof Dowland, Purcell, Bach, Puccini, spirituals,What we're listening to this month:thewholenote.com/listeningUsual SuspectsNo CodesA blend of contemporary jazz, freeimprovisation, and punk influences,offering a daring, experimentaljourney with explosive energy andmeditative moments.MOSAICTerry Clarke, Stefan Bauer, MatthewHalpin & Matthias Akeo NowakInter-generational and internationallyrecognized jazz artists present acontemporary, eponymous projectfeaturing original compositions, diverseinfluences and thrilling performances,rendered with skill and heart.Crazy TalkHoward GladstoneEighth release from the Torontosongwriter spanning folk,chamber, jazz, world genres,on topical and timeless themes.Lovingly sung, skilfully played.Confluence of Raga GuitarsJoel Veena & Matthew GrassoAn immersive cascade of strings,resonating in the emotion andmajesty of North Indian ragas:Hindustani slide guitar andtantrakari guitar in duet.thewholenote.com December 2024 & January 2025 | 49