IDbe ilusir · Q!qamber 217 Danforth Ave. (416) 406-1641 Newand Used Classical and t; · Jazz CDs . ~1&· Sheet Music; Strings, Reeds (j Gifts and ~'Ji /l Gift Certificates ~: f ..« Used Books -~U Arbiter :Ar.tifact Attacca Bridge ·CRI . Donemus Metier Mode Montaigne NM Classics New Albion · New World Tall Poppies PRIVATE VOICE/PIANO LESSONS. Igor Emelianov, MFA, Beatrice Carpino, ARCT. Auditions, competitions, exams, theory preparation, demo recording by qualified, experienced professionals. Tel/tax: 416-269.· 7'152. DISCoveries is a CD review section designed to complement and SHAPENOTE SINGING from Sacred Harp ehhance our pre-eminent cove~age of 1991. Third Wednesday of every month, Toronto's live classical, jazz and new 7:30p.m., Broadview-Danforth area. Beginners music -concert scene, featuring rewelcome. Phone416-922-7997. ' views by WholeNote columnists and SUMMER MUSIC THEORY IN THE PARK. independent contributors. CDs are Study theory rudiments, Preliminary, Gr. 1 & considered for review in the follow Gr. 2 for August R.C.M. exam. Phone: Maxine ing categories: . Willan, A.R.C.T., A.MUS.A. 41 6-466-7195 VIOLA .FOR SALE (16") made 1969 lta.lian 1. "Concert prep" - CDs, new or Master Luthier Renato Scrollavezza. Excellent otherwise, which tie in with events chamber I orchestral instrument, w~rm tone. being featured in the current issue of Appraised US,000., sell C,000. German the magazine. Many discs in the other Grunka VLA BOW, rehaired, excellent condi· categories also relate to upcoming tion. C,000: (519)925.- 1748 aft./ eve. · events as noted; clark.barker@sympatico.ca WANTED TO BUY: a used mandocello with 2. New and Recent Releases - case. Please write: Dan Leeman, 56-2176 Blas· newly released ·cos relevant"to our som Drive, Ottawa, ON KlH 6G8 or email: magazine's coverage of the music dleeman@magma:ca .. · scene;· WHOLENOTE DRIVERS NEEDED 3. "Worth repeating" - CDs newto distribute magazines · one or two ly re-issued, or previously released days at the end of the month. ·but still generally available, deemed per hour+ 34c perk~. particularly noteworthy by a merrf- Call Sheil,a McCoy at416-928-699l ber of our editorial panel; or e-mail smccoy@interlog.com 4. "Indie list" - Small label and independent release CDs, often featuring individuals or groups active on the local music scene .. · 5. "Disc(s) of the month" - Discs of special interest, oftel} with a particular connection to the month's concert activities or editorial focus . We think D/SCoveries is a logical and exciting extension to The Whole N ote' s coverage of the Toronto music scene. We welcome your feedback and invite submissions. Catalogues, review copies of CDs and comments should be sent to: The WholeNote, 60 Bellevue A venue, Toronto ON M5T 2N4. We also welcome your- input via our website, www.thewholenote.com David Olds Editor, D/SCoveries CONCERT PREP: . Saint-Saens: Complete works · for piano and orchestra Stephen Hough; City of Birmingham SO; Sakari Oramo Hyperion CDA6733 l/2 Grammophone Magazine named this set Record of the Year for 2002. Prestigious awards are not'unusual for British pianist Stephen Hough. But the piano concertos of Saint-Saens don't usually rate such attention. Hough, who gave a-memorable recital at the St. Lawrence Centre last year, has an intense yet vivid style, combining 'intellectual rigour with fleet, elegant fingers. He handles Saint-Saens's brisk tempo markings and formidable technical demands with ease. What makes· these performances stand Qut is that t)ley. emphasize the transparent clarity of the works. The music of Saint-Saens has a direct communicative power that eludes many of his more innovative contemporaries. One of the greatest pianists of pis day, he used the piano most effectively. - These are large-scaled virtuosi
) NEW AND RECENT RELEASES Monteverdi - Vespro della Beata Vergine Tragicomedia; Concerto Palatino; Stephen Stubbs ATMA Baroque ACD2 2304/05 Carissirrii - Historia di Jephte; Damnatorum; Lamento Le Parlement de Musique; Martin Gester Opus 111 OP 30296 Here are two exceptional discs featuring repertoire of the first half of the .17th Century. The first, Tragicomedia's performance of Claudio Monteverdi's famed 1610 Vespers, recorded in the Pieterskerk in Leiden, The Netherlands. The second recording, performed by Le Parlement de Musique is centred around Giacomo Carissimi 's most moving oratorio, Jephte. Both of these recordings are spartan in terms of vocal forces, wisely adhering to the aesthetic of one voice per part. This creates a clarity that allows the emotive qualities of the compositions to clearly shine through. And nowhere are these "affects" so moving as in the final chorus of Jephte, a lament mourning the imminent death of the ruler's beloved daughter as the unexpected sacrifice for his victory in war. Framing this work on the disc are two more of Carissimi' s oratorios, polar opposites Damnatorum (Damnation) lamentatio and Felicitas beatorum (The Happiness of the Blessed). Also included are motets by Girolamo Fresi;obaldi and sinfonias by Lelio Colista. · The Concerto Palatino comets and trombones join forces· with Tragicom ed ia for the Monteverdi Vespers. Otherwise the ensembles Tragicomedia led by Stephen Stubbs & Le Parlement de musique' led by Martin Gester have almost identical instrumentation. In the Carissimi disc, we have the opportunity to hear a solo partita for baroque harp by Frescobaldi. Included on the Vespers disc are organ works by Heinrich Scheidemann, a North German con- temporary of Monteverdi and pupil of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. The works by Scheidemann, a composer known for his "cheerful sweetness" are admirably performed by Leo Van Doeselaar. And speaking of sweetness, the Vespers' "Pulchra es" is · performed at its sweetest by Suzie LeBlanc and Barbara Borden. Dianne Wells Concert Note: Monteverdi concens: May 10, 4 pm/Toronto Chamber Choir; May 10, 8 pm/Burlington Civic; May 11, 3 pm/Christ Church Deer Pdrk/Calvin .perform the Vespers. Le Mozart Noir Music of Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Sain~-Georges Tafelmusik; Jeanne Lamon Melsted is the featured soloist in the Violin Conceno in D Major, op. 3, no. I by the "black Mozart", and Genevieve Gilardeau in the excerpt from Leclair's Violin Conceno in F Major, op.JO, no.4. . It's not hard to imagine what a fine player this Chevalier was, and how his extraordinary technical gifts must have guided his writing, particularly for the solo violin. The ardent listener is rewarded with many moments of exquisite beauty. Frank T. Nakashima Conc(!rt Note: Tafelmusik performs Vivaldi 's L 'Estro Armonico May 21 thru 25 at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre and May 27 at George Weston RH. Berlioz: Arias Roberto Alagna EMI 557433-2 CBC Records SMCD 5225 ,Berlioz: L'enfance du Christ · Already the soundtrack of an inter- La Chapelle Royale national film, Le Mozan Nair, pro- Collegium Vocale duced by Toronto-based M.edia Orchestre des Champs Elysees Headquarters in collaboration with Philippe Herreweghe, conductor Tafelmusik, this story of one Joseph Harmonia Mundi Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georg- HMX2901632.33 es, a composer and violinist work- These two recordings offer a great ing at the time of Mozart, a black way to celebrate the 200th anniverman in the aristocratic society of 18th- sary of the birth of Hector Berlioz - century France, is one that might a disc (the first,. to my knowledge) easily be converted into a Hollywood devoted solely to arias from Berlioz's film script. Considered to be one of · operas and concert works, sung by the most important musicians in Paris one of the leading t\!nors of our day, during the pre-Revolutionary period, Roberto Alagna, as well as the realso the finest swordsman in Europe, release of Philippe Herreweghe's it is not a coincidence that his com- radiant recording of Berlioz's only positions are compared to Mozart's. oratorio, L 'Enfance du Christ. This recording offers ample evidence Aeneas' s first appearance in Berof his skill, particularly when per- lioz's five-and-a-half hour masterformed by of Tafelmusik. piece Les Troyens, ".Du peuple et Le Mozan Nair includes both of des soldats", has to be one of the Saint-Georges' two extant sympho- most unusual and demanding ennies and works by two of his men- trances of a lead character in an opto rs, Jean-Marie Leclair and era. 'Alagna describes Laocoon's Frarn;:ois-Joseph Gossec . Linda death with convincing horror. In the NAXOS DISC OF THE MONTH v., .. "~h( -q ~f~ {',~~ ~. nm.~ t
