Volume 30, No. 1 1 Toronto Early Music News

Is a news bulletin of the Toronto Early Music Centre (TEMC). Opinions expressed in it are those of the authors and may not be endorsed by the Toronto Early Music Centre . Unsolicited manuscripts, letters, etc. are welcome, as is any information about early music concerts, events, recordings and copies of recordings for review.

Subscription is free with membership to the Toronto Early Music Centre. For rates and other membership benefits, please call 416­464­7610, send e­mail to [email protected] or write to us at the Toronto Early Music Centre (TEMC), PO Box 714, Station P, Toronto, ON M5S 2Y4. Web site: www.torontoearlymusic.org

Toronto Early Music Centre Board of Directors Frank Nakashima, President Michael Lerner, Secretary Kathy Edwards, Treasurer John Edwards Jenni Hayman Paul Jenkins Michael Lipowski Sheila McCoy Janos A. Ungvary

The TEMC gratefully acknowledges the support of the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, the Church of the Holy Trinity, Montgomery’s Inn.

2 Volume 30, No. 1 Contents of Vol. 30 no. 1

News Items...... 4 Speak Up...... 4 Email News and Updates...... 5 TEMC Renewal...... 5 Dolmetsch Recorders for Sale...... 6 The TEMC Vocal Circle...... 6 Toronto Viol Circle...... 7 CD Reviews...... 11 DVD Reviews...... 22

Contributors: Frank Nakashima; Paul­James Dwyer Editor: Frank Nakashima Graphic Designer: Sam Brushett

Volume 30, No. 1 3 News Items

Speak Up!

The Toronto Early Music NEWS welcomes your commentary! Please include your name, city of residence, e­mail address, and phone number with all correspondence.

Send to: Toronto Early Music Centre, PO Box 714, Station P Toronto, Ontario M5S 2Y4 e­mail: [email protected]

The Toronto Early Music NEWS reserves the right to edit letters for clarity, style,

4 Volume 30, No. 1 Email News And Updates If you would like to be notified of upcoming concerts, early music news, and updates, by e­mail, just let me know by contacting me at my NEW address – [email protected] – and I’ll add you to my list. Try it. Just make sure that my e­mail address is included in your list of “contacts” so that the junk mail filters don’t block me out. Keep up to date with this special service. If you don’t like it, or if there’s more than you can handle, don’t worry. It’s just as easy to cancel.

Have You Been Wondering If Your TEMC Membership Has Expired? If you can’t remember, or if you’ve lost your membership card, just give me a call 416­464­ 7610 and leave a message, or send me an email: [email protected] – I’ll check your membership status and then let you know. If your membership has expired, and you would like to renew, please fill out the form at the back of this newsletter and mail it to:

PO Box 714, Station P Toronto ON M5S 2Y4 – Make sure to include your cheque or credit card number. We now accept American Express.

If you would like to make a payment by telephone (using any credit card – Visa, MasterCard, or American Express), please cal me, Frank Nakashima, at 416­464­7610, leave a message to tell me the best time to call you back. Thank you very much!

Volume 30, No. 1 5 The TEMC Vocal Circle

The Toronto Early Music Centre’s www.Medieval.org “Vocal Circle” usually takes place The web’s largest reference for on the last Monday of the month, European Medieval and at 7:30 p.m. Renaissance music since 1994 NEW LOCATION: 96 Barker Avenue, offers the answers to many Toronto M4C2N6 diverse questions relating to early 2 blocks N of Mortimer (note: music, complete lyrics of becomes Lumsden on E side of Guillaume de Machaut; Woodbine), 1 block W of Woodbine explanations of Pyt hagorean Admission to this circle is FREE to tuning and hexachords; listings of members of the TEMC. Otherwise, scores, sources, instrument the cost is $5.00 per session for builders; CD reviews and some non­members. performer and composer discographies, not to mention a Theoretically, the Vocal Circle was discussion forum. Wow! meant to be a symposium or forum for historical choral/vocal performance but, in actuality, it is a Clarnan Editions non­performing, recreational reading group. This is intended to Clarnan Editions on 235 Baxter be a certified stress­free, Lane in Fayetteville AR musically­friendly environment. 72701 was founded in 1982 by While musical training and vocal Barbara Garvey Jackson (PhD ability is helpful, anyone who has musicology Stanford), who edits an interest in this fascinating, little­ and publishes historic 17th and known, and rarely­performed 18th­century music by mostly repertoire to drop in and try women composers, ... at the singing, or even just listen! moment, almost 100 titles! Please note that this is a scent­ www.clarnan.com free environment. Please refrain from wearing cologne, perfume, aftershave, or scented products. Thank you.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me, Frank Nakashima, anytime at (416) 464­ 7610. Also, please try to keep me informed as to your voice type and your intentions to attend (or not) so that I can conscientiously plan the evening’s singing.

6 Volume 30, No. 1 —San Francisco's Summer Bach Grammy Award Festival—this 30­minute film explores the work from the Charpentier's La Descente perspectives of ABS musicians d'Orphée aux Enfers. At the who perform it each summer. recent (57th) annual Grammy Interviews with ABS Music Awards, this recording became Director Jeffrey Thomas, violinist the 2nd win by an early music Elizabeth Blumenstock, bassist ensemble in the Best Opera Steven Lehning, flutist Sandra Recording category! It was also Miller, oboist Debra Nagy, the first win in ANY category for trumpeter John Thiessen, and an American ensemble on period others, illuminate the work’s instruments! (I hope I've history, musical structure, and understood this correctly ­ FN) artistic challenges as well as the rewards of revisiting it annually in www.BEMF.org performance.

Admired for its colossal Toronto Viol Circle dimensions and encyclopedic stylistic variety, the Mass in B Toronto Viol Circle presents Minor is in many ways the workshops for viols, featuring pinnacle musical work of the visiting guest coaches, which are Baroque Era. During the last open to viol players at all levels of years of his life, Bach handpicked experience with classes tailored to pieces from more than 35 years the needs and interests of the of his compositions for inclusion in registrants. the Mass in B Minor compilation, a work left for posterity as the Contact: [email protected] epitome of his ideals and inspiration.

Documentary Drawing instrumental and vocal Bach's Mass In B Minor: soloists from its annual Academy—the educational Anatomy Of A Masterwork component of the Festival—the performances in Bach’s Mass in B 30­Minute Film Provides an Minor: Anatomy of a Masterwork Overview of the Mass by the ABS feature the ABS Academy Festival Musicians Who Perform It Each Orchestra and the American Bach Summer… Choir directed by Jeffrey Thomas. The American Bach Soloists (ABS) announce the YouTube release of their documentary Bach's Mass in All Bach All The Time B Minor: Anatomy of a http://allofbach.com/en/mobile/ Masterwork Every Friday, a new recording by (americanbach.org/youtube). Netherlands Bach Ensemble with Using footage from the 2014 ABS special guests, performing over Festival & Academy 1,000 Bach works!

Volume 30, No. 1 7 Tafelmusik Triumph Down Under Emma Kirkby Complete Recitals Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra’s triumphant three­week House of DECCA 4787863 This 12­CD Dreams tour of Australia and New collection brings together Emma Zealand has just wrapped up, Kirkby's complete L'Oiseau­Lyre garnering rave reviews and recitals in a single set. The audience ovations. From February world's most popular period­ 19 to March 6, Canada’s most instrument soprano, Kirkby's active touring orchestra pure, crystalline sound defined performed its international co­ how vocal music of the baroque production to enthusiastic, sold­ and earlier eras should sound for out houses in eight Australian a whole generation or more. cities including Perth, Melbourne, Accompanied mostly by Anthony Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, and Rooley, the set features works by Brisbane, as well as Auckland, Purcell, Handel, Bach and Mozart New Zealand. House of Dreams as well as rarely recorded works was also seen across the United by Edwards, Campion, Dowland, States in 2013 during an eight­ Morley, Ferrabosco and many city tour which included more. Presented in a capbox with performances in New York and at 44pp booklet with tracklists, rare Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los photographs, an essay by Lindsay Angeles. More information about Kemp and original album covers. the Australia and New Zealand Lindsay Kemp writes: ''Even 2015 tour, including photos and today, nearly half a century after interviews, is available at performing styles in music of the Tafelmusik’s website. Renaissance, Baroque and Classical periods underwent a House of Dreams was conceived, major upheaval thanks to what scripted and programmed by has become known as "the early Tafelmusik double­bassist Alison music movement", there are few Mackay, and takes the audience alumni of that revolution (some to five European houses where conductors excepted) who could baroque music and art intersect. be considered stars recognised in Tafelmusik musicians perform the the wider musical world. That entire House of Dreams Emma Kirkby is one, and that she programme — which includes the has maintained that status music of Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, without compromise to the style Purcell, and Marais — from and principles of music­making memory against a backdrop of with which she started out, is stunning images and paintings by testimony not just to the Vermeer, Canaletto, and Watteau, distinctive pure colouring of her while narrator Blair Williams voice, but to a steady artistic weaves together the threads integrity, personal modesty and connecting each of the houses. generosity that have made her Stage direction for House of one of the most professionally Dreams is by Marshall Pynkoski, respected and well­loved figures co­artistic director of Opera in the business.'' Atelier.

8 Volume 30, No. 1 Documentary Bach's Mass In B Minor: Anatomy Of A Masterwork

30­Minute Film Provides an Overview of the Mass by the ABS Musicians Who Perform It Each Summer…

The American Bach Soloists (ABS) announce the YouTube release of their documentary Bach's Mass in B Minor: Anatomy of a Masterwork (americanbach.org/youtube). Using footage from the 2014 ABS Festival & Academy

Philharmonic. Around the same Video excerpts from House of time, her own Trio for violin, flute, Dreams can be seen on and cello was awarded Second Tafelmusik’s Watch and Listen Prize at the International Young site, and a JUNO Award­ Composers Competition in Kiev. nominated CD/DVD version is Chulochnikova received her commercially available on the professional training at Tafelmusik Media label. theTchaikovsky College of Music Website: www.tafelmusik.org and Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. She was first introduced House of Dreams is presented and to historically informed performed under the kind performance practice at the patronage of the Palais­Royal Conservatory where she quickly (Paris) and in partnership with the developed a passion for the early Handel House Museum (London), music repertory. Her interest in The Claudio Buziol Foundation the Baroque brought her to the (Venice), The Golden ABC (Delft), United States where she and the Bach Museum and continued her studies under the Archive (Leipzig). direction of Marilyn McDonald at the Oberlin Conservatory. Violinist Tatiana Chulochikova She attended the 2010 ABS Academy and has performed with Winner Of 2016 Jeffrey renowned Baroque orchestras Thomas Award including American Bach Soloists, Tafelmusik, and Handel and The American Bach Soloists (ABS) Haydn Society Orchestra. In 2012 are pleased to announce violinist she completed her studies at the Tatiana Chulochnikovaas the Juilliard School under Monica winner of the 2016 Jeffrey Huggett and Cynthia Roberts and Thomas Award. Splitting her time continues to perform both as a between Washington, DC, New soloist and within ensembles York City, and San Francisco. including Four Nations Ensemble and The Rubinstein Players. Most Chulochnikova is a talented and enterprising artist who has performed with many of the nation’s leading Baroque ensembles. Her thrilling technique and bravura style have dazzled audiences around the country and across continents.

Born in Ukraine, Chulochnikova began playing violin at the age of 7 and made her professional debut at 14 playing Bruch’s violin concerto with the Kharkov

Volume 30, No. 1 9 Tafelmusik Triumph Down Under

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra’s triumphant three­week House of Dreams tour of Australia and New Zealand has just wrapped up, garnering rave reviews and audience ovations. From February 19 to March 6, Canada’s most active touring orchestra performed its international co­ production to enthusiastic, sold­ out houses in eight Australian cities including Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, and Brisbane, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. House of Dreams was also seen across the United States in 2013 during an eight­ city tour which included performances in New York and at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. More information about the Australia and New Zealand 2015 tour, including photos and interviews, is available at Tafelmusik’s website.

House of Dreams was conceived, scripted and programmed by Tafelmusik double­bassist Alison Mackay, and takes the audience to five European houses where baroque music and art intersect. Tafelmusik musicians perform the entire House of Dreams programme — which includes the music of Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Purcell, and Marais — from memory against a backdrop of stunning images and paintings by Vermeer, Canaletto, and Watteau, while narrator Blair Williams weaves together the threads connecting each of the houses. Stage direction for House of Dreams is by Marshall Pynkoski, co­artistic director of Opera Atelier.

Tafelmusik New Managing Schola Magdalena Director William Norris

Schola Magdalena is a group of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and six women dedicated to the Chamber Choir have officially performance of medieval music named William Norris as from Gregorian chant to Hildegard Managing Director. The of Bingen to the polyphonic appointment represents a major masterpieces of Dufay and coup for Tafelmusik, who replaces Machaut – as well as modern former Managing Director Tricia music for women’s voices by Baldwin, who left Tafelmusik in Canadian composers. The excellent financial standing after a ensemble is directed by Stephanie remarkable 14­year tenure. Norris Martin, professor of music at was Communications & Creative Toronto’s York University and Programming Director of one of former music director of the UK’s leading period music the Church of St. Mary ensembles, the Orchestra of the Magdalene. Age of Enlightenment (OAE).

They have performed throughout Southern Ontario and Quebec, and have released two CD recordings: O Gracious Light(2009) and Virgo Splendens (2011). http://www.scholamagdalena.ca/ Biggest Fortepiano Festival in USA!

August 5–9, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies presents five days of concerts, lectures, and master classes by fifty distinguished performers and scholars from around the world. With pianos from every period in the instrument’s three­hundred­year history, this event is a rare opportunity not to be missed! https://westfield.org/festival

10 Volume 30, No. 1 CD Reviews

BY P.-J. Dwyer

Purcell's Revenge, Sweeter Than Roses? Concerto Caledonia Direction, David McGuinness Delphian DCD34161 www.concal.org www. delphianrecords.co.uk

his is perhaps one of the most singular recordings to have T crossed this writers desk in the last twenty years, I have been reviewing CDs. Quirky yes, but also full of life, energy and accessible to all comers, though it is full of early music, it also has modern instruments, settings, arrangements and original texts and music. Does it all work? Yes indeed, the quality is consistently captivating. The cover says it all; an image of Purcell clearly unshaven, with his peruke wig flying off his head vertically and myriad pages of a score flying all around his head, with an oblivious expression on his face.

ne of the singers on the recording is none other than counter­ O tenor James Bowman, adding to the expectations confounded. But there are many solid references to Purcell's works: Amphitryon, Abdelazer, Music for awhile, The Married Beau, King Arthur, The Fairy Queen, Fantazia in four parts, No. 11 in G, various songs and Jiggs. Bowman is joined by the following singers, Olivia Chaney, Ana Silvera, and Jim Moray. Instrumentation includes, harpsichord, hook harp, harmonium, acoustic guitar, bass viol, lyra d'amore, various baroque and renaissance recorders, harp, violone, electric guitar, reed organ, nyckelharpa, dulcitone, hurdygurdy, piano, bray harp, fender telecaster & devices.

oncert Caledonia appears frequently at the Edinburgh C Festival, an eclectic extravaganza if ever there was one. A Scottish publication has written, “Categorizing David McGuinness's crazily mixed ensemble is pointless...Classical? Folk? Rock'n'Roll Enlightenment­style?” This recording obliterates the notion that early music is a stuffy and or academic exercise. Give it a listen.

Volume 30, No. 1 11 Jean-Baptiste Lully Amadis Les Talens Lyriques Choeur de Chambre de Namur

Direction, Christophe Rousset Aparte AP094, 3 Cds in a book form www.lestalenslyriques.com www.apartemusic.com

his recording originates from a concert version mounted at the T l'Opéra du Chateau du Versailles, in July 2013. Amadis (1684) continues the Lully opera series that Rousset and his group have been performing and recording now for almost two decades. That is not to say, they have just cranked out another of Lully's operas, for Rousset gives his intense and thorough attention to every score he offers to the public. He is the connoisseur par excellence of the baroque singing voice in both Italian and French schools and the art of French baroque recitative.

he librettist Philippe de Quinault (1635­1688) abandoned the T ancient Greek and Roman gods and goddesses for a tale based in France itself. This broke a tradition he and Lully had established from their first opera collaboration onwards. The story line is a little complicated and obtuse, which is one reason this opera has been overlooked for many years. That said, the author of the original book of Amadis de Gaul was Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo who published it in the early 16th c. as four books. A hundred years later Miguel de Cervantes's parody Don Quixote (1605) saw the light of day. The rest is literary history. Louis XIV asked Lully and Quinault to take up the story in an nationalistic vein, possibly as the mythological themes had really run their course.

he lead role Amadis de Gaul is sung by Cyril Auvity, whose T voice has recently darkened in timbre, though he is still the greatest tenor in today's France. Another stand­out voice is the young English bass Edwin Crossley­Mercer in the role of Arcalaüs, an evil magician.

12 Volume 30, No. 1 Jacques Champion de Chambonnieres Complete Works For Harpsichord, Vol. 1

Karen Flint, Harpsichord Plectra PL21501 2 Cds www.plectra.org

hambonnières is considered the father of the French C harpsichord school. His influence is wider than that, his mark being a major influence on the development of French 17th c. musical style itself. Though often credited to Jean­Baptiste Lully, he inherited many of its features when he started composing for Louis XIV. Lully started out as a secretary and Italian language coach to a member of the royal family and graduated to being a dancer and violinist before he took up composing.

he French gout de musique with its elaborate flourishes and T refined ornaments that the English have always called too fussy, ornate or decadent is in truth based on an organic and classical conception of nature itself. The Gaulic eye follows the line and shape of a flower, tree, shell, cloud, this is how the French translated their vision of nature itself into concrete sound shapes and musical phrases. The same applies to the voice, it was an attempt to codify human emotion and ideas in sounds, making them 'visible' to the listener. Both arts were an effort to duplicate nature itself, and never embroidery, complexity or florid ornamentation for its own sake. One can hear all this in Chambonnières music and he passed it on to the next generation, where it was further developed and became a fixed national style, often erroneously credited solely to Jean­Baptiste Lully.

art of the problem of Chambonnières' reputation is that he is P often mentioned in passing as 'the father of...', although he fell out of favour with Louis XIV around the time Louis got married and took over the government in 1660. Chambonnières was born in 1601 or 1602 so he would have been almost sixty years of age. He basically disappeared from the Parisian and court scenes. We are not sure the reason why? Was it for professional reasons, health or his political affiliations, or a private scandal? Time has simply obscured it all completely. His musical influence with harpsichordists continued though he died in 1672.

he first thing that comes to mind upon listening to this new T recording is that Ms. Flint wears these works like a chamois glove, the fit is perfect. Chambonnières is not in the lexicon of most harpsichordists past one or two pieces as in French baroque compilation keyboard books. One gets the notion that Ms. Flint has digested these compositions as a complete oeuvre for a long time. She is becoming widely known as a champion of great works by forgotten composers who are not widely recorded or programmed by solo harpsichordists.

Volume 30, No. 1 13 Michael Christian Festing Violin Sonatas Brandywine Baroque Plectra PL21403 www.plectra.org

esting (1705­1752) known in England as 'Master of the Violin' F also had the court title, Master of The King's Music in London. Born in London he studied with Francesco Geminiani, and his own principal pupil was Thomas Arne. More famous as a composer, conductor and producer than a violin virtuoso, in his own time his compositions include 32 violin sonatas, 26 concertos, 6 cantatas, 3 sets of minuets, 3 odes and numerous songs.

ir John Hawkins has written on Festing: “The works of Festing S were all published by himself, that is to say, he took subscriptions for them, and was not beholden for the circulation of them through the kingdom to the keepers of music shops; the consequence whereof is that they are less known than the compositions of any other master of the time.” This largely accounts for his being almost unknown today.This recording concentrates on his early violin sonatas, opus 1, 7 & 8, with the first one being heavily influenced by Corelli. This is understandable as Geminiani was one of Corelli’s most famous pupils and Corelli's violin works were the rage in Europe for two decades after they were published. Festing went on to develop a unique artistic voice and deserves a revival. Martin Davids (violin), Karen Flint (harpsichord) and John Mark Rozendaal (cello) make a strong case for Festing's music.

he instruments used in the recording, are single manual T harpsichord by Abraham Kirkman, London 1779, and the cello by Barak Norman, London 1708, violin by Ferdinando Alberti from 1750. Given the provenance of the composer, his music and the instruments, it is a marriage made on Mt. Parnassus.

14 Volume 30, No. 1 Emilio de Cavalieri Rappresentatione di Anima & di Corpo

Staatsopernchor Berlin, Concerto vocale & Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin dir. René Jacobs,

Harmonia Mundi 90220001, 2CD www.harmoniamundi.com

his important recording stems from a staged production at the T Staatsoper im Schiller­Theatre, Berlin which premiered June 8, 2012. The recording sessions were in May, 2014 which accounts for the highly finessed performance of the orchestra and choir. The German media rightly lauded this production that focuses on an important link between the Renaissance and Baroque musical repertoires.

ho was Cavalieri? Born into a wealthy aristocratic Roman family W in 1550, his father was the best friend of Michelangelo. His own artistic proclivities were towards music and he served the de' Medici family in Rome as a diplomat and at their Tuscan ducal seat Florence, most of his life. Cavalieri was 50 when the work premiered. He died suddenly two years later. It is unfortunate he never lived to develop his musical art as his name has all but disappeared from the public memory.

hen the beginnings of opera are discussed, one usually thinks W of Monteverdi, and Jacopo Peri's L'Euridice, first staged in October, 1600. But Cavalieri is the hand at the cradle of opera. His seminal and legendary work in La Pellegrina of 1589, was the first staged work to herald the naissance of opera. His Rappresentatione di Anima & di Corpo which premiered in February, 1600, predates Peri's lost masterpiece by six months. Was it a direct influence on Peri's work? Cavalieri's masterpiece is the first musical drama to have survived complete and includes most of the ingredients of the operatic form: choruses, sinfonias, solos, dance sections, using specific instruments to characterize individual roles. Musicologists argue. Some think it more oratorio; others, proto­opera. There are no duets or trios as the confirmation follows the oratorio form of St. Filippo Neri's Congregazione dell'oratorio, using the dialogue as the basis for delivery of the libretto by Padre Agostino Manni of Rome. René Jacobs prepared the performance edition and added instrumental pieces from the early 17th c. to cover gaps in the manuscript. The opening Sinfonia is by Johann Hermann Schein, and Act IIIs Heaven & Hell become visible over the beautiful music of Alfonso Ferrabosco, another lost master.

n this extended (three acts) dialogue, between the principal I characters Anima/Soul and Corpo/Body, is represented an emblematic and widely utilized theme of the Catholic Counter­ Reformation. There are a total of 16 singing roles, with the work employing soli, chorus, stage action directions, dance and an extensive orchestra, in a resplendent harmony, lilting grace and majestic power,

Volume 30, No. 1 15 all at the dawn of the Baroque era. René Jacobs has been reviving lost masterpieces with the Akademie Für Alte Musik Berlin now for a number of years and this work deserves a larger reputation.

Thomas Tallis Ave, rosa sine spinis The Cardinall's Musick

Direction: Andrew Carwood

Hyperion CDA68076 www.hyperion­records.co.uk

arwood has specialized on Tallis' beautiful and melancholy C compositions, this being the fourth recording on the Hyperion label, after Gramophone Award Winner Gaude gloriosa (CDA67548), Salve intemerata (CDA67994) and Missa Puer natus est nobis (CDA68026). Fifteen works are presented here in Latin and English including, O Salutaris hostia, Wipe away my sins, Why fum'th in fight (No 3 of 9 Psalm Tunes), Ave, rosa sine spinis, Blessed by thy name, Te lucis ante terminum I & II, In manus tuas, Domine, Salvator mundi II, O come in one to praise the Lord (No 4 or 9 Psalm Tunes), When Jesus went into Simon the Pharisee's house, Euge caeli porta, Laudate Dominum, Miserere nostri.

he major work of this disc is a Mass for four voices (ATBarB) in T five movements. Carwood uses nine voices for his realization. “The mass is in Latin, but compared with earlier settings of the Ordinary Of The Mass, the style is radically different. The composition is shorter in length and the Gloria and Credo are rigorously syllabic throughout. Gone are the meandering melismas and the clarity of the text is now paramount.”

he Cardinall's Musick deliver a crystalline purity and direct T aural sound from the 13 singers on this recording. Carwood prepared the CD notes essay, including the above quote. Three editors are credited for the scores: Nick Sandon, Edward Tambling and Andrew Carwood. An exemplary recording.

16 Volume 30, No. 1 Rameau's Funeral: Paris 27. IX. 1764: Jean GILLES Messe des Morts Capriccio Stravagante, Les 24 Violons, Collegium Vocale Gent

Direction, Skip Sempé

Paradizo PA0013 www.stravagante.com www.skipsempe.com www.paradizo.org ameau died September 12th, 1764, the 250th anniversary R 2014 was celebrated all over Europe with his music in performance, exhibitions, conferences and recordings. One of the Rameau projects that Sempé presented last year was a remount and recording of the Rameau's funeral music that he had performed a few years ago, directing Capriccio Stravagante, Les 24 Violons and the Choeur Pygmalion at Reims Cathedral for the 2011 Flaneries Musicales de Reims.

he Jean Gilles (1668­1705) Requiem was considered the most T famous of all the French baroque Messe des morts written in the 18th century, except for André Campra's version. The two scores were intertwined in some services, alternating movements to satisfy the public demand for both compositions. The Gilles masterpiece was played initially for his own funeral in 1705, for Campra in 1744, for Louis XV in 1774, and for Rameau who is now acknowledged the greatest French composer of the 18th century. It was also performed all across France for statesmen and leading aristocrats and ecclesiastics until the Revolution.

See a 9­minute video of Sempé rehearsing the project at Sint Walburgakerk, Brugge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zzbaABSpGQ or check out the Reims performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GRzXhq6VpM

his is a majestic and sublime disc highlighting the historic Paris T memorial service, honouring Rameau by sewing into the service excerpts from his most successful operas, Castor & Pollux (Tristes apprêts, vocal part played on oboe), Dardanus (2 orchestral excerpts) within the music of the Gilles Requiem. The secular aspect of the operatic scores in no way detracts from the religious and deep serenity of the service. The arrangement of the Messe was probably by Rebel and Francoeur and the service was held at the Oratoire du Louvre September 27, 1764 with the Concert Spirituel musical forces. Sempé prepared and performed this work from the extant manuscript score and performance parts. This version of the Gilles work is in a late 18th c. style orchestration, i.e. the addition of horns. The lush sounds of the recording are produced by an orchestra of 34 musicians, and 20 singers of the Collegium Vocale Gent. The four soli are Judith van Wanroij (dessus), Robert Getchell (haute­contre), Juan Sancho (taille), Lisandro Abadie (basse).

Volume 30, No. 1 17 Reinhard Keiser Markuspassion Ensemble Jacques Moderne

Gli Incogniti Concertmaster, Amandine Beyer Direction, Joël Suhubiette

Mirare MIR254 www.mirare.fr

eiser (1674­1739) was famous for his numerous operas (most K lost). His operatic skills are evident in the dramatic charged and imaginative composition for a Lutheran Lenten service. Having said that, recently controversy over the paternity of the work has arisen. Some musicologists now contend Keiser is not the composer of this work, though it is accepted that his father Gottfried Keiser, or other contemporary composers like Nicolaus Bruhns, are not the authors, the issue is still in question.

he number of Passions before J.S. Bach' benchmark T masterpieces are myriad, most totally forgotten in our time. But Keiser's score is worthy of rediscovery, he was a major figure of his period, being known as 'The honour of Germany'. J.S. Bach so admired him that he performed this work in Weimar, followed by two performances in Leipzig. The performing edition is based on the 1713 version performed in Weimar, edited by Hans Bergmann and published by Carus­Verlag.

he two main soloists are Jan Kobow (tenor) as The Evangelist T and Thomas E. Bauer (bass) as Jesus, with six other roles taken by soli. Kobow and Bauer are two very fine singers and excel in this project. The choir consists of another six voices (2 sopranos, 1 tenor, 3 basses). The instrumentation includes two violins, two violas, therobo, cello, violone, oboe, bassoon, organ and harpsichord. The complete libretto is given in English, German and French, with principal artists bios.

18 Volume 30, No. 1 Claudio Monteverdi Madrigali Vol.2 Mantova

Les Arts Florissants Direction, Paul Agnew

Les Arts Florissants Editions AF003 www.arts­florissants.com

illiam Christie turned 70 this past December and thus has W started to pass the leadership of France's most famous early music group over to Paul Agnew, who directs this prestigious series of the complete Monteverdi Madrigals. The French are furious with Christie for foisting an Englishman as leader of Les Arts Flo as it is affectionately known. Some believe it is his revenge on the French government forcing him all these years to have a certain quota of Frenchmen as tenured musicians and administrative staff.

hat aside, Agnew is eminently worthy of these masterpieces. T After all, he sung them over 20 years ago as a singer working out of London with numerous top vocal ensembles. Volume 1 of this series Cremona (Libri I­III) will be released later in September 2015 and Volume 3 Venezia (Libri VII, VIII) will see the light in early 2016. Volume 2 the first box set has the Quatro Libro, Quinto Libro, Sesto Libro. As an added bonus, Paul Agnew presents a series of videos on the Monteverdi Madrigals see: www.artsflomedia.com These five short films are a lush and informative exploration of the works, Monteverdi's art, life and on­location footage that is beautifully filmed.

he box­set contains an essay by René de Ceccatty (in French & T English) entitled The Sibyl And The Fresco Of Illusions. The group has been commissioning essays to compliment their releases. However, this one is second rate indeed. Monsieur de Ceccatty's piece reads like a telephone book of Euro­culture from the second­half of the 20th century with a myriad literary references, verbose fluff, reminders of the doggerel that was universal in France just before the Revolution. We are treated to an unending list from A to Z including Abortion, Abraham/Hagar/Sara, Pina Bausch, Geraldine Chaplin, Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, Italian Communism, Fellini, Petrarch, Rock & Roll, YouTube, etc. Not to mention a jab at calling the USA “a backward country” for its continued legal state executions and death penalty. Yes, there is passing mention of Monteverdi, Mantua, and the Madrigal titles with scant libretti tidbits, but it reads like a left­ wing political diatribe. What does this have to do with these musical masterpieces, and more importantly, what does it add to the appreciation of this excellent recording? ...Fresco of Illusions indeed. The quality of the poetry in the 17th c. madrigal libretti and de Ceccatty's essay immediately reveal our own generation’s degenerate literary efforts. Forget the essay and listen to the wonderful recording.

Volume 30, No. 1 19 Jean-Philippe Rameau Pi ces De Clavecin

Harpsichord, Mahan Esfahani

Hyperion CDA68071/2, 2 CD's www.hyperion­records.co.uk ahan Esfahani's previous recording of the 1744 C.P.E. Bach M Württemberg Sonatas Wq49 (Hyperion CDA67995) was hailed by numerous music critics in France and England. He has just recently signed an exclusive deal to record for Deutsche Grammophon. This new recording of the entire Rameau harpsichord repertoire is an ambitious undertaking. This writer would posit that he has possibly been premature in his release of this set. I believe he should have a listen to one of the great recording monuments to Rameau's keyboard art, the seminal three discs on vinyl by the late and great Canadian, Scott Ross. They are available on YouTube.com and deserve to be re­ released on CD.

ahan Esfahani is a highly­opinionated young artist. His short M essay in the CD notes Some thoughts on performance issues reveals many definitive ideas, some verge on the idiosyncratic, such as “We often hear that we must make music 'sing', but what of making it 'speak'. Mr Esfahani studied in the United States but now makes his home in England.

ll the notes of the scores are there but the real star of this A recording is the ravishing sound of the harpsichord itself. The Ruckers­Hemsch harpsichord is in the Alec Cobbe Collection at Hatchlands Park in Surrey, England. It is a ravalement done in Paris, 1763 and attributed to Henri Hemsch, making it a two manual from the original Andreas Ruckers, Antwerp, 1636 one manual. Its restoration by Miles Hellon, was kept to a minimum and is now strung in Malcolm Rose iron and brass wire. Bird quills were used for plectra. Four different temperaments were utilized for the recording. What a great sound!

have a concern with the marketing of this recording. The I image chosen for the cover of the CD is inflammatory to say the least. Reproduced is a drawing by Albrecht Dürer (1471­ 1528), Study for the right arm of Lucretia, dated 1518. A muscular flexed arm tightly grips a long poignard, pointed down at an angle, ready to strike in a masterfully depicted drawing. The gesture is filled with intensity, initiated movement carrying incredible tension. The image has nothing to do with the harpsichord, Rameau's music, or the compositions’ lyrical and sometimes mysterious titles. So why was it utilized? This cover image is a politically insensitive gesture, one of questionable taste especially at the current time in Europe. Mr. Tim Perry is credited in the CD as “the Booklet Editor”. A regrettable piece of marketing, one that mixes a cultural conflict with musical masterpieces of 18th century French culture? I contacted Hyperion for a clarification on this cover image choice but never received a reply.

20 Volume 30, No. 1 Michel-Richard de Lalande Lecons de Tenebres

Sophie Karthäuser, Soprano Ensemble Correspondances Sébastien Daucé, Organ & Direction

Harmonia Mundi HMC902206 www.ensemblecorrespondances.com ne of the greatest composers in 17th c. France, de Lalande O (1657­1726) was principally dedicated to religious music and has been regarded as the 'Latin Lully' by some musicologists. After Lully's death, he became the most important composer in the realm. His numerous and excellent works for the stage, written for the entertainment of the courts of Louis XIV and Louis XV have not found a place in our own generation unlike some of his religious compositions. They are perhaps too subtle and highly finessed for our own generation. Charpentier, Lully and François Couperin seem to have a lock on the public's attention, or is it that today's conductors and groups in general are not familiar with his extensive and rich oeuvre? Notwithstanding, a few of his Grand Motets have been recorded and programmed in Europe, but it is unfortunate that these masterpieces have not found a place in the North American early music movement. Perhaps this is due to the considerable forces required in mounting these works. Budgetary restraints are probably part of the problem. It’s interesting to note that the seminal book A Thematic Catalogue of the Works of Michel­Richard de Lalande (first published by Oxford University Press in 2005, in English) by Lionel Sawkins, has done little to raise this composers profile in the North American scene.

n later life de Lalande refined his liturgical oeuvre repeatedly I with an ongoing revision of the works he had initially performed at the Royal Chapel, Versailles over the course of his long and hugely productive career. Among his output is the 77 Grand Motets, (of which 67 survive in score) written for choir, orchestra and soli. His works were played at the Concert Spirituel in Paris til 1770 and many of these masterpieces survived at the Royal Chapel until the French Revolution swept the monarchy away in 1792. But the smaller liturgical masterpieces featured on this important new recording actually may make the status of de Lalande rise again. They were his most popular religious compositions with the Paris public at the time of his death, and rightly so as they represent a deep pure, intimate and spiritual piety unmatched in the era, except for Couperin's own surviving Leçons. Though de Lalande's Leçons are not as widely known or recorded as Couperin's, they are of the same quality and power.

he word that best describes this recording is transcendental, T an attribute not found in many classical music artists lexicon these days. Daucé is a master of this refined grace. Soprano Sophie Karthäuser is a brilliant choice for this project with her directness and wonderful vocal clarity. At 40, she is a recognized star and is widely known for her late 18th c. repertoire.

Volume 30, No. 1 21 he three surviving de Lalande Leçons de Ténèbres, and the T Miserere à voix seul recorded here, were published after his death by his second wife, the viol player Marie­Louise de Cury. They must have been composed before 1711 as his two daughters, both virtuoso sopranos, are mentioned in period writings as singing them. They both died during the smallpox epidemic that year that ravaged Paris and environs.

aucé has given the listener a reconstruction of an actual period D performance during the time these works captured the public's acclaim, circa 1710­1735. He has placed them as in a convent setting with the virtuoso solo vocal works surrounded by short works for a chorus of female voices (i.e. Nuns), singing Latin chant. This gives the recording a reflective aura befitting the Lenten penitential masterpieces beautifully.

DVD Reviews

by P.-J. Dwyer

Rameau Hippolyte & Aricie (1733)

Orchestre et Choeur Le Concert d'Astrée Direction, Emmanuelle Haïm Hippolyte, Topi Lehtipuu; Aricie, Anne­Catherine Gillet; Thésée, Stéphane Degout; Phèdre, Sarah Connolly; L'Amour, Jaël Azzaretti; Oenone, Salomé Haller; Tisiphone, Marc Mauillon

Erato/Warner Classics 0825646229178 2­DVD 174 min Distributed by NAXOS America

his production, in Toulouse 2009, was universally acclaimed by T the French media. The DVD release was shot when the production moved on to Opéra nationale de Paris in 2012 and was initially released in PAL only format. The entire opera was available briefly on­line YouTube before it disappeared, later to be released in a region­free DVD format, in 2014.

22 Volume 30, No. 1 f all the Rameau operas staged during the period up to the 250 O Anniversary of his death in 1764 in Europe, this production takes the laurel for staged DVD category (As Hugo Reynes Les Indes Galantes does for the Rameau concert CD releases). Stage Director Ivan A. Alexandre and Conductor Emmanuelle Haïm have produced a historically­accurate production, completely faithful to the artistic milieu of 1733.

he soli of this production surely constitutes a dream cast of T singers. Some of the principal lead roles appeared with William Christie/Les Arts Florissants in an previous English Glyndebourne Opera production, giving the artists a chance to develop and live their roles repeatedly, embroidering them with an energy and veracity that is totally riveting. Sarah Connolly (Phèdre) and Stéphane Degout (Thésée) especially completely dominate the stage. Baritone Degout, though still a young singer, has captivated audiences with his vocal and dramatic talent. But the rest of the cast excels also in this complex and difficult opera. The score is demanding on the orchestra and singers alike.

ameau in 1733, at 50 years of age, mounted his premiere R opera and it is jammed full of ideas, words and challenging musical sections. Rameau seemed to want to over­awe his audiences and nay­sayers, with a mountain of intensity and myriad artistic treasures. One thinks of André Campra's comment as he left the Paris premiere, “There is enough music in this work for ten operas”. The premiere was a revolutionary opera debut that caused wildly divergent reactions. Many of the Lully supporters found the music too harsh and chaotic. A major scene from Act II had to be cut from it, the now famous Three Fates trio, as the singers refused to perform it saying it was “too difficult, too complex, too long to sing”.

ne of the standouts in this production is the accomplished O choreography of Natalie Van Parys. Van Parys originally came out of the Francine Lancelot nest of dancers after the great choreographer/dance history scholar’s death in the1990's. She appeared as a dancer in the seminal William Christie production of Lully's opera Atys at BAM, New York tour and has made a name in Europe as one of the greatest teachers of French Baroque Dance. Her work in this production is superlative, her company of dancers taking multiple roles as demons, deer, sailors, Temple of Diana dancers, citizens of Athens, zephyrs, Cupids followers. Her extensive usage of the Baroque step and gesture vocabulary is nothing short of marvelous, given that most modern choreographers insist on extensively utilizing later Romantic ballet technique, which is not historically accurate to the period in question here. Van Parys leaves the viewer wanting more, with her seamless and intuitive integration, into the already demanding vocal and theatrical action of the work.

Volume 30, No. 1 23 his production, in Toulouse 2009, was universally acclaimed by T the French media. The DVD release was shot when the production moved on to Opéra nationale de Paris in 2012 and was initially released in PAL only format. The entire opera was available briefly on­line YouTube before it disappeared, later to be released in a region­free DVD format, in 2014.

rench musicologist and author, Ivan A, Alexandre deserves F much credit for stage direction and integration of the dance, choir, soli and drama stage elements of this production. As a musicologist, it is also interesting that he got the job of stage director in the first place. Recent Euro Baroque operas has increasingly moved away from historically­informed and musically­centered productions, to something that places the music far down the list of priorities. This production has proven that historical opera productions can be wildly successful and sell­out completely. Maybe pastiche historical/modern and downright wacky modern stagings may have run their course and had their day in the spotlight? Probably not, but stage fashions can change, even if slowly.

mmanuelle Haïm deserves considerable acclaim for her deft E handling of the score of this opera. Her commitment to Rameau goes back to her work as harpsichordist with Les Arts Florissants. The success of this production and its run over a course of half a decade has firmly placed her in the top echelon of conductors in the French Baroque scene along with Christie, Rousset, Minkowski, Reyne and Niquet.

inally mention has to be given to the ravishing costumes, with F their nuanced palate of colours true to the period, excellent stage lighting, usage of painted scenery/curtains/flats that add much to the enjoyment and luxurious richesse of this offering. The singers gestures have been set in a truly Baroque fashion, but also human and natural, imprinting the restrained and nuanced French aesthetic. There were no mannerisms or affectations set on the performers, which focuses the audiences attention on the words of the text and emotional delivery of the singers, dancers and chorus alike.

his production already has a legendary reputation in Europe. T Sadly, we in North America were not given a chance to see it (given the huge costs to tour a mammoth production of a five act French Baroque opera). So a DVD is a worthy investment as this Hippolyte & Aricie is an artistic pinnacle and represents a chef d'oeuvre benchmark for future Rameau productions to try and match.

24 Volume 30, No. 1