immigrant cultures of
immigrant cultures of the two countries. This grandeur. Dolin's Marie Donovan gives a fine account of two songs engaging disc of six pieces for string quartet (two cello tone has a written by Brahms for piano and cello [originally with the addition of mezzo-soprano solo) ought to commanding viola] accompaniment. whet listeners' appetites for more. intensity, ideal These four w,orthwhile Canadian projects are Sculthorpe's music draws its inspiration from for uncovering _generally well produced, but minor faults affect the landscapes of the Australian subcontinent, and the contempla- each one. Extremely close microphone placement also from the indigenous musics of Australia, tive sources of leads to the exaggerated vibrato sometimes mar- Papua, New Guinea, Indonesia and Japan. It is the gorgeous ring Prochazka's cello sound, and to the occasional characterized by non-developmental structures melodies. Her intrusion of Dolin's breathing during her with slow harmonic rhythm and overlapping pedals ability to express performance. Outrageous cover art.. featuring - "like the geological strata of the place," he says- the. composers' Monty Pythonesque graphics and garish colour fails haunting melodies and rhythmically complex intentions is hardly surprising given that she is to complement · ·ostinatos. The pieces here cover his mature the daughter of one of Canada's most beloved the Pulfordcareer, from the late sixties to the late nineties. composers and teachers, Samuel Dolin, who died Macdonald disc. The Brodsky Quartet, for whom (along with recently. Kay's luminous piano textures add layers Program bo6k Anne Sofie von Otter) the title piece was written, of mystery to the Debussy. The charming and · lets contain inacperforms with panache. Their sound is a little stylish performance of Janacek's Pohddka makes curacies: in the I raw, perhaps in part because their intonation this disc especially attractive, for this set of fairy Motard- Baril features very high thirds and leading tones, but tales by one of the most interesting late romantic disc, the third they have a wonderful rhythmic integrity. Von composers has been rarely recorded. movement Otter adds a warm and silken sound to Island Therese Motard and Louise-Andree Baril offer Andante of the Dreaming and Maranoa Lullaby. The programme a delightful program of nineteenth and twentieth Rachmaninov notes are extensive, situating the pieces in the century encore pieces . .These works explore the sonata is twice context of Sculthorpe's artistic concerns and the · lyrical qualities of the instruments. Cellist Motard misidentified as the second, and in the Prochazkahistory of Australian art music; there is even a plays with engaging character. Pianist Baril offers Hoyt disc the two works by Elgar are reversed so map. unsentimental, charming buoyancy. In their hands that those new to the fetching Salut d'Amour will Mary McGeer the Andante from the Rachmaninov Sonata in G · think they are hearing Klengel' s arrange!llent of minorb.ecomes less the soul-searching experience Sospir:i. Translations can be dicey, particularly in of Dolin and Kay, and more the beguiling prelude. the Motard-Baril booklet, where "tant au Quebec The most effective ·transcription is Stravinsky's qu'ailleurs au Canada" becomes the somewhat Serenata, which Motard and Baril perform with more provocative "in Quebec and Canada". Concert note: Meu.o-soprano Frances Pappas will perform Sculthorpe 's Island Dreaming and Maranoa Lullaby with the Encounters Quartet in a Soundstreams Canada Encounters concert· at Glenn Gould Studio on April 4. NEWAND RECENT RELEASES Debussy, .Kachmaninoff, Janacek: Sonates, Poh!idka Elizabeth Dolin, cello; Francine Kay, piano .Analekta fleurs de lys FL 2 3160 _Song of the Birds: Cello Favorites Therese Motard, cello; Louise-Andree ·Baril, piano Analekta fleurs de lys FL 2 3130 The P'assionate• Englishman Tanya Prochazka, cello; Janet Scott Hoyt, piano Arktos 200147 Johannes Brahms: Cello Sonatas and Songs with. Cello ' Boyd Mcdonald, fortepiano; Paul Pulford, :c;eJlo 'With Anne-Marie Donovan, mezzo soprano 'Doremi DDR-78 incisive colour. The recording by cellist Tanya' Prochazka and pianist Janet Scott Hoyt is called The Passionpte Englishman, presumably because all the composers here featured are English, male and passionate. Yet passion is also certainly in evidence in these lovely performances. The program is dominated by · powerful performances of Benjamin Britten's Sonata and William Walton's Passacagliafor solo cello. Paul Pulford and Boyd Mcdonald offer Brahms' two cello sonatas on period instruments. The clarity is a revelation. These are eloquent, articulate and fluent·performances. In a particularly complex section like the last movement fugue of the e m ino r sonata they are exciting and dramatic. While these perfor- . mances on ii;i.struments Here are four excellent recordings for piano and like those Brahms would cello featuring superb Canadian musicians. have heard achieve Elizabeth Dolin and Francine Kay present two fascinating colours and cornerstones of the repertoire for cello and piano, balance, they are somethe Debussy Sonata in D minor and the what restricted in their ··Rac.hmaninov Sonata in G minor. Dolin and Kay range of expressiveness. ·easily meet Rachmaninov's formidable technical To robnd out the disc, demands, and manage to convey his drama and mezzo-soprano Anne- 50 Pamela Margles Magic! Peter Richard Conte Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, Lord & Taylor, Philadelphia Dorian xCD~90398 This monument to excess somehow feels just right. The ·celebrated organ, the largest musical instrument ever built, shows off its stops and registrations for 78 minutes. Organist Peter Richard Conte's program of orchestral warhorses has not one organ work anywhere on the disc. That's probably just as well, as the tracker-action/ period instrument purists would surely be aghast at the idea of Buxtehude being played on this 461
ank, six-manual monster. Mr. Conte takes us through Mussorgsky's Night on ·the Bare Mountain, Wagner's Wotan 's Farewell & Magic Fire Music (from Die Walkure), Dukas' Sorcerer's Apprentice, Nicolai's Merry Wives of Windsor Overture, Elgar's In London Town Cockaigne Overture and ends with Nimrod from Enigma Variations. His interpretation, feel for orchestral balance and registration is faultless. The recording is first rate, with an enormous dynamic range. It should be played on a really good stereo or heard under high-end headphones. Lesser reprnductive equipment cannot do it justice. The 58-page booklet is fully half the package, including the history of the Wanamaker family, their acquisition of the organ, the instrument's long decline and its recent restoration. Even the recording process is 'given 5 pages of text. Unfortunately the booklet is typeset in a very lightweight Garamond, and · printed out at a nearly illegible size. I needed a magnifying glass to finish reading it. The booklet and disc are handsomely packaged with a cardboard surrounding sleeve. I adore this recording! John S. Gray Concert note: Toronto 's own grand organs are showcased on several occasions this month. The Toronto Theatre Organ Society/Kiwanis Club of Casa Loma Wurlitzer Pops at Casa Loma presents the Buster Keaton film "The General" with Clark Wilson at the organ on March 4. There is a Toronto Organ Club Hammond X66 Organ Concert at Christ Church on March 25. There are also lunch hour recitals at wife !Uusit
