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Peter Oundjian & Gary Kulesha on New Creations Will Crutchfield on Bel Canto Classical Spring Picks Southern Vancouver Victoria

Valery Gergiev Maestro in Motion

Youth: ’s Rising Stars • Camps • Careers

The Music Scene Spring 2005 Vol. 3.3 Version PDF

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Peter Oundjian & Gary Kulesha on New Creations Will Crutchfield on Bel Canto Classical Concert Spring Picks Southern Ontario Winnipeg Calgary Edmonton Vancouver Victoria

Valery Gergiev Maestro in Motion

Youth: Canada’s Rising Stars • Music Camps • Careers TMS3-3cover4 2005-03-15 13:32 Page 2 tms3-3_AC p03-11 3/11/05 10:07 PM Page 3 tms3-3_AC p03-11 3/11/05 10:11 PM Page 4 tms3-3_AC p03-11c 2005-03-16 14:17 Page 5

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The Music Scene ontents W Fr W Notes To Victoria Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Southern Ontario, Preview: J Crossing Borders azz CDReviews Spring 2005 ediefrAvriig a 7 05 Visit ads.scena.org for details. 2005. May 17, Deadline for Advertising: June 2005 Street Date: Summer Festivals Guide ancesca Caccini’s Opusto Woman Power l rthil:New Life for BelCanto ill Crutchfield: ho’s Afraid ofClassicalConcerts? r noNwCetosFestival onto New Creations Maestro inMotion V alery Gergiev alery 38 34 REVIEWS 22 20 18 16 12 11 10 YOUTH ’S CORNER: YO BakingtheirCake andEatingit Too VYSO: Musical CampsDirectory J Rick’s Picks CD Reviews Careers Ones to Watch Canadian RisingStars How MusicCampChanged my Life nSmn:aLife of Teaching an Simons: tms3-3_AC p03-11c 2005-03-16 16:35 Page 7

th Editorial cene n Monday, May 2, primary and secondary school students across the country will head outdoors. They will gather in courtyards and school grounds to share their Spring 2005 Vol. 3.3 Opassion for music and by playing A Little Music, a written by Canadian and musician Chris Tait. The first annual event, dubbed “Music

Publisher La Scène Musicale / The Music Scene Monday,” is an initiative of the Coalition for Music (CMEC), and aims Directors Wah Keung Chan (pres.), Sandro Scola, Dean to emphasize the crucial role played by music students and educators in ensuring Canada’s Jobin-Bevans musical future. Editor Wah Keung Chan Assistant Editor Réjean Beaucage CD/Books Editor Réjean Beaucage This issue of The Music Scene also celebrates young people and music. As the future of clas- Contributors Kenna Burima, Marc Chénard, John Defayette, Danielle Dubois, Sasha M. Dyck, W.S. Habington, Kyle Irving- sical music, young people are its greatest ambassadors. And as our profiles on Canada’s Moroz, Robert Jordan, Norman Lebrecht, Gaétan Martel, Gordon Morash, Rick Phillips, Peter Phoa, Isabelle Picard, Paul Rising Stars demonstrate (p. 18), they are clearly rising to the challenge. This summer, thou- Serralheiro, Joseph K. So, Andrew Thompson, Bess sands of youngsters will head to Canada’s woods and lakes for musical inspiration. We are Vasilakopoulos Cover Photo Marco Borggreve happy to present our second annual Music Camp Directory (p. 12) to help them find it. Translators Danielle Dubois Despite this great love for music-making, youth attendance at classical has been Proofreaders Danielle Dubois, Sasha M. Dyck declining for decades. On page 31, our British correspondent Norman Lebrecht explores Graphics WKC, Albert Cormier, Eric Ginestier, Sasha M. Dyck Illustrations Martin L’Allier ways to make concert-going a more appealing and rewarding experience. The article on the Website Normand Vandray, Mike Vincent, Linda Lee Admin. Assistant Sasha M. Dyck, Johanne Poirier, Antoine Vancouver Youth Symphony (p. 10) looks at the parental opposition experienced Letendre by some young people hoping to translate their passion for music into a living. For youth hop- Regional Calendar Eric Legault Accounting Joanne Dufour ing to study music (and perhaps for their parents as well), our Musical Careers feature on Bookkeeper Kamal Ait Mouhoub page 22 is a must-read. This feature also introduces the latest addition to The Music Scene Volunteers Maria Bandrauk-Ignatow, Wah Wing Chan, John Defayette, Dean Jobin-Bevans, Lilian Liganor, Stephen Lloyd, team, musicologist and radio host Rick Phillips. Every issue, Rick will offer his picks of the best Renée Rouleau new classical CDs, starting with page 38 of this magazine. Lastly, we hope you will be Distribution Southern Ontario, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, inspired by our cover interview with Valery Gergiev (p. 26). For decades he has stayed true Vancouver & Victoria to his humanist and musical ideals while making music for the pure love of it. A better role Printer Calgary Colorpress model is hard to find. Address 5409 Waverly St., , Canada H2T 2X8 Three years ago, CMEC Executive Director Ingrid Whyte had a vision of joining Tel.: (514) 948-2520 / Fax: (514) 274-9456 in music: “I remember thinking, ‘wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a day where everybody Editorial (514) 274-1128 comes out and is unified through song?’” she told me. Music Monday is the realization of Advertising Bernadette Lacroix-Bjornson (514) 935-3781 that vision, a vision that The Music Scene is proud to share. Just as Ingrid wants students Mike Webber (514) 287-7668 to make A Little Music their own – apparently students in Newfoundland have already come Gillian Pritchett (514) 948-2520 National Sales (non-musical) up with a bluegrass version of the piece – we also want you to consider The Music Scene Relations Media (450) 661-8200 yours. Let us know what you’d like to see more (or less) of, and we’ll make it happen. [email protected] • Web : www.scena.org production – artwork : [email protected] The Music Scene is the English Canada sister publication of See you on May 2. I’m sure we’ll be hearing from you! La Scena Musicale. It is dedicated to the promotion of classical music. It is published four times per year. Inside, readers will find arti- cles, interviews and reviews. TMS is published by La Scène Musicale/The Music Scene, a registered non-profit organiza- tion. La Scena Musicale is Italian for The Music Scene. Subscriptions Surface mail subscriptions (Canada) cost $20/yr or $35/2 yrs (taxes included) to cover postage and handling costs. Please mail, fax or email your name, address, telephone no., fax no., and Wah Keung Chan email address. Donations are always welcome. (no. 14199 6579 RR0001) Editor-in-chief Ver:2005-3-14 © La Scène Musicale / The Music Scene. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro- duced without the written permission of La Scena Musicale / The Music Scene. ISSN 1703-8189 (Print) ISSN 1703-8197 (Online) Canada Post Publication Mail Sales Agreement No. 40025257 th SUBSCRIBE TO cene For Advertising • Don’t miss an issue (514) 948-0509 • Help promote classical music and jazz > http://ads.scena.org See form on page 50

Spring 2005 7 tms3-3_AC p03-11c 2005-03-14 17:28 Page 8

Notes from the files of scena.org WAH KEUNG CHAN, DANIELLE DUBOIS, SASHA M. DYCK

Alexia Cousin retires at 25 stage it would be a pity to shut the door definite- include the Ontario Provincial Honour , The rising French star Alexia Cousin ly for all those who had believed in her, her , the National Arts Centre, caused waves with her announcement on March unique talent and her precocious achievements Parents for the Arts, and The Canadian Brass. 3, that she is retiring from the opera scene. “I have […] Alexia should be aware that she will always The Coalition for Music Education in Canada is decided to terminate my artistic career,” find an open door with people who had an organization dedicated to ensuring all she said in a statement posted on her believed in her.” SMD Canadian children have access to music educa- agent’s web site. “The passion and the tion. Music Monday happens at 10 am PT, 1 pm wholeness that have always determined Students in harmony on ET and 2 pm AT. DD my way of will from now on lead Music Monday my life in another direction. I would like On Monday, May 2, children across the BBC airs Jerry Springer – The to thank from the depth of my heart all country will unite to play the same Opera those who had supported me in this piece of music in an event the Coalition Despite being pressured by a militant Welsh special adventure, from close up or from for Music Education in Canada has Christian group and receiving almost 50,000 far away, on both sides of the curtain.” dubbed Music Monday. The organiza- complaints, the BBC aired Jerry Springer – The The star, known for her remarkably tion will provide a melody in a variety of Opera last month to an audience of over 1.8 mil- large voice and stage presence, had recently arrangements to be played by both elementary lion viewers. Meanwhile, plans are now underway won rave reviews for her role as l’Aiglon in and high school bands and at the to bring the successful musical and 2004 Oliver Honegger and Ibert’s eponymous opera, present- same time. According to the Coalition’s Web site award-winner to Broadway. ed last September in Marseille. Cousin’s sudden (www.coalitionformusiced.ca), it hopes the event The musical, an irreverent comedy inspired by decision, and cancellation of her upcoming will offer “a tangible demonstration of how music American trash-television culture, has been a appearance in Manon Lescault at the Vienna programs shape young lives and the fun young London hit for three years. It stars a fictional Jerry State Opera, has fuelled the opera world rumour- people have in making music,” as well as “show Springer mediating a conflict between God, mill, but to no avail. So far no word of explanation the important links between school music pro- Satan, Mary and a diaper-wearing Jesus. It also has emerged, although her agent, Laurent grams, their communities and the cultural vitality features a large cast of audience members/cho- Delage, has kept some opera-lovers’s hopes alive of this country.” risters, transsexuals, a troupe of tap-dancing Ku with these cryptic comments: “Who can predict A series of outdoor school concerts will also Klux Klansmen and over 300 sung expletives. the future? Should the future bring her back to mark the occasion. Supporters of the project The previously-unknown prayer group

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Christian Voice sent thousands of protest letters ding lyric singers of the century, never for an ins- before the opera’s broadcast, and published the tant abandoning her Spanish roots. WKC home addresses and telephone numbers of BBC employees on its website, several of whom La Scala Saga continues reported receiving angry and threatening calls. Recent events at Milan's reputed La Scala opera “This is not an issue of freedom of speech,” house have only contributed to worsen an said Christian Voice national director Stephen already-tense atmosphere. "I believe that, at the Green, “but a case of broadcasting people not moment, there are not the conditions for us to knowing the civilized limits and having to be told play music together," wrote musical director them.” He later added: “If Jerry Springer – The Riccardo Muti to his . His statement left Opera isn't blasphemous then nothing in Britain some people wondering whether Muti's letter is sacred. The damage that must have done to was one of resignation. impressionable young people is incalculable.” In any case, his announcement forced La Christian Voice also pressured a Scottish can- Scala to cancel yet another concert, adding to cer charity, Maggie's Centres, to return the the financial unrest caused by the string of £3,000 raised by a charity performance of the squabbles at the theatre. "The problem with Muti show by threatening to protest outside their is that he wants to be the absolute dictator of La office. David Soul, the actor who plays Springer, Scala — and he is succeeding," said the opera denounced the religious group’s “strong-arm, and film director . "It's unprece- mob-style tactics.” For his part, Green said the dented, unbelievable." charity had avoided a “potential public relations Musicians and staff of La Scala have been at disaster of profiting from filth and blasphemy.” odds with Muti and the board since February 24, Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC, when previous general manager Carlo Fontana stated that showing Jerry Springer – The Opera was dismissed and replaced by Mauro Meli, the was “both right and important” in order for the theatre's former artistic director and Muti's BBC to remain “a space in which the widest range choice pick. Muti had accused Fontana of of ideas and creativity can be shared by the public. "dumbing down" La Scala's program. “The play is a satire aimed not at Christianity Yet the conductor is attracting his own share of but at what the authors take to be the valueless criticism. "He is drunk with himself, drugged by amorality of The Jerry Springer Show,” Thompson his own art and his own personal vanity," said said. “The second act explores the interior of the Zeffirelli. "He can only talk about himself, he's fictional Springer’s mind — it was not a critique or become a caricature of a conductor." Under attack on the Christian holy figures themselves." Muti's leadership, he added, La Scala has staged Despite the controversy in Britain, the show's "one horrendous production after another: consti- New York producer said that plans are still in pated, anal, with no explosion of vitality on stage." place for bringing the $13.9 million US show to All of the brouhaha has left concert-goers won- Broadway. Although no dates or theatre has dering whether they will have a chance to enjoy been announced yet, spokesperson John Barlow the expensive restructuring and refurbishment of said the Broadway version of Jerry Springer – the Italian theatre intended to return La Scala to The Opera plans to finalize its funding in the next the front rank of international opera houses. DD six months and premiere in early 2006. SMD New Budget Guarantees Canada Lost Vocal Greats Council’s Extra $25 Million The musical world Officials at Canada Council are breathing a sigh lost several great of relief at the news that Ralph Goodale’s singers in 2004, February budget has left intact their $25 million in among them bari- extra funding. That amount, first granted to them tone Robert Merril in 2001, has now been extended all the way to (1919-2004) and 2010. “Of course it doesn’t solve all of Canada Italian soprano Council’s financial problems, but it’s a start,” said Renata Tebaldi public relations director Donna Balkin, who (1922-2004). The expressed gratitude to Minister of Canadian former, reputed Heritage Liza Frulla for “being a champion of the for his velvet- arts in Canada.” Balkin also thanked the “many smooth voice, earned admiration for his interpre- artists and arts groups who expressed their sup- tations of dozens of roles, including Escamillo in port for Canada Council.” and Figaro in The Barber of Seville. The Council claims to have been extending and Renata Tebaldi, a great rival of Maria Callas, will creating new funding avenues for the arts, includ- be remembered for her rich and creamy voice ing programs for new music, spoken-word and and her masterful technique. Spanish soprano new media. “If we had lost the money, that would Victoria de los Angeles (1923-2005), also pas- have meant some serious cuts in grants,” said sed on in mid-January of this year. Despite begin- Balkin. “We know how much this means to artists, ning a career as a coloratura soprano, she went and now we can continue to help them achieve on to be recognized as one of the most outstan- their goals.” SMD Spring 2005 9 tms3-3_AC p03-11b 2005-03-14 12:59 Page 10

VYSO: Baking their Cake and Eating it Too DANIELLE DUBOIS

he Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra al orchestra and there was a definite lack of family’s experience with the VYSO, which, like T (VYSO) celebrates its 75th anniversary this music schools and university programs. Partly for many organizations, relies greatly on the work of year. Established in 1930, it is one of the oldest this reason, music was seen as a hobby and volunteers. Indeed, each of the 200 families is youth orchestras in the country, second only to entertainment but was not really respected,” expected to volunteer 20 hours per season, as Winnipeg’s Youth Orchestra. “Our primary role is explains Wang. tuition brings in only half of the annual budget. “I to give the most outstanding young classical Hsieh agrees there is still much education to be was parent representative and volunteer coordi- musicians an outlet to play masterworks at a very done before mentalities change. “At Vancouver nator and William volunteers as a conductor’s high level,”says Roger Cole, artistic director of the Symphony Orchestra concerts, there’s only about assistant,” says Chang of their involvement. VYSO and conductor of the Senior Orchestra. 1 percent of Asians in the audience,” a discoura- It is not uncommon for alumni of the VYSO to Composition is one of the chief elements that ging representation considering the demographics maintain good relations with the organization that distinguishes the VYSO from other national youth of the city. Nonetheless, Hsieh is encouraged by helped them advance their own careers. Li-Yin orchestras. Eighty-five percent of the VYSO’s the steps taken by the VYSO to open up the musi- Wang, now assistant and coach of the Debut and 230 musicians aged 8 to 21 are of Asian cal horizons of its members. “The musicians of the Junior Orchestras, knows the benefits of rehears- descent. Of course, not all members of the VYSO are receiving a lot of encouragement from ing with an orchestra of this calibre. “I learned a Debut, Junior, Intermediate and Senior Orches- teachers to attend concerts,” says Hsieh. lot of orchestral technique as a member of the tras join with a view to becoming professional Now the Conductor of the Vancouver Metropo- VYSO so that it was not a very big shock when I musicians – quite the contrary. Yet, for those litan Orchestra and Apprentice conductor of the started playing in a university orchestra,” says the musicians coming from Asian families, it is a career- National Academy Orchestra, it was only when musician who has played with various profession- path often frowned upon by parents. Hsieh got a job in the US that his father started al orchestras. Kenneth Hsieh knows how difficult it can be to warming up to the idea of his son being a conduc- The talents of both alumni and current VYSO overcome parental opposition. A member of the tor. “I hated it at the beginning,” says Hsieh of his members will be showcased at the VYSO’s 75th VYSO from 1992 to 1998, first as a violinist and time with the VYSO. “I’d rather have been playing year Gala Concert held at the Orpheum Theatre then as a tympanist and percussionist, he studied soccer. But people were very warm-hearted and on Sunday May 22. Gwen Hoebig, Concert pre-law before heeding the call of music. “My offered a lot of encouragement. Even if it was bor- Master of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra mother was supportive but my father, a very tradi- ing at times, you learned. It definitely helped me to and VYSO alumnus, will perform the Glazunov tional man who believes in absolute discipline, was develop a passion for music.” . The concert will also feature the really against it,” says Hsieh. “Like many other Lina Chang’s 16 year-old son William is a violi- world premiere of a commissioned work by Asian people, he does not consider that music can nist with the Senior Orchestra of the VYSO. Frederick Schipizky, performed by all four of the lead to a money-making career.” Such a mentality Although she encouraged her son to pursue a pro- VYSO divisions. Guest conductor Maestro is typical among Asian people, especially the fessional career in music, William, now in Grade Kazuyoshi Akiyama will lead the Senior Orchestra Chinese and Taiwanese, says Hsieh who adds that 11, told her he would rather study law and keep and VYSO Alumni in Respighi’s Pines of Rome. parents want their kids to learn as many things as music as a hobby, a decision Chang supports just “It’s going to be very special,” promises Roger they can but never with the goal of bringing it to as she would have a music career. “I have an open Cole who extends an invitation to all music-lovers the next level. “I always make the analogy of bak- mind,” says Chang, “I think it is a stereotype that in the Vancouver area. a ing the cake but not eating it,” remarks Hsieh who musicians don’t make a lot of money.” Founder: Cyril Haworth, a flute student who finds it regretful so much money is spent on learn- The native Taiwanese speaks positively of her later made his career in New Zealand. ing skills that are not fully valued. Haworth remembers collecting «fifty cents a Not all musicians find themselves at odds with time» from the players to rent their first their parents’s vision. Li-Yin Wang joined the rehearsal hall. VYSO in 1992, shortly after arriving from Taiwan, First conductors: Alfredo Meunier and and stayed on until 1996. She pursued violin George Coutts studies at the University of and the First concert: Friday, May 27, 1932 at University of Western Ontario, always with the full Chalmers United Church Present Conductors: Roger Cole, Artistic support of her parents. “My mother was a piano Director, Conductor, Senior Orchestra teacher and she was happy to see me studying Jin Zhang, Conductor and Music Director, music,” says Wang whose mother had been dis- Intermediate Orchestra couraged from pursuing music while in Taiwan. Margitta Krebs, Conductor and Music “The 50s and 60s were not the best times eco- Director, Junior String Orchestra, Debut nomically. In Taiwan there was maybe one nation- Orchestra 10 Spring 2005 tms3-3_AC p03-11b 3/14/05 2:35 PM Page 11

Musician’s Corner Jan Simons: A Life of Teaching

DANIELLE DUBOIS

AN SIMONS WAS FLABBERGASTED TO LEARN HE good ears. That’s really the most important thing.” trip to Japan with the Bach in 1961, where JWOULDBETHE RECIPIENT OF THIS YEAR’S HOMMAGE “Things really started taking off in Toronto,” remarks his solos were broadcast on Japanese television, PRIZE AWARDED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORSOFTHE Simons, who, by this time, had begun doing radio in colour. CONSEIL QUÉBECOIS DE LA MUSIQUE. “I guess it must work for the French and English CBC networks. It is A man of initiative himself, in 1955 Simons be because of my long association with CAMMAC also while a student in Toronto that Simons befriend- joined Gordon Rye and Tom Brown to found a (Canadian Amateur Musicians Musiciens Amateurs ed . In 1950, the two shared a recital in professional choir that would later be named the du Canada) and my teaching,” says the Canadian Oshawa. Simons remembers attending Gould’s per- Elmer Iseler Singers, in honour of its conductor. who has had an impressive career, both formance of Bach’s D-minor Concerto at the That same year, Simons went to CAMMAC for the as a performer and a teacher. World Fair in 1958. He himself was there as first time. Long a teacher at its summer camps Born in in 1925, Simons was living in part of the Montreal Bach Choir. “After his concert, held on the shores of Lake MacDonald, Simons The Hague with his family when his father, certain Glenn asked me if I would carry his piano bench. I served as its general and artistic director for 25 there would be a war, decided to leave Europe for was tired of people always stopping us to congratu- years. Still faithful, he returns every summer to the United States. As chance would have it how- late Glenn so I went ahead to the tent where there teach vocal and interpretative classes. ever, the day Hugo Simons presented himself at was a big reception thrown by the Canadian Looking back on his musical career, Simons the American Embassy, its doors were locked. Ambassador to Brussels. When Glenn got there a does not hesitate to say its most rewarding With little time to waste, he did what any respon- few minutes later, the doorman wouldn’t let him in. He aspect has been teaching. His pedagogy is sim- sible man of instinct would have done—he walked was wearing his typically dirty old raincoat. His hair ple: “Going back to basics. I do that with every across the street to the Canadian Embassy. In was long and he looked like a bum.” It fell to Simons student, every lesson. That’s the only way to keep May 1939, the Simons family arrived in Montreal. to rectify the case of mistaken identity. the voice healthy,” maintains Simons, who has Jan Simons has a vivid memory of his first per- Possibly the most inspiring recital of Simons’ always been keen on clear diction. formance. War obliging, he was asked to sing career was his debut with Gerald Moore at Officially retired from McGill since 1995, Simons Elgar’s Land of Hope and Glory at a school assem- London’s Wigmore Hall. Despite a reputation for continues to teach at the University 11 hours a bly with Oscar Peterson accompanying him on being unkind to artists he didn’t like, Moore had a week, together with pianist Michael McMahon. piano. “Oscar was not pleased about reading soft spot for Canadians and the two immediately That’s in addition to his private students, seasoned music,” recalls Simons, who remembers listening to hit it off. “The rehearsals were particularly satisfy- professionals, amateurs, and singers suffering from the pianist improvising during lunch hour at The ing,” recalls Simons. “He was so generous with his serious vocal problems. “One of the most important High School of Montreal, now the FACE school. time and I learned a lot.” On the programme that things in teaching is to be positive with your stu- Despite having a natural voice, Simons had never evening were the Heine from Schubert’s dents, even if you don’t think they’re that talented, had any formal musical training apart from singing Schwanengesang and Schumann’s Dichterliebe, because if somebody really has a desire to sing, in and learning the recorder while still in The the postlude of which Simons, whose preferred there’s always something there,” says an optimistic Hague. Nonetheless, it was clear he wanted to pur- repertoire is lieder and oratorio, will never forget. Simons, who was told he would never have a big sue singing and, after completing his high school Also memorable was performing at the voice. For beginners, Simons finds two shorter ses- diploma in 1947, he went to New York to audition Philadelphia Academy, one of the 42 stops for the sions a week make for more rapid progress than a for different voice teachers. National Ballet of Canada and its production Dark longer one – supervised practice he calls it. Simons stayed in New York for two years, Elegies, an Antony Tudor ballet in which Simons The care Simons takes in judging each personali- studying with Emilio de Gogorza. Yet, the passing performed Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder. “The day ty and his insistence on having students develop their of the 1948 draft law convinced the young bari- before the sold-out performance, I stood on the own voices instead of imitating those of others, make tone to return to Canada, where he earned a stage and felt like a dwarf, it was such a high build- him a much a sought-after teacher. “I’ve never been scholarship to Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of ing. I started to vocalise and a voice came from the so busy!” exclaims the 79 year old teacher whose Music, studying with Ernesto Vinci and Emmy back and said, this hall has the best acoustics in better-known students include the likes of Stephanie Heim. The latter was, musically speaking, the the world, you don’t have to push, you’ll be heard. Marshall, Olivier Laquerre, Matthew White, Michelle most influential of his teachers. “She was a very It was the janitor, and he was right. It was a won- Sutton, and Marie-Annick Béliveau. profound interpreter,” says Simons. “It was maybe derful singing there,” says Simons who still laughs Although the pace is not likely to slow down the death of two of her children from influenza that when he thinks of how the dancers made fun of him anytime soon for Simons, you won’t hear him gave her her depth of feeling, her intensity,” for not knowing how to put on make-up. complaining. “I’m still learning,” declares the born reflects the father of six. “What I’ve learned is There were many other firsts over the course of teacher whose instinct and good ears are sure to mostly through instinct,” he adds. “I’ve got a good Simons’ career: the lead role in the opera In a serve him and his students for a while yet. p feel for what I’m doing and I’ve been graced with Garden, directed by Pierre Mercure in 1952; a Spring 2005 11 tms3-3_SD p12-17b 3/14/05 1:06 PM Page 12

2 005 p Dire Summer Music Cam ctory

Newfoundland and Labrador Orford Arts Centre Music Academy Montréal :: 514-343-7512 Interprovincial Music Camp / IMC ecoledesjeunes.musique.umontreal.ca Vinland Music Camp Orford :: 800-567-6155 Junior String Academy / Jazz Camp www.arts-orford.org Camp musical de l’Estrie Campbellville :: 416-488-3316 Gros Morne National Park :: 709-670-3377 see ad on page 15 www.vinlandmusic.ca Sherbrooke :: 819-562-3132 www.imcontheweb.org Camp musical du Saguenay-Lac- www.camuest.com National Academy Orchestra of Saint-Jean Ontario Canada Confederation Centre Music Camp Métabetchouan :: 888-349-2085 National Music Camp Hamilton :: 888-475-9377 Charlottetown :: 902-628-1864 www.campmusical-slsj.qc.ca www.brottmusic.com www.confederationcentre.com English Toronto :: 800-701-3132 see ad on page 17 www.nationalmusiccamp.com Sherbrooke :: 800-267-8327 see ad below - March www.usherbrooke.ca/musique Ceilidh Trail School of Celtic Music see ad below Westben Arts Festival Theatre Break Opera Program Toronto :: 416-292-9393 Inverness :: 781-545-3799 Domaine Forget Campbellford :: 877-883-5777 www.westben.on.ca www.coc.ca www.ceilidhtrail.com Saint-Irénée :: 418-452-8111 Summer Music Festival ~ Suzuki www.domaineforget.com Kincardine Summer Music Festival see ad on page 14 Kincardine :: 866-453-9716 Kingston Ear and Now Festival of New Music Camp chanson de Petite-Vallée www.ksmf.ca Kingston :: 613-542-1486 Sackville :: 506-364-2374 see ad on page 15 www.morethanmusic.com www.mta.ca/marshshakespeare Petite-Vallée :: 418-393-2394 www.festivalenchanson.com Silver Creek Summer School of Music Music at Port Milford University of New Brunswick Music Camp musical de Lanaudière Toronto :: 888-415-7394 Milford :: 914-769-9046 Camp www.silvercreeksummermusic.com www.mpmcamp.org Lac Priscault :: 450-755-2496 see ad on page 16 :: 506-453-4697 www.campmusicallanaudiere.com Ontario Music Centre www.unb.ca/musiccamp Canadian Opera Company - Summer Lake MacDonald Music Centre Lakefield :: 866-273-7697 www.cammac.ca Quebec Harrington :: 888-622-8755 Opera Camp www.cammac.ca Southern Ontario Chamber Music Toronto :: 416-363-6671 Camp Artemusik see ad on page 13 www.coc.ca Montréal :: 514-849-1110 Institute www.artemusik.com Camp musical Tutti Oakville :: 905-842-5865 Montréal :: 514-486-8727 www.socmi.org Camp musical des Laurentides www.geocities.com/campmusical University of Manitoba Summer Jazz Saint-Adolphe-d’Howard :: 450-227-0909 Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute Camp www.cmlaurentides.qc.ca McGill Summer Organ Academy Toronto :: 416-964-9562 Winnipeg :: 888-216-7011 x7018 Montréal :: 514-398-5530 www.tafelmusik.org www.umanitoba.ca/summer/jazz/ Montreal Suzuki Institute www.music.mcgill.ca/~organ Ste-Julie :: 450-922-8196 Thornhill Chamber Music Institute Manitoba Band Association's Camp musical Grande Coudée www.suzukimontreal.org Richmond Hill :: 905-764-1924 Summer Band Camp Saint-Martin :: 418-227-6375 www.tcmi.ca Camp musical Saint-Alexandre www.grandecoudee.com Winnipeg & Selkirk :: 204-663-1226 Saint-Alexandre :: 418-495-2898 Huckleberry Music Camp www.mbband.org www.campmusical.com Camp musical d’été de Montréal Lake of Bays :: 905-276-8234 Continued on page 14

12 Spring 2005 tms3-3-SD p12-17b 2005-03-14 12:06 Page 13

ConservatoryVictoria i˜ÌÀiʓÕÈV>ÊÊ of Music `ÕÊ>VÊ >V œ˜>`  -Ê -Ê1, / - Joanne Hounsell Artistic Director Summer Benjamin Butterfield / iÊ>ŽiÊ >V œ˜>`ÊÊ Stuart Hamilton Vocal ÕÈVÊ i˜ÌÀi Vocal Coach  Ê/ Ê 1/1Ê1, / - Joan Patenaude-Yarnell Academy Voice Instructor Peter Barcza `ÕÊÓÈʍՈ˜Ê>ÕÊÓ£Ê>œ×Ì Voice Instructor July 2 to 16 ÌiˆiÀÃʈ˜Ìi˜ÃˆvÃÊÃi“>ˆ˜iʣʈ˜VÕ>˜ÌÊ«Àœ}À>““iÊÊ Marc Bourdeau `iÊۜˆÝÊ>Û>˜VjÊ>ÛiVÊ>À̈ÃÌiʈ˜ÛˆÌjiÊޘiÊœÀ̈˜° Collaborative Piano & Vocal Coach +Õ>Ì՜ÀÊi˜ÊÀjÈ`i˜Vi\Ê >Ã>Ê+Õ>ÀÌiÌÌÊ­i“>}˜i®° Leslie Uyeda Victoria Conservatory *ÕÈiÕÀÃÊVœÕÀÃʈ˜VÕ>˜ÌʓÕȵÕiÊ`iÊV >“LÀi]ÊV >˜ÌÊ Collaborative Piano & Vocal Coach V œÀ>]ʜÀV iÃÌÀi]Ê«Àœ}À>““iÃÊ«œÕÀÊi˜v>˜ÌÃÊiÌÊ>`œÃ]Ê Ann Hodges of Music “ÕȵÕiÊ>˜Vˆi˜˜i]ʍ>ââ]ʓÕȵÕiÊ`Õʓœ˜`iÊiÌÊ Àœ>`Ü>Þ° Resident Director 907 Pandora Avenue, Robert Holliston Victoria, BC V8V 3P4 Canada ՘iÊÓÈÊ̜ÊÕ}ÕÃÌÊÓ£ Collaborative Piano & Vocal Coach -«iVˆ>Êˆ˜Ìi˜ÃˆÛiÊVœÕÀÃiÃʈ˜Ê7iiŽÊ£Êˆ˜VÕ`ˆ˜}ÊۜˆViÊ (250) 386-5311 ÜˆÌ ÊëiVˆ>Ê}ÕiÃÌÊÌi>V iÀÊޘiÊœÀ̈˜° David Shefsiek Toll free (Canada & US): Workshop Instructor ,iÈ`i˜ÌÊ-ÌÀˆ˜}Ê+Õ>ÀÌiÌ\Ê >Ã>Ê+Õ>ÀÌiÌÌÊ­iÀ“>˜Þ®° 1-866-386-5311 Giuseppe Pietraroia >˜ÞÊVœÕÀÃiÃʈ˜VÕ`ˆ˜}ÊV >“LiÀʓÕÈV]ÊV œˆÀÃ]Ê Conductor Fax: (250) 386-6602 œÀV iÃÌÀ>]ÊV ˆ`Ài˜½ÃÊ>˜`Ê>`œiÃVi˜ÌÊ«Àœ}À>“Ã]Ê >ÀÞÊ Robyn Cathcart ÕÈV]ʍ>ââ]ÊܜÀ`ʓÕÈVÊ>˜`Ê Àœ>`Ü>Þ Movement Coach www.vcm.bc.ca ÜÜÜ°V>““>V°V>ÊUʘ>̈œ˜>JV>““>V°V>ÊUÊ­nnn®ÊÈÓӇnÇxx Stephen Shields www.summermusicacademy.org Collaborative Piano Anna Cal Collaborative Piano /FFRE AUX MUSICIENS AMATEURS DE TOUT NIVEAUDESOCCASIONSDEFAIREENSEMBLEDE LAMUSIQUEDANSUNCADREAMICALETDÏTENDU #!--!# /PPORTUNITIESFORAMATEURMUSICIANS OFALLLEVELSTOMAKEMUSICTOGETHERINA RELAXED NON COMPETITIVEENVIRONMENT

Spring 2005 13 tms3-3_SD p12-17b 3/14/05 1:23 PM Page 14

Music camps, from page 12 Manitoba Conservatory of Music and Langley Community - French Woods Festival of the New Directions Cello Festival Arts - Sounds of Summer Daycamp Suzuki Student & Teacher Training Performing Arts Appleton, Wisconsin :: 877-665-5815 Winnipeg :: 204-943-6090 Langley :: 604-534-2848 Coral Springs, Florida :: 800-634-1703 www.newdirectionscello.com www.mcma.ca www.langleymusic.com www.frenchwoods.com Appel Farm Arts & Music Center Camp Encore/Coda Elmer, New Jersey :: 856-358-2472 Sweden, Maine :: 617-325-1541 www.appelfarm.org Saskatchewan Cultural Exchange Yukon Summer Music Camp www.encore-coda.com Performance PLUS Society Fiddle Camp Whitehorse :: 867-633-2800 www.yukonmusiccamp.info Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp New Hampton, New Hampshire :: 603-677-3403 Regina :: 306-980-9494 www.performanceplus.com www.sces.ca/fiddlecamp Twin Lake, Michigan :: 800-221-3796 www.bluelake.org Belvoir Terrace All Arts Camp Saskatchewan Band Association Camps Iqaluit Music Society - Summer California Summer Music Lenox, Massachusetts :: 212-580-3398 Regina, Saskatoon, Yorkton & Kenosee Lake Music Camp San Fransisco, California :: 415-753-8920 www.belvoirterrace.com Provincial Park :: 877-475-2263 www.csmusic.org www.saskband.org Iqaluit :: 867-975-2351 England Ashland Chamber Music Workshop Kivalliq Music Camp Dartington International Summer Rankin Inlet :: 800-220-6581 Ashland, Oregon :: 541-482-2204 Mount Royal College Organ Academy www.arctic.ca/ads/Music_Camp/ www.sou.edu/music/acmw School Calgary :: 403-440-7769 Totnes, County Devon:: 44 1803-847077 United States Kinhaven Music School www.dartingtonsummerschool.co.uk www.mtroyal.ca/conservatory/intsum- Weston, Vermont :: 610-868-9200 school.shtml Litchfield Jazz Camp www.kinhaven.org The Banff Centre Summer Music Litchfield, Conneticut :: 860-567-4162 www.litchfieldjazzfest.com Lake Tahoe Music Festival Academy International Music Academy of Programs Lake Tahoe, California :: 530-448-3280 Montpellier Banff :: 403-762-6188 Camp Curtain Call www.tahoemusic.org/academy www.banffcentre.ca Montpellier, dept l’Hérault :: 33 0467608711 Dugspur, Virginia :: 865-573-7002 www.aimmtp.com www.campcurtaincall.com Cazadero Performing Arts Camp Morningside Music Bridge Berkeley, California :: 510-527-7500 Calgary :: 403-440-6821 Classically Kids www.cazadero.org Switzerland www.mtroyal.ca/conservatory/music- Cours International de Musique Boulder, Colorado :: 303-449-1397 KoSA International Percussion bridge.shtml www.coloradomusicfest.org Morges, Canton de Vaud :: 919-962-1042 Workshop www.morges.unc.edu Signature Music Camp Castleton, Vermont :: 800-541-8401 Victoria Conservatory of Music Syracuse, New York :: 315-478-7840 www.kosamusic.com China www.signaturemusic.org Summer Music Academy Hartwick College Summer Music Beijing International Music Festival & Cannon Music Camp Victoria :: 250-386-5311 Festival Academy www.vcm.bc.ca Boone, North Carolina :: 828-262-4091 see ad on page 13 www.cannon.appstate.edu Oneonta, New York :: 607-431-4801 Beijing :: 718-275-0502 www.hartwickmusicfestival.org www.bimfa.org

14 Spring 2005 tms3-3_SD p12-17b 2005-03-17 16:16 Page 15

Michel Gagnon et Charles H. Magby unissent leur savoir-faire dans le but de répondre aux exigences précises de musiciens et musiciennes.

Michel Gagnon & Charles H. Magby combine their experience to meet the most exacting requirements of fine musicians.

310 Stepstone Hill Road, Guilford, CT, 06437 l (203) 453-2011 115 W 73 #7A, New York, NY (Monday) l (212) 874-4037 Fine Violins Ltd. www.fineviolinsltd.com

July 31 to August 13

JAZZ & • CHAMBER MUSIC INTERMEDIATE ADULT CHAMBER MUSIC • STRINGS & BANDS: beginner to advanced • SENIOR CHOIR, JUNIOR CHOIR • GUITAR CHILDREN'S MUSIC • NEW! SCOTTISH FIDDLE ORCHESTRA

Renee Rosnes, Jazz Artist in Residence, pianist and composer; Alex Dean, Jazz Artistic Director, sax; Mike Malone, trumpet/ composition, Dave McMurdo, trombone/composition; Pat Collins, bass; Barry Elmes, drums; Lorne Lofsky, guitar; Lisa Martinelli, vocals Arthur-LeBlanc Quartet, Chamber Music Artists in Residence; Peter Allen, piano; Gryphon Trio, Guest Artists

PLEASE REFERENCE THIS NUMBER WHEN REGISTERING: 57 KINCARDINE, ONTARIO, CANADA ONTARIO, KINCARDINE, www.ksmf.ca [email protected] 866-453-9716 Spring 2005 15 tms3-3_SD p12-17b 2005-03-14 16:38 Page 16

KYLE IRVING-MOROZ Camps How Music Camp Changed my Life

Performance at Morningside Music Bridge in Calgary

HEN I WASEIGHT YEARS OLD MY PARENTS laugh of a grandfather mischievously handing out teacher at the school and the conductor of both W ASKED ME WHICH INSTRUMENT I WANTED TO cookies right before dinner. From that moment on orchestras. LEARN. I REMEMBER ANSWERING WITHOUT HESITA- the other instruments at school didn’t stand a These new groups presented both challenges TION: “I WANT TO PLAY THE BAGPIPES.” My parents chance. The wind intruments gave me a headache, and opportunities. While the chamber orchestra had the unfortunate duty to tell me that FACE, the the violin was worse, and as for the viola, well, who repertoire was manageable, the music that the fine-arts school I attend in Montreal, didn’t offer played the viola? There was no going back for me: symphony played was quite a bit above my level. bagpipe classes (a fact for which, I am sure, our I was hooked on cello. At my first rehearsal I remember the music flying neighbours are still thanking their lucky stars). They After several joyful months of playing at school, I by me at speeds I thought I would never be able asked me if I was interested in any other instru- started taking private lessons on my tiny half-size to reach. It’s funny how sometimes things that ment, but I could not fathom any instrument being instrument. With me at the helm it sounded much seem impossible are achievable after all. When better than the bagpipes. Fortunately for all of us, more like a raspy wind than anything else, but I loved someone plops a part down in front of you, at first that summer my mother and I participated in the it nonetheless. When I had finally grown enough you can only play a few notes. With a little work, Canadian Amateur Musicians/Musiciens Amateurs musically and physically to move up to a three-quar- however, it starts to gradually fill in, and with lots du Canada (CAMMAC) music camp, where I dis- ter size instrument, I enjoyed the sound of the new and lots of help you can actually play through the covered that there might be another place for me in creature so much that when I ran out of music to play whole part. the musical world. I would just keep playing my own improvisations. Where has my initial camp experience led me? My time at camp changed my life. The people A couple of years later, a woman came up to Well, I am currently finishing my eleventh and last there seemed to be in a perpetually good mood — me in the school hall with a music score and asked year at FACE, and still enjoying being an active the teachers were wonderful friends and excellent if I knew any cellists who could play it. After look- part of both orchestras. I continue to study cello muscians, and the directors even cared about the ing over the part carefully I replied that I was a cel- privately with Gary Russell. I plan to devote my life campers enough to take a poll about which type list and would be willing to give it a try. Before I to music, if I can, and would particularly like to of water we liked best: the water that had been fil- knew it I was in two separate orchestras with so explore period performance of early music. Maybe tered or the water straight from the lake. (The fil- much hard music to practice that I could hardly I will take up the viola da gamba? Who knows! tered water won.) shake my bow at it all. One was a small chamber What is certain is that I will always cherish my The most important moment for me, however, ensemble and the other, the FACE Symphony music camp memories, without which I wouldn’t was the cello recital of one of my newfound Orchestra, was a full-blown symphony orchestra of be doing what I am today. If it wasn’t for my sum- friends. I was mesmerized by the instrument’s 50 musicians. The woman who had stopped me in mer at music camp, I would still be trying to learn deep, resonant, and warm sound, not unlike the the hall turned out to be Theodora Stathopoulos, a the bagpipes. p

certs. Both culminate in the 57-year old tradition wanting to work on their repertoire. More infor- Camps News of a Saturday evening pipe band parade through mation is available on the Orford website, town with the Kincardine Scottish Pipe Band. www.arts-orford.org Kincardine takes up Scottish fiddling More information is available on the KSMF web- True to its Scottish roots, Kincardine Summer site, www.ksmf.ca CAMMAC receives building grant Music Festival (KSMF) has launched the Scottish Canadian Amateur Musicians/Musiciens Fiddle Orchestra, a new program for fiddle play- New profs and program at Orford Amateurs du Canada (CAMMAC) will receive $2 ers running from August 1 to 5. Open to all play- The Orford Arts Centre Music Academy has million from the government of Quebec to help ers aged 14 and up who have a basic knowledge announced the addition of new professors for the rebuild the Lake MacDonald Music Centre in of notes and technique, the Orchestra is 2005 summer sessions, taking place this year Harrington, Quebec. Canada Economic designed to help fiddlers “explore the fun and from June 20 to August 13. Several of the new Development is also putting $814,928 towards congeniality of playing traditional Scottish and profs will come from abroad, including pianist the project, which includes a 41 room residence Celtic tunes in a relaxed atmosphere,” says Jacques Rouvier and bassoonist Marc Trénel with kitchen and dining room, teaching studios, a KSMF Organizing Chair John Schnarr. (France), violist Michael Kugel (Belgium), violinist concert area and space for CAMMAC’s music The KSMF is located in the historically Michael Frischenschlager (Austria) and clarinetist library, which holds over 10,000 works. Scottish-based town of Kincardine, on the shores Richard Stoltzman (USA). The new centre will emphasize many con- of Lake Huron. The festival offers 18 different Orford will inaugurate a new master class cepts in green architecture such as the use of programs for all instruments and ages. The first this year. It will be led by acclaimed Canadian solar energy, the recycling of grey water, and roof week, from August 1 to 5, offers nightly jazz and accompanist Michael McMahon, and will focus gardens. Bosses design + Box architecture was blues concerts. The second, from August 8 to on pianists specializing in voice coaching and the architectual firm selected to undertake the 13, features chamber music and classical con- accompaniment. It will also be open to singers project.

16 Spring 2005 tms3-3-SD p12-17b 2005-03-14 12:31 Page 17 e

Apr 7, May 5, June 9

John Molson School of Business Concordia University

Spring 2005 17 tms3-3_AC p18-31 2005-03-14 11:04 Page 18

Musician’s Corner Youth Canadian Rising Stars DANIELLE DUBOIS

The Music Scene and La Scena Musicale have a university students whose repertoire spans a wide Marie-Ève Poupart, violonist tradition of featuring exceptional young Canadian array of music from 16th Century Madrigals to age: 17 musicians, such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Marie- African-American Spirituals. hometown: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC Nicole Lemieux and . For our first annu- With choral being one of the lesser favourite interpreters : David Oistrakh, Jascha al Rising Stars feature, we chose the most promis- developed musical areas in Canada, Tranquilla Heifetz, Midori ing students from Canada’s major music schools. seizes the opportunities to develop his skills when- school : Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal ever they present themselves. He recently attend- teachers : Angèle Dubeau, Anne Robert, Johanne Arel Sean Rice, clarinetist ed masterclasses in Vancouver with the Elmer favourite repertoire : Romantic, Baroque, Modern age: 21 / hometown: St. John’s, NL Iseler Singers. “I learn from making mistakes – Although many judges told school: Memorial University that’s how I see what my style is,” says Tranquilla her she had a promising teacher: Paul Bendozsa who cites Scott Leithead, founder and artistic career ahead of her, it is favourite interpreters: Kimball Sykes, James director of the Kokopelli Choir Association, as only this year that Marie-Ève Campbell, Richard Stoltzman being one of his role models. “I see myself settling Poupart started giving seri- Sean Rice likes to perform in a community and fostering a choral program,” ous thought to the idea of music that pushes his limits. shares Tranquilla who has experience working with being a full-time musician. “Beethoven and Mozart are both adults and children and who would like to do She definitely does not greats but I like to present work with theaters in the future. lack experience. Poupart has balanced programs with a been soloist with ensembles variety of pieces,” says the Nicolas Bernier, composer (electroacoustic music) such as the Montreal lover of contemporary music, age: 27 Symphonic Orchestra whose favourite piece is hometown: Hull (OSM), the Longueil Symphonic Orchestra and Aaron Copland’s Concerto school : Université de Montréal the Amati Ensemble. “I love going on stage and it for Clarinet and Strings. teachers : Robert Normandeau and Jean Piché is really wonderful when I feel the public react,” “Work ethics are key,” favourite : Maurizio Martusciello (Italy), says the violinist who recently won the « Paul adds Rice. Having set his Robert Normandeau, Louis Dufort, Gilles Gobeil, Merkelo » bursary at the 65th edition of the OSM sights on a solo career, the two-time National Françis Dhomon, Stéphane Roy, Martin Bédard competition. Music Festival winner certainly does not lack per- (d’Amours métal), Luc Ferrari, Serge Gainsbourg Once she completes her studies at the formance experience. In 2003, he performed with “Every time that I win a Conservatory, Poupart intends to go to the United at the National Arts Centre prize or a piece is selected States and Europe in order to study with the great and was invited to give his own concert in the for a festival, I’m astound- masters. And after that? “Trips across the world Canadian capital. “The audience was great,” recalls ed,” says Nicolas Bernier, and concerts in as many countries as possible.” Rice, who finds auditions much more nerve-racking who first tried to develop than performances. His immediate plans are to his knowledge of electroa- Jessica Muirhead, soprano complete his Bachelor in Music Performance, after coustic music by reading age: 23 / hometown: Aurora, ON / school: McGill which he intends to pursue a Master’s and a treatises on the topic. Four teachers: Lucile Evans (voice teacher), Doctorate degree in Music. “I’m expanding my years later, he’s landing Robert K. Evans and Michael McMahon (coaches) technique and I still have a lot to learn,” says Rice, prizes and invitations to favourite composers: Mozart, Strauss who tries to practice between 4 and 5 hours a day. festivals left and right. For Jessica Muirhead, per- His approach to compo- forming is in large part Joel Tranquilla, choral conductor sition is simple: “I think composition turns out for about being honest. “I only age : 19 the best when it’s done rapidly and intensely.” want to perform music that hometown : Fredericton Bernier says he uses his ear as a guide – the intel- I love because otherwise I school : Mount Allison lectual work comes later. feel like such a fraud!” says teacher : Edmund Dawe (piano) The composer is grateful to friends who make the soprano, who makes a favourite composers : Bach, Eric Whitaker him discover not studied at university, and point of analyzing music Although Joel Tranquilla is although many of them consider his music com- and researching the prose pursuing a Bachelor of pletely abstract, they can appreciate it, as do the before she chooses her Music in piano, he has his bigwigs of the academic world. repertoire. “In the long run, sights set on choral con- Bernier is definitely not lacking enthousiasm for a my main goal is to stay true ducting. A member of the career he forsees as multifaceted. “I want to do it all! to myself and to the music,” adds Muirhead whose America Boy Choir School Acousmatic music, more popular electro music, main obstacle is being objective about her own when he was younger, installations, video, development of tools, etc.” One performances. Tranquilla is no stranger to of his long term plans is to develop the cultural A fan of Renée Fleming and , high level performance. The scene in his native Outaouais. His next project: an Muirhead is determined to have an international summer before beginning installation in a pool with speakers and an underwa- career. “Twenty years from now I would still like to university, he decided to ter video. “A very exciting project which will give us be performing but I could also see myself starting form his own choir. VocalEse a chance to get new bathing suits,” jokes Bernier. up my own voice studio,” says the student who is a 20 voice mixed ensemble made up mostly of completes her Master’s degree in the fall. Coming

18 Mars 2005 March tms3-3_AC p18-31 2005-03-14 12:52 Page 19

up is a performance of Beethoven’s Mass in C voice. “I want to engage audiences on levels that Major and Dvorak’s Te Deum with Cantabile in are more than purely auditory.” Lachine. Muirhead will also be busy learning Also a viola player, De Souza enjoys different Pamina for her European operatic debut in Vienna genres of music, from baroque to folk. He intends with the Volksoper Wien set for next December. to seek out new musical experiences by pursuing graduate studies in England, a path which might Mark Laver, jazz saxophonist eventually lead to teaching. “I really enjoy working age: 22 / hometown: Scarborough, ON with people and I see it as a way of passing on my school: love of music.” teachers: Kirk MacDonald, Alex Dean, Mike Murley, De Souza just recently finished composing a Len McCarthy, Phil Nimmons musical for a local elementary school and is start- favourite composers: Debussy, Ravel, Benjamin ing work on a piece for saxophone and electron- Britten, , Thad Jones, Gil Evans, Phil ics based on the telegrams of Charlie Parker. that talent has something to do with genes. Nimmons Respectively in their fourth and third year of the favourite jazz players: Lee Konitz, Paul Desmond, Sasa Gerzelj, pianist Honours Music Program, the two share almost every- Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Frisell, Ed Bickert age: 28 / hometown: Maribor, Slovenia thing, including concerts. They made their orchestral Mark Laver appreciates the school: Glenn Gould School of The Royal debut performing Mozart’s Concerto for Two flexibility of jazz. “I played Conservatory of Music, Toronto Pianos with the Georgian Bay Symphony (GBS) in the first Bach Cello Suite main Teachers: Walter Kamper (Vienna), John Perry February 2003, as well as ’ Mennonite on alto in a concert in (Toronto) Piano Concerto. In October 2004, their sister Cookstown, and we did a favourite composers: Schumann, Mozart, Haydn, Renee joined them in a performance of Mozart’s group improvisation based Beethoven, Stravinsky Three-piano Concerto, again with the GBS. on the theme from Bach’s favourite interpreters: Vladimir Horowitz, Alfred Although Rebecca and Richelle are very com- The Art of the Fugue,” he Brendel, Claudio Arrau mitted to music, the chemistry and physics lab says. A member of the See Sasa Gerzelj finds inspira- partners hope to study medicine. The way they see Through Trio and the Toron- tion everywhere. “I just try to it, a medical career does not rule out a musical to Jazz Orchestra, Laver have my ears, eyes and soul one. Already experienced soloists, the pair has still gets the jitters before getting up on stage. “I as open as possible. Life played a number of concerts, often benefit ones, in think I usually perform best if I’m a little bit on itself is like a huge encyclo- Canada and the United States. They are some- edge, at least initially.” pedia; you can find almost times joined by the other four Kruisselbrink sisters, Although he loves performing, Laver thinks his everything if you look hard also musicians and singers. Their secret? “We set future has other things in store for him. “I’d like to enough.” A concert pianist goals, manage our time well and get up early,” say be able to balance an academic and a perform- in training, Gerzelj made her the sisters, who are very thankful they have such a ance career. I think that I would feel very unful- orchestra debut in Slovenia supportive family. filled and unhappy if I were to give up either one.” in 1992. This paved the Teaching during the year, touring during the sum- way for solo recitals, recordings for RTV Slovenia, Nikki Chooi, violinist mer, and a little composing in between – why ORF (Austria), RNE (Spain), as well as solo per- age : 15 not? “I’ve recently written a piece for saxophone formances in festivals around the world. hometown: Victoria quartet based on the fourth movement of T.S. And the pace isn’t letting up. This year Gerzelj school : Mount Royal College, Calgary Eliot’s ‘The Wasteland,’ and a setting of Eliot’s played Strauss’ Burleske with the Rotterdam teachers : William van der Sloot ‘Marina,’” says the self-professed avid reader. And Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Conrad favourite repertoire : Spanish music, Brahms after all, in jazz, anything is possible. von Alphen. She also recently recorded a CD pro- At the age of 15, Nikki duced by RNE, Music for two Pianos, with duo Chooi is already well on his Jonathan De Souza, composer partner Regulo Martinez, also a student at the way to realizing his dream age : 22 Glenn Gould School. of becoming a world- hometown : London “The main thing is to prepare myself really well renowned soloist. Every teachers : , Omar Daniel so that I feel confident. But when I play, I just let two weeks, he boards the school: University of Western Ontario the music take hold and I try to be honest. And plane going from Victoria to Jonathan De Souza is pas- when I do that, the public appreciates it.” Calgary to meet violin sionate about music and Gerzelj has followed master classes with teacher William van der theatre. “In fact, it is the teachers John Perry, Leon Fleisher, Marc Durand, Sloot with whom he’s been same passion. Theatre is Jacob Lateiner and S.I. Gadzijev, among others. working for two years. simply writing music with Although her focus is her performing career, she Past teachers have included Pinchas words,” says the composer has given teaching some thought. “I think it is Zukerman, Patinka Kopec, and Grigory and playwright. “My music something I will enjoy.” Kalinovsky, with whom Chooi worked while a par- combines elements of ticipant in the National Arts Centre Young Artists tonality, atonality, aleatory Rebecca and Richelle Kruisselbrink, pianists Programme in June of last year. The summer techniques and serial tech- age: 20 and 19 years old / hometown: Tara, ON before, he attended the Juilliard School on schol-

niques,” explains De Souza photo: Lockhart Emily school:Wilfrid Laurier University,Waterloo / teacher: arship and studied with Itzhak Perlman. whose musicals have won awards at the 2003 Anya Alexeyev Chooi won top prize at the National Music and 2004 Fringe Festivals. favourite interpreters: piano duo James Anagnoson Competition in Prince Edward Island this summer, “I try to call attention to the theatrical elements and Leslie Kinton and most recently, top honours at the 65th of performance,” points out De Souza who also favourite repertoire: Romantic Continued on page 21 writes instrumental music and music for solo Rebecca and Richelle Kruisselbrink might be proof

Mars 2005 March 19 tms3-3_AC p18-31 2005-03-14 11:31 Page 20

Musician’s Corner Youth Ones to Watch DANIELLE DUBOIS

Many young Canadian musicians have won major Reunion Island; many recitals in Canada in 2003, Shannon Mercer, soprano national and international competitions in the last notably on CBC Radio, and with the Montreal hometown: Ottawa, ON year. Keep you eye out for them. Symphony Orchestra; sung the role of the studies: McGill University, University of Toronto Countess Ceprano at the Opéra de Québec Opera School, Merola program of the San Francisco Phillip Addis, baritone (Rigoletto, Verdi) in 2003 and in 2005 will sing Opera, COC Ensemble Studio hometown: Port Colborne, ON Pedro (Don Quichotte, Massenet) and Frasquetta awards: 2004 Canada Council for the Arts Award studies: University of Toronto (Carmen, Bizet) at the Opéra d'Avignon. Discography: English Fancy with Masques (Analekta) repertoire: Opera and Recital Career highlights: Cleone awards: 2004 Winner of the 65th Montreal Allen Harrington, saxophonist (Médée) with Opera Symphony Orchestra Competition hometown: Winnipeg, MB Atelier, Dido (Dido and 2003 First Prize Winner of Orchestre de Québec’s studies: Northwestern University Aeneas) with the Studio de Canadian Concerto awards: 2004 International Stepping Stone musique ancienne de Competition competition, Canadian Music Competition Montréal and Opera Career Highlights: He has 1999 Grand Award at the National Music Festival McGill; and First lady (Die sung the roles of Taddeo in of Canada Zauberflöte) with Opéra de L’Opéra de Montréal’s pro- Career highlights: soloist with the Winnipeg Civic Québec. Soloist with Ensemble Arion, Les duction of L’Italiana in Orchestra, the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra Violons du Roy and Cantata Singers of Ottawa. Algeri following featured and The Saskatchewan Chamber Orchestra; Upcoming: Shannon will spend a large part of roles in the company’s pro- member of the National Youth Orchestra of 2005 in Vienna studying with Margaret Singer. ductions of Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto and Die Canada; bassoonist for the Winnipeg, Saskatoon Zauberflöte. As well, Addis has toured extensively and Regina Symphony Orchestras. Jocelyne Roy, flautist throughout with Atelier Lyrique’s hometown : Repentigny, QC production of Carmen. Lana Henchell, pianist studies : Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, hometown: Calgary Université de Montréal, Manhattan School of Music Anne-Julie Caron, percussionist studies: awards : 2004, grant from the Canada Council for hometown: Saint-Romuald, QC awards: 2004 Winner of Eckhardt-Gramatté the Arts studies: Conservatoire de musique de Québec, in Competition 2003, second prize at the Montreal Symphony Boston with marimbist Nancy Zeltsman 2000 First-round competitor Orchestra Competition awards : 2004, Prix d'Europe in the Esther Honens 2002–2003 Participant in Début INC. and CBC 2003, winner of the Concours de l’Orchestre sym- Competition Young Performers competitions phonique de Trois-Rivières Career highlights: Soloist Career highlights : Soloist with the Montreal 2002, winner of the Conservatoire de musique de with various orchestras Symphony Orchestra the Orchestre symphonique Québec concerto competi- playing concerti by du Conservatoire de Montréal tion Beethoven, Rachmaninoff 2001, winner CBC and Grieg. Henchell Jasper Wood, violinist Competition for Young participated in the 2003 “Barbara Krakauer” hometown: Moncton, NB Performers Academy in Vaison la Romaine. born: 1974 inspirations : Percussionists studies: Cleveland Institute of Music, presently pro- Marie-Josée Simard and David DQ Lee, countertenor fessor at the University of British Columbia Mario Boivin hometown: Vancouver, BC awards: 2004 Canada Council for the Arts Award Upcoming: Two concerts as soloist with studies: Vancouver Academy of Canada discography: MacDonald: Great Square of Pegasus l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec in 2006 repertoire: Opera, Oratorio, (Centrediscs), Saint-Saëns (Disques Pelleas), Songs Eckhardt-Gramatté (Analekta), Stravinsky Hélène Guilmette, soprano awards: 2003 Canada (Endeavour Classical) hometown: Montmagny, QC Council for the Arts Career Career Highlights: Dame studies: Université Laval, Chautauqua Summer Grant Myra Hess Series in School of Music, Mannes School 2000 The Queen Elizabeth Chicago, the Phillips awards: 2004, second prize International Music Collection in Washington at Queen Elizabeth Competition in Belgium D.C, Carnegie Hall, in New International Music 2000 Young Concert Artists International York City, in Competition of Belgium; Competition in New York Montreal, Celebrity Series 2002, third prize in 1999 Finalist at the National in Calgary, and Premier Concours Voix nouvelles in Council Audition, New York Performances in St. Louis.

Paris; photo: Anne De Gelas discography: Arianna a Naxos with Yannick Nézet- Upcoming: Concerts in Québec and the mar- Grant recepient from Canada Council for the Arts Séguin on piano (ATMA Classiques) itimes. Grant, Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec Upcoming: Lee will make his Vienna Volksoper and de la Fondation Jacqueline-Desmarais. debut singing the role of Oberon from Britten’s A Career highlights: tour of France, Switzerland and Midsummer Night’s Dream. 20 Spring 2005 tms3-3_AC p18-31 3/14/05 1:39 PM Page 21

Avan Yu, pianist Rising Stars continued from p. 19 hometown: Vancouver teachers: Kenneth Broadway, Ralph Markham Montreal Symphony’s Standard Life Concerto music composition. Awards: 2004 Canadian Chopin Competition, 2002 Competition. As part of his prize he performed Classes in harmony First Prize in the Ninth Missouri Southern Sibelius’ Concerto with the Montreal Symphony and orchestration International Piano Orchestra in November. gave him the tools he Competition for the The admirer of has a soft spot needed to write his Junior Division, 2002 for Spanish music. “I really like gypsy music, Concerto no. 1 for Tar and 2001 First Prize in especially Sarasate. It’s fun and you can play and Orchestra, which the Canadian Music around with the timing.” the Vancouver Competition (CMC), Symphony Orchestra 2002 Prize-winner at Heather Hindman, composer performed last March. the 4th Tchaikovsky age: 28 / hometown: Edmonton “When people were International Music school: crying after the per- Competition for Young teachers: Howard Bashaw and Laurie Radford formance, I knew I had Musicians (China) favourite composers: Ligeti, R. Murray, Beethoven, transferred some of Upcoming: Attending Liszt, Messiaen the feeling.” the Tenth Hamamatsu International Piano “The sounds we hear each day, the mass media Although he’s the first to admit his performing Academy in Japan, the National Arts Centre’s we are bombarded with, the actions and reac- abilities far surpass his composing ones – he has Young Artists Programme in Ottawa under the tions of individuals in our society, the effects of played in a number of ensembles and has already direction of Pinchas Zukerman, and in April of technology and capitalistic greed” – it is from recorded four CDs of persian music – Koushkani 2006, the performance of Mozart’s D minor these phenomena that Heather Hindman draws has some definite goals with respect to his newly Concerto with the Victoria Symphony. inspiration for her works. Composing is for her a acquired knowledge. “I want to compose for Learn more about the unrelenting drive, sacri- personal experience, as well as a difficult one. “I orchestras and play in them,” he says. Koushkani, fice, dedication and talent required of Avan Yu who also plays the sitar and sings, draws inspira- and fellow competition winners by watching tion from his past, spirituality and poetry. “My Arts & Minds: THE CANADIAN CHOPIN compositions have to be unique, I never use PIANO COMPETITION on Bravo’s weekly arts another person’s music.” magazine on Saturday, March 26 at 6pm ET and Sunday, March 27 at 7pm ET. Victoria Medeiros, soprano age: 19 / hometown: 100 Mile House school: Victoria Conservatory of Music (VCM) teacher: Joanne Hounsell Victoria favourite repertoire: French art song “Music is my goal and I will pursue it any way that Conservatory I can,” says Victoria Medeiros, who is just finish- of Music need to have a clear idea of a piece before I write ing up her diploma at the VCM. The first step on a note, aesthetically, musically, and formally,” says the ladder of ascent will be a Bachelor in the winner of a 2004 SOCAN award who begins Performance followed by a Master’s degree. a Master’s degree in composition in the fall. When asked where she’ll be in ten years, Viva It is by exploring different artistic environments Medeiros doesn’t hesitate long: “Probably study- that Hindman sees new music developing its ing.” A fan of Renée Fleming, she sees herself social and cultural understanding of contemporary eventually migrating to Europe or the US in order society, something she deems essential. In addi- to perfect her voice. Voce tion to concert music, Hindman would like to com- For inspiration, she looks to teacher Joanne pose for dance, theater and installations. As she Hounsell, who has helped define the route she searches for a style that is uniquely hers, Hindman wants her singing to take. Medeiros’s predilec- continues to reflect on the education that still tion at the moment is for the songs of Poulenc, needs to be done before the general public begins Debussy and Satie. “I love the textures and the Summer Voice to value new music. Current projects include writ- atmosphere in the music as well as the symbol- Workshop ing a collection of pieces for solo saxophone and ism in the poetry,” declares the soprano of For students tackling her first choral composition. Portuguese descent. “Singing keeps the rest of my life in balance.” 13 to 18 Amir Koushkani, Performer (Tar) and Composer Medeiros has placed at the Provincial Festival age: 35 ans / hometown: Teheran, Iran of the Arts on different occasions. p Monday, July 25 school: Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC Friday, July 29 teacher: Owen Underhill favourite composers: Stravinsky, Bartók, Berlioz, Joanne Hounsell, Artistic Director Beethoven Classical Music 907 Pandora Avenue, Why would a man, a master of the tar with years News Daily of musical study behind him, return to university Victoria, BC V8V 3P4 >www.scena.org 250 386-5311 www.vcm.bc.ca to study music? >www.classicalmusicnews.info toll free 1 866 386-5311 “I wanted to learn about classical music,” says Amir Koushkani, who is finishing up a BA in music scene Spring 2005 21 tms3-3_AC p18-31 2005-03-16 13:58 Page 22

Musician’s Corner Careers Alternative Careers WAH KEUNG CHAN, JOHN DEFAYETTE, DANIELLE DUBOIS, GAÉTAN MARTEL

Here are some music-related careers outside of thing you can do well,” advises Brown who is also performance. a conductor. DD

Jeremy Brown, Professor and Department Head, Michèle Gaudreau, Mezzo-Soprano, Translator Department of Music, University of Calgary Studies: Université de Montréal Age: 48 City: Montréal, QC Studies : Washington State University, Eastman Like many children, Michèle Gaudreau began her School of Music, Ohio State University musical career learning the piano. At the age of City: Calgary, AB 16 however, after 10 years of practicing, she turned to singing. It was the continuation of a love story with words that had begun some years ear- lier. Already at the age of 12, Gaudreau felt a strong affinity for language. “I loved latin while music techniques to promote wellness) just others didn’t understand anything. After my trans- seemed like a nice marriage for me.” lation studies at the Université de Montréal, I con- After completing her 1000 hour internship at the tinued my musical studies by travelling the world: Montreal General Hospital in palliative care, Killoran a scholarship winner in Ottawa, I went to study moved back to her hometown of Saskatoon to singing in France, where I won a competition in exercise her profession. “Music therapists are often the interpretation of French melodies. I then fol- client-focused,” explains Killoran who in addition to lowed [Louis] Quilico to Toronto and New York.” piano, has studied guitar and voice as part of her When Jeremy Brown obtained his Music There is, for Gaudreau, many links between training. Her present activities include working as a Education degree from Washington State music and language. “German lieder help to mem- research assistant, with a private client, and on an University in 1980, he had a pretty clear idea of orize!” says the mezzo-soprano. “Singing also after-school program for kids. “Working in correc- where he was headed. “I knew I wanted to be a gives assurance and encourages one to seek the tion facilities, in hospitals, in the area of rehabilita- university or a college teacher; the best way to do understanding of a word. Texts have to be consid- tion, with adults who have experienced trauma, or it was to be versatile,” says the saxophonist who ered as adaptations that have to be made supple, with youth at risk are all options for a musical ther- went on to do a Master’s degree at the Eastman more flowing and singing, so that one no longer apist,” says Killoran who points out that musical School of Music in woodwind pedagogy. This gave feels the translation.” Gaudreau often finds that therapy can achieve physical, social, emotional and him the tools he needed to teach band at Grand her musical antecedents actually make problems psychological goals. “I like working in palliative care Prairie College, which he did for six years before more easy to solve. “Take for example, the tradi- because it is an area where you deal with very per- going back to school, to Ohio State University this tional song ‘Old MacDonald’. How can it be sonal and emotional issues. It makes you realize time, where he earned a Doctor in Musical Arts adapted in French to the original melody?” that music is part of our life story.” degree in saxophone and conducting. Gaudreau recognizes that the training Although is not very developed Coming to the University of Calgary in 1990 received by translators is not the same as it was in Saskatchewan – there are sixteen musical ther- was both a curse and a blessing shares Brown. twenty years ago. “Unfortunately, the younger apists in the province and approximately 600 in “Because I could do a lot of things, I was asked generation no longer has Latin or Greek. That the country – Killoran says that people have been to do everything,” explains the professor who has makes translation much more difficult, not know- very receptive and interested in her work. She taught jazz history, jazz saxophone, woodwind ing the sources or the etymology… The training recently obtained a grant to do music therapy in techniques, band directing and a host of other has changed a lot but experience remains the an Edmonton hospital, something Killoran hopes classes. These days however, Brown focuses on most important, more than training, just like in will allow her to pursue her career in the prairies. teaching saxophone, publishing articles, and ful- singing the most important is the voice, the voice Killoran has the following advice for those think- filling his tasks as department head. Still, the and again the voice…” For her, voice and words ing of pursuing music therapy: “Find a music ther- administrator finds time to pursue his performimg are not easily separated. “It’s by translating that apist in your area and observe. Make sure to look inclinations. A member of the Verismo Jazz I’ve been able to sing all this time.” GM/DD into an area you are interested in.” DD Quintet, Brown is featured on two recordings, one with the Calgary Philharmonic (Scara- mouche, CBC records) and another solo disc Sheila Killoran, Music Therapist André Gremillet, President with Charles Foreman on piano (In the Company Age: 26 and Director of Development of My Soul, Arktos Records). Eventually, the sax- Studies: Capilano College, North Vancouver Studies : Mannes School of Music, McGill ophone soloist would like to record works by City: Saskatoon, SK City: St. Hyacinthe, QC Henry Cowell, an American avant-garde compos- Sheila Killoran did not always know she wanted to “I consider myself a musician-administrator,” says er on whom he has also done some research. be a musical therapist. “I love music but I didn’t André Gremillet, president of Casavant Frères, one “I enjoy the sheer variety of the things I do, and know if I wanted to be a performer,” says the of the most famous organ-builders in the world. working with people, whether as a performer, a young woman who obtained a Psychology degree Indeed, the company has built 3800 organs over teacher, a conductor or an educator,” says from the University of Saskatchewan before the last 125 years for clients around the world. “To Brown. His advice to those who would like to find attending Capilano College. “I had worked at a be a good administrator in the music world, I a niche in academia: “Be the best you can possi- camp for people with disabilities and I knew I liked believe one has to have a sound knowledge of bly be on your instrument and then find another helping people. Music therapy (using music or musicians and of their milieu,” shares Gremillet who 22 Spring 2005 tms3-3_AC p18-31 2005-03-16 16:59 Page 23

Christophe Rousset, David Fray, , le “I really didn’t like it in management.” Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and the ensemble In 1994, when the network was looking for Clément Janequin among her clients. “The most new ideas, Phillips seized the opportunity to pro- important thing in my line of work is to establish duce, by himself, a music appreciation and CD a relationship between the artist and the public,” reviews show all in one. Part of the conditions says Scales. Polyvalence, she believes, is the key were that he become a freelancer on contract, to success. “It is important to have many facets, something which has its ups and downs. “I like to develop other skills, to think about what we are the fact that I’m my own boss,” says Phillips, “but doing and what we would like to do. There are the insecurity keeps me awake at night.” The key too many people who manage halls and artists to Phillips’s success is in his preparation – every without knowing anything about the arts, espe- word is scripted in advance and thoroughly cially in small communities where it’s important to rehearsed. Although he wrote papers at universi- keep the public educated…” ty, writing for radio has its particular challenges. Scales is well aware that not everyone who “You must speak in thoughts, in short sentences. studies music will become a musician. As her The writing is conversational style.” WKC has a Master’s in Piano Interpretation from New experience demonstrates, those who can com- York’s Mannes School of Music. bine curiosity, patience, persistance and a knowl- Also a graduate of the Master’s in Business edge of the music world, with an appreciation of Bruce Allen Scudder, Cruise Director Administration program at McGill, his job at artistic questions and the principles of business, Studies: Juilliard School of Music Casavant Frères allows him to harmonize busi- might think of applying their talents elsewhere, City: Detroit, Michigan ness savy with musical knowledge. “Originally, I always in the service of music of course. GM/DD When Bruce Allen Scudder says his job is a thought I would be working for arts centres or cruise, he isn’t talking about a holiday. As Musical opera houses but things worked out differently.” Director of the MS Prinsedam, Holland America’s As president and director of development, Rick Phillips, Radio Personality cruise ship, Scudder is busy keeping guests on Gremillet determines and implements the strate- Studies : McGill, University of Toronto board entertained night and day. gic orientations of the company and manages 90 City: Toronto, ON Scudder’s passion for music was kindled early. employees. “Building organs is a complex He began playing a home organ at the age of 6, process which involves many people: artisans, and later joined the Detroit organ club. After musicians and organists of course. We also have receiving a Bachelor and Master’s degree in an architect on our team.” music, he studied piano performance at Juilliard. Gremillet is confident that the market will con- His employment in the cruise industry is the con- tinue to demand people with a background similar sequence of fortuitous circumstances. “It started to his. “There is a need for musician-administra- in New York. I was in musical theatre for a few tors who are able to balance the financial aspects years. One thing led to another and I joined and the artistic product,” says Gremillet, who adds Holland America in 1992,” explains Scudder. “I that it is a difficult, albeit interesting challenge. As have been fortunate to have done ten world cruis- to the future of Casavant Frères, it looks promis- es, in addition to other cruises.” ing. “The market is more refined: quality is more Scudder describes the hoops one has to jump important than quantity. Clients are better through in order to find a job on a cruise ship: informed and they know exactly what they want. “Our Seattle head office has a Director of For this reason, we’ll always need artisans,” Entertainment who is responsible for choosing assures Gremillet, who also explains that given “Keep your options open,” says Rick Phillips, musicians. There is also a division in charge of the high cost of instruments, sales are cyclical one of the most recognizable voices on CBC individual performers and a music department, and dependent on the economy. GM/DD Radio Two. Now the host of Sound Advice, a which hires the orchestra musicians. Most of the popular CD reviews show heard on Saturday performers have agents, and since we are at sea mornings, Phillips has spent 30 years of his union membership is not an issue.” Barbara Scales, Founder and Manager career working for CBC. If Phillips came to radio, There are many elements considered in choos- of Latitude 45 Arts Promotion it was by walking into open doors. After obtaining ing the entertainment offered passengers. “In Studies : McGill (BA, MA in Philosophy) a Bachelor in Music degree in piano and choral music we look at the passenger mix, age, and City: Montreal, QC conducting from McGill University, and a whether the cruise is Caribbean or European. From childhood, Barbara Scales has cultivated a Master’s from the University of Toronto, Phillips Then there are more technical considerations like passion for the arts. “With my father, a music- taught and theory courses at the size of the stage — we have four lounges with lover, I listened to recordings every evening, Bishop’s University. pianos, which means we can offer almost all types especially of opera singers.” She herself sang In addition to accompanying singers and of music. The length of the cruise (7 versus 21 soprano as part of an ensemble, in addition to directing choirs, he began to do reviews for CBC days), as well as the feedback we receive from studying the piano. “I really liked modern and Radio on a freelance basis. Phillips contributed to our passengers are also determining factors.” contemporary dance and music. I did ballet and Jim Coward’s show Mid-Morning from 10 am to Scudder advises musicians seeking cruise was on a scholarship at the Martha Graham noon. This led to a 5-year assignment in Alberta, employment to brush up on their sight-reading School of Contemporary Dance,” says Scales. where he produced the show RSVP in Edmonton and be flexible players. “They have to be excellent Scales was no stranger to the arts when she and recorded live concerts in Calgary. “Initially, it sight-readers as they are hired individually and founded her own artistic agency Latitude 45 Arts was culture shock, but I grew to love the West,” meet the other members only once they board Promotion. “I registered the company in 1981 says Phillips. In 1985, he returned to Toronto to the ship,” he explains. “On this cruise, they with a type-writer as the sole piece of equipment,” produce Stereo Morning and Arts National, ris- accompany various acts such as the flutist and recalls Scales, who now counts Lucille Chung, ing to the rank of Executive Producer for 5 years. vocalist.” JD/DD Spring 2005 23 tms3-3_AC p18-31 2005-03-14 10:32 Page 24

Will Crutchfield: New Life for Bel Canto

PETER PHOA

always wanted to conduct, the other activi- donna del lago, and Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia. their own signature. Much to Crutchfield’s dismay, “Ities along the way were a detour,” says Will Apart from being his area of specialty, it is with this operatic tradition has been completely lost. He Crutchfield in between bites of his sandwich. It’s this obscure repertoire that Crutchfield acquired laments the fact that the typical opera graduate is dinner break at the Canadian Opera Company his first experience on the podium. “Bel Canto is not equipped with the proper knowledge of the (COC) where rehearsals for the upcoming pro- something where I saw a need for a clearer details, techniques and principles that allows the duction of Rossini’s Tancredi are well under way. understanding of certain historical things and for imagination to speak through ornamentation. Knowing that he has had something of an extraor- a better approach to teaching young singers.” “Before World War I, in the small window of record- dinary musical career makes Crutchfield’s claim After being with the Times for five years, ing from that time, there are ten different recordings particularly provocative; critic for the New York Crutchfield approached Mannes College about of Una Furtiva Lagrima. Then Caruso’s record sold Times, champion of bel canto, conductor of rare staging a performance of Gluck’s Paride ed about a million copies, and ever since then, there is opera, musicologist and discoverer of lost works Elena. This opportunity proved to be another exactly one cadenza for Una Furtiva Lagrima, and – these are not credentials often found on even defining moment for his career: the production its the one from Caruso’s record. This isn’t ‘tradi- the most impressive of resumes. attracted a lot of notice and his calendar soon tion’, this is ‘deciding what recording gets imitated’.” Crutchfield’s association with music is not sur- began to fill with engagements. Crutchfield He concedes that some might find bel canto prising considering he has been immersed in the admits that in walking this path of learning, taking less naturalistic than other opera. But Crutchfield world of opera since childhood. Reclining slightly the first step was a formidable adventure. dismisses this argument as having any signifi- in his chair, he fondly recalls his father, a Crutchfield is well aware of the curious discon- cance: “Shakespeare is less naturalistic than Presbyterian Minister and tenor who sang both nect opera goers sometimes feel when Eugene O’Neill. But it is all heartfelt music drama. lead and comprimario roles with an opera compa- approaching little-known Italian works, particular- It is just different, just like Matisse is different ny in Virginia. Music being something of a family ly of the bel canto tradition. According to him, this from Monet,” maintains Crutchfield. It is hard to affair, Crutchfield junior sang in a children’s cho- condition results from a lack of contextual famil- ignore his passion when the man speaks of rus, and began playing piano at an early age. The iarity: “There is a certain feeling of immediate Tancredi, the work he is conducting for the COC. skills he acquired eventually enabled him to be an access to Puccini because his musical and dra- “The musical freshness and beauty is absolutely accompanist and coach during his university matic language is closer to our time. When we stirring. Rossini is poised on the brink of under- years. Yet Crutchfield did not view music as an get to styles that are more remote, it is easier for standing Romantic opera. He has one foot in exclusive career-path. He considered studying those works that are funny because laughter is Mozart, but also in his briefcase is everything 19th law and even wrote the LSATs, but, try as he universal,” he says. For example, when audiences century Opera is going to use.” might, there was no ignoring the call of music think of Rossini’s , his comedies like The Crutchfield is encouraged by the increasing coursing through his veins. Barber of Seville and Cenerentola are the ones sophistication of opera audiences, and how this Crutchfield looks back on certain seminal that come to mind, rather than serious master- has led some to seek different programming. moments in his life as having led to extraordinary pieces like Tancredi or Semiramide. “It requires Initially championed by the operatic deities Maria opportunities. There was, for example, the time more from the audience to give itself over to a Callas, Joan Sutherland Marilyn Horne and he was living in Connecticut; someone serious piece from an earlier time,” says Monserrat Caballé who drew audiences to obscure approached him at a party and asked whether he Crutchfield who acknowledges that not all rare work because of their star power, the future for bel would write music reviews for the New Haven works are brilliant. canto work remains promising. “Forty years ago Register. He accepted and was subsequently “If I have a talent, it is this: I can look at a score there were only two cities that had ever seen noticed by Donel Henahan, senior critic of the that has not been revived and see an opera, rather Tancredi. Now there are over 25,” Crutchfield New York Times. Crutchfield soon became one than pages of arias and recitative. If I can believe in asserts as he offers me a cookie. p of its journalists, condolidating his reputation as a the whole piece as a music drama and see the music writer. shape as an evening in theatre – that’s when I want Peter Phoa is an opera aficionado who works in Most people assume, based on Crutchfield’s to do it,” says the experienced director who saw Marketing and Communications. He can occa- fame, that rare opera is his area of predilection. that kind of potential in Elizabeth, a lost opera by sionally be heard on CBC’s Saturday Afternoon However, a little prying will yield a confession: Donizetti that he discovered while looking through at the Opera. “Verdi and Wagner are my favourite.” As the cur- the dusty library of Covent Garden. Never per- rent Music Director of Opera de Colombia in formed because of unfortunate circumstances, Bogotá, Crutchfield explores the standard reper- Crutchfield prepared the work and gave life to Rossini | Tancredi toire – Verdi’s Otello and , Mozart’s Don music, which until then, had been heard only in the April 1, 5, 7, 10, 13 and 16 | 7:30pm Giovanni and Figaro, to name a few. In America composer’s head. (Sunday Matinee 2:00pm) however, he is best known for breathing fire and Part of the magic of opera until the height of The Hummingbird Centre drama into seldom performed operas. Also Music Wagner was due to the music’s ornamentation: Tickets: 416-872-2262 Director of the Caramoor Festival, Crutchfield singers showed off their voice and artistry by www.coc.ca has explored works like Rossini’s Otello and La embellishing melodies and investing the music with 24 Spring 2005 tms3-3_AC p18-31 2005-03-14 15:35 Page 25

Countertenors Robin Blaze and Óääx Daniel Taylor ,9Ê"* , “Bringing Darkness into Light” Daniel Taylor leads the Theatre of Early ÓääÈ Music and countertenor Robin Blaze in a profound reading of Couperin’s -iVÕÀiÊޜÕÀÊ«>Viʈ˜Ê Leçons de Ténèbres. ˆ˜iÊvœÀÊÃi>ÌÃʈ˜ÊÌ iÊ ˜i܏ÞÊÀi˜œÛ>Ìi`ÊÕLˆiiÊ Leçons de Ténèbres,‘readings in the Õ`ˆÌœÀˆÕ“ÊvœÀÊ >}>ÀÞÊ dark’, were intended for use during "«iÀ>½Ãʓ>}˜ˆwVi˜ÌÊ Holy Week in the early morning Óääx‡ÓääÈÊÃi>ܘt church services that began at 3 am and lasted until dawn. These musical *ÕVVˆ˜ˆ½ÃÊ/ÕÀ>˜`œÌÊ meditations are set to text from the >ŽiÊi}}ˆi½ÃÊÊ Old Testaments Lamentations of i>`“>˜Ê7>Žˆ˜}Ê Jeremiah, which came to symbolize ­ >˜>`ˆ>˜Ê«Ài“ˆiÀi®Ê the sufferings of Jesus Christ. Intimate Theatre of Early Music’s in scale and meditative in expression, œâ>À̽ÃÊ >}ˆVʏÕÌi debut recording for Ê the Leçons are paired with Couperins -iVÕÀiÊޜÕÀÊ«>ViÊÊ Magnificat, a motet for two voices. ˆ˜Êˆ˜iÊLÞÊV>ˆ˜}Ê̜`>ÞtÊ “Canada's fastest rising star countertenor… Taylor sings with heart-stopping beauty and {ä·ÓÈӇÇÓnÈÊ honesty” Sunday Telegraph, London, UK “a truly extraordinary singer... Blaze fashions a richness of timbre that can only be des- cribed as ravishing." Financial Times, London, UK (705) 748-5422

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Spring 2005 25 tms3-3gergiev.2 2005-03-14 16:01 Page 26

Valery Gergiev Maestro in Motion NORMAN LEBRECHT

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ew are those in public life who can look murk. A staff conductor with roots in the wilder back on a career path that has run straight, parts of Caucasia, the conductor trained at the Fdeviating neither in principle nor in pur- Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory had at that time pose. Tony Blair, who entered Parliament in 1983 no experience of the non-communist world. as a picket-line unilateralist, has evolved into a With an English dictionary in his pocket, boss-friendly warlord. The antimaterialist Martin Gergiev flew to London and forged a Covent Amis of Money (1984) became the huge-advance Garden connection using mostly sign language. fat cat of Experience (2000). Sadly enough, matu- He soon initiated an exchange of productions rity and the seductions of compromise deflect men which was accompanied by a flow of new artists. from the purity of first ideals. His own debut was remarkable for the sugges- Valery Gergiev is a singular exception. When tiveness of his gestures and a baton style so he turned 50 two years ago, the director of the ethereal that old hands likened it to Kirov- of St. Petersburg, the Furtwängler's. only Russian cultural institution to flourish since As the Bolshoi subsided into whinging sloppi- the fall of the Soviet Union, went home to ness, Gergiev forged Team Kirov, persuading his , in Ossetia, for a half-century birthday divas that they would shine better as part of a fest in the company of extended family and musi- prestigious touring company than alone in the cal friends. dollar-driven West. Within a decade the Kirov For three days Gergiev was in his element. had become a fixture on the world's greatest "The weather was great," he says, "we went to stages. the mountains and I gave myself the best possi- The key to all of Gergiev’s relationships is rec- ble present: swimming in a fast, ice-cold river, like iprocity. From the outset he embraced cultural I did as a boy." exchange as distinct from the money-grabbing Turning 50 was important to Gergiev. His cultural parasitism of other Russian companies father died at the age of 49, and Gergiev's who exported creaky old Nutcrackers with demo- friends attribute his incredible drive to the fear of tivated casts. He avidly courted Western bene- dying young. The day his father died marked a factors, but when the Cuban-American Alberto musical turning point in Gergiev's life. "It was the Vilar defaulted spectacularly on his global worst day of my life. I know that in sitting down pledges two years ago, Gergiev, the neediest of and playing the same chords at the piano, it was his recipients, fastidiously refrained from joining maybe some melancholy sadness," says Gergiev. the recriminatory chorus. "Somehow, I was rescued." Indeed, Gergiev is a paragon of consistency. was among the well-wishers who Before he became principal guest conductor at cabled Gergiev birthday greetings. The two have the Metropolitan Opera eight years ago, he said known each other – "I don't say we are friends" – that his aim in committing himself to three pro- since 1991 when the president was deputy ductions a year in New York was to let his Kirov mayor of Leningrad and the conductor was run- team loose in that technological powerhouse and ning the Kirov on a promise of roubles that arrived bring home all they had learned. New York late and heavily devalued. Putin has now guaran- promptly cast him as a successor to the incum- teed the theatre $24 million (£15 million) in core bent, . When Gergiev declined to maintenance for the next three years, and has also play politics, reported that approved a $160 million (£102 million) project to musicians at the Met disliked him. "If they don't restore the crumbling Dostoevskian edifice, parts want me," he shrugged, "I am happy to stay at of which have not been touched since the 1860s. home. Do you think I ever considered taking a But the biggest boost, says Gergiev, "comes position in London or New York?" from the sense of stability which Putin immediate- The cultural balance has shifted to his advan- ly brought to the country. We worked together in tage. A leaderless West, driven by individual self- the most difficult years. Today the country is in interest, looks to Gergiev for moral example. "Do better shape, the theatre is going to be renovat- you know why I work abroad?" he demands ed and we will build a second stage because one rhetorically. "Not for money. I have conducted is not enough. We can fill both halls every night." more performances for no money than anyone This is classic Gergiev: extending private con- alive. In , at one point, I conducted for viction into public mission. "At one point," he three dollars an opera. I was happy – I could recounts, "I went into direct conflict with the min- grow, learn leadership, nurture new singers. "I isters of culture and construction, unleashing an conduct abroad to help my company and for my open and unreserved anger. own pleasure. I spend six weeks a year with the "We cannot allow a project as important as – the best orchestra in the ours to drag on for 20 years, so I raised my voice. world. If I have no pleasure, I don't go." I told them, if you can't understand one way, I'll His success has been so demonstrable that change my tone. I am the leader of the Mariinsky Gergiev can now dictate solutions to richer opera and I force others to be responsive." houses in the decadent West. "In Berlin," he Gergiev was elected by company members 17 relates, "my friend and colleague Daniel years ago to lead them through the post-Soviet Barenboim had problems with public funding. I photo: Swedish Radio

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told him: you have to raise your renown. A high-octane per- own singers. You cannot just former, his first loyalty is to rely on big stars, where every his company, "to the people performance costs you so who elected me – I remem- much that you will never reach ber that every second." financial stability. You have to Spiritually, though, his roots balance your artistic appetite are Caucasian. "I am with your investment in young Ossetian, first and fore- and inexpensive artists." most," he insists, returning He has much the same mes- to his homeland whenever sage for Covent Garden, which three clear days appear in forsook its founding obligations his diary to mingle with towards English singers. friends and refresh himself "Mariinsky sends London a sig- in mountain streams. nal," says Gergiev. "If you want He was there just two to live in harmony with your days before terrorists seized future, invest in your own talent." the number one school in Gergiev cites Plácido Beslan. He sensed tension, Domingo as an example. When but no worse than usual in a the tenor appears at Covent troublesome border area. Garden, he never meets a "What kind of place is British singer. Yet, when Beslan?" he reflects. "It’s Gergiev brought him to St. like Omagh, in Northern Petersburg 14 years ago, it Ireland, same size. An ordi- was to sing Otello with an nary place, where nothing untested house cast. "It was a happens. Then something great inspiration for our young terrible happens." singers to work with a world Gergiev was on the star in such great shape," phone to Beslan ceaseless- recalls Gergiev, who refers to ly during the siege, and daily that time as, "the beginning of ever since. "We are one mil- our work in Verdi." lion . The tragedy, Relentless travel has taken a compared to 9/11, is that toll on the conductor, both children were targeted. artistically and physically. Certain families lost their Orchestras grumble that only child. Some lost more Gergiev arrives late and is slow than one. These are relatives to warm up. His beat, typically of mine, friends of my opaque, can be vague to the friends. No point in mention- point of obfuscation. His 2001 ing names, there are so photo: Marco Borggreve photo: Marco Verdi season at Covent Garden many…" lacked the white heat of the previous summer's It is easier now that the 330 dead are buried Russian rep. He has thickened at the jowls and The Beslan Tragedy to point fingers. "There was no plan to storm the waist, the mark of gourmet meals at unsocial On the day of the Beslan school massacre last school. Many should feel guilty in front of those hours. The demonic scowl has crinkled into year, Valery Gergiev was due to conduct the families – governments, media, everyone. There something less ferocious. In short, he is at risk of opening concert of the Vienna Philharmonic sea- was no professional preparation. The heroes becoming domesticated. Six years ago, Gergiev son. Racked with grief and fear for loved ones, he were Russian special forces – the Alpha unit – married Natasha, a hometown girl less than half contemplated pulling out and flying home. But who saved children by covering them with their his age. They have two sons – Abisal, named the programme was suitably sombre: the D- bodies as they fled. Eleven soldiers died. These after his father, and Valery, after hers. "It's a fan- minor concerto by Rachmaninov and men were highly trained but they forgot the rules tastic change in my life," he smiles. "The more Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique symphony. That night, and behaved like human beings." time I spend at Mariinsky, the more I can give to Austrian television showed Gergiev conducting Emotion flows unstoppably, inseparable from a them." the Pathetique with tears rolling down his sense of personal responsibility. "I don’t know Today, Gergiev is late for rehearsal, as usual. unshaven cheeks. "The most terrible concert of how others feel," says Valery Gergiev. "I feel a lit- An aide holds out a selection of three batons; he my life," he calls it. tle guilty. We who know this region did not do rejects all three, opting to conduct Onegin with He booked a flight to Moscow and went on enough to protect peaceful life." bare hands. The question of purpose still preoc- national television, appealing to the people of He and Vladimir Putin are the same genera- cupies him as he walks towards the stage. Ossetia to keep the peace. No anti-Russian tion, products of the privileged nomenklatura. "A lot of people," reflects Gergiev, "struggle to demonstrations, he implored. No attacks on Gergiev’s uncle was Stalin’s favourite tank find what they identify with. I am very lucky. I Muslims. "The only ones who will benefit from vio- designer; he once called on him for protektsiya to crossed the piazza just once in St Petersburg, from lence are the terrorists... It won’t bring our children get a better teacher at the conservatoire. Unlike the Conservatory of Music to the door of the Kirov. back." Putin, for whose growing authoritarianism That was the only important journey of my life." Gergiev is the only Ossetian of international Gergiev has some sympathy, the conductor was

28 Spring 2005 tms3-3gergiev.2 2005-03-16 12:32 Page 29

never a party member. Still, he continues to cher- Valery Gergiev – Recommended Recordings ish some values of the communist regime, partic- RICK PHILLIPS ularly its emphasis on the role of culture in a healthy society. Something of that legacy, along 1) I. Stravinsky: (complete) 5) P. I. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5, Op. 64 with one-man rule, persists in Gergiev’s Kirov Orchestra St. Petersburg/Valery Gergiev Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Valery Gergiev Mariinsky. Philips 446 715-2 Philips 462 905-2 "When Putin became president," he sighs, "there was no government, only corruption. There A truly Russian Firebird, Recorded live, this was a huge robbery of national wealth. Many with more of the raw Tchaikovsky Fifth bristles became astronomically rich." Gergiev, who has Russian power of with energy and electricity had dealings with the media magnate Stravinsky than French in a highly dramatic, almost Berezoksky, now in London ("they called him refinement. But Gergiev ties theatrical reading. Full of Rasputin"), and with the Yukos oil chief it all together. It’s dramatic Russian passion and Khodorkovsky, now in prison awaiting trial, knows and the virtuosity of this orchestra is impressive. pathos, there is an obvious love affair happening of what he speaks. "I once proposed to Putin that between orchestra and conductor. The gorgeous these people should put a fraction of their money 2) S. Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet (complete) Vienna strings work wonders in the lyrical into building hospitals and schools, as the rich do Kirov Orchestra St. Petersburg/Valery Gergiev strengths of the work. in the West. If Yukos had done that, Philips 464 726-2 Khodorkovsky would not be in jail." 6) S. Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky, Putin, Gergiev argues, has not much time In one of his self-pro- , Kirov Orchestra & Chorus before the Caucusus erupts. "I will tell him that claimed favourite scores, Philips 473 600-2 unless people have jobs, unless they have some- Gergiev gives a highly thing to lose, there will never be peace. He must Romantic reading of This is one of the best all- invest in the economy. The warlords must be Romeo & Juliet, with a Russian "Nevskys" avail- stopped. I don’t know how to bring peace. I only focus more on the ballet’s able, and the famous see huge dangers, worse than Iraq." He worries lyrical strengths, than its energy and power. "Battle on the Ice" scene is about a double standard in the war on terrorism Once again, the orchestral playing is top-notch truly thrilling. In the Scythian and wonders why Bin Laden and Saddam are with a full, rich recorded sound. Suite, Gergiev wisely cuts being pursued more hotly than the Beslan muder- through the obvious brutal parts to reveal a score ers. “I won’t be surprised if they return,” he warns. 3) N. Myaskovsky:Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 44 of warmth and heart. To raise funds for victim relief, Gergiev is giv- , Kirov Orchestra St. ing benefit concerts around the world. "It’s not Petersburg/Valery Gergiev 7) D. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7, "Leningrad" about money," he stipulates. "It’s about sympathy, Philips 473 343-2 Kirov & Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestras/Valery solidarity, understanding. Beslan is in danger of Gergiev becoming yesterday’s news. Music has the This CD contains a very Philips 470 845-2 power to remind people what they felt. Also, it’s good Violin Concerto by important for people in Ossetia to know that peo- Tchaikovsky as well, but Gergiev’s Shostakovich ple in England feel for them." the Myaskovsky alone is Symphony cycle has been Funds from his appeal will enable gifted young worth the price. A friend hit-and-miss, but this is one Ossetians to study in St. Petersburg and in the and confidante to of the finer offerings so far. West, to help them recover. On November 2004, Prokofiev, Myaskovsky was also a gifted compos- Recorded live, and with the two months after the tragedy, he once again con- er. Repin gives a magical reading with Gergiev combined forces of his two ducted the Pathetique, that peculiarly Russian completely at home in a neglected score that’s full orchestras, there is a great sense of occasion that blend of grandeur and helplessness, aspiration of melancholic lyricism. only enhances this work. The various emotional states and resignation to a terrible fate. are captured well, with Gergiev concentrating just as That is not necessarily how Gergiev sees it. 4) N. Rimsky-Korsakov: The Legend of The much on the musical elements as the dramatic. His interpretative style departs from the Russian Invisible City of Kitezh norm, averse to self-pity, unafraid of fate. "I am," cast, Kirov Opera Orchestra & Chorus/Valery 8) A. Borodin: (complete) he growls determinedly, "a representative of the Gergiev cast, Kirov Orchestra & Chorus/Valery Gergiev Scythian civilisation, which is 2,500 years old. I Philips 462 225-2 Philips 442 537-2 don’t want us to be remembered for what hap- pened in Beslan." p No one has done more to One of the problems with champion the rarely heard Prince Igor has always Valery Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra’s 2005 operas by Rimsky- been how to tie together a North American tour begins on March 26 and con- Korsakov than Gergiev. series of grand, epic cludes in Toronto at on April 21 This one was recorded live scenes. Acting on recent and 22. (416) 872-4255. in St. Petersburg and research, Gergiev re- there are occasional extraneous noises. The cast ordered a couple of the Norman Lebrecht’s led by is solid, and Gergiev scenes, and re-inserted highlights the beauty and magical mystical nature long-omitted arias with 100 Definitive Recordings of the music. new orchestrations. Aided by a stellar cast, the Read the weekly feature at result is a much more cohesive work that is now the definitive Prince Igor.

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Francesca Caccini’s Opus to Woman Power BESS VASILAKOPOULOS

singer and composer — only the Duke’s secretary situations throughout her opera were unique for earned a higher salary the time. Examining two significant musical num- In 1620, the death of Cosimo II resulted in an bers by Alcina shows how she used tonal centres unusual circumstance; since his ten-year-old to depict the wicked sorceress’s strength and son was too young to be in power, Cosimo de weakness. The first segment is relatively stable Medici’s mother, Christine of Lorraine tonally, moving through the tonal centers a, F, g (1565–1636), and wife, Maria Maddalena of and d respectively. Following the first cadence in Austria (1587–1630), were appointed joint G major, a sudden shift to a G minor makes it the regents from 1621–1628. For the first time, new key. The same shift occurs in the second women dominated the Medici court, and cadence in D major, which immediately moves to Francesca had the perfect environment in which D minor, hence the new tonal centre. Here, the to compose her greatest work. very straightforward harmony reflects Alcina’s During this period, the Grand Duchess Maria control. HREE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY YEARS AGO, THE Maddalena commissioned Francesca to compose The second musical segment of two consecu- TOBSCURE BAROQUE COMPOSITION LA LIBERA- a work for the carnevale of 1625 in honour of the tive solo settings, “Ahi, Melissa, Melissa” and ZIONE DI RUGGIERO DALL’ISOLA D’ALCINA (LLRDA) forthcoming visit of the Polish Prince Wladislaw "Ferma, ferma crudele", depicts Alcina’s anger BECAME AT ONCE THE FIRST OPERA WRITTEN BY A Sigismund IV, who was returning to Poland after a and confusion. Melissa has just broken Alcina’s WOMAN, THE FIRST OPERA NOT TO BE BASED ON GREEK long exile. He had just defeated the Turks in spell, thereby causing the sorceress to lose her LEGEND, AND THE FIRST ITALIAN OPERA EVER TO BE Wallachia and was headed to Rome where the power and self-control, which is depicted in the PERFORMED OUTSIDE OF ITALY. Thanks to exception- pope was to bless him. The topic of LLRDA was tonal instability and very chromatic music. al timing, its author, the now forgotten Francesca most appropriate because in the story a Christian Francesca’s choice to move through many tonal Caccini (1587—c. 1640) was able to express her defeats the “heathens.” Although it was highly centres throughout this aria — a, F, g, A and e incredible talent in a society where virtually every unusual in the 17th century for a woman patron to implied — is fitting. woman was powerless. Both in historical signifi- help another woman artist with her career, Maria Gender aside, Francesca was a pioneer of cance and in its musical treatment of the libretto, Maddalena not only used her private funds to real- early monody and opera. Her music is of an artis- LLRDA became a symbol of woman power. ize the work, she also became involved in the tic stature comparable to that of the leading com- The eldest daughter of prominent composer preparation of it, offering Francesca Florentine posers of early , among which fig- Giulio Caccini (1546–1618), Francesca, nick- courtiers and live horses for the dance scenes. ure her father Giulio Caccini, Jacopo Peri and named “La Cecchina” (the songbird) by the LLRDA was performed at the Villa Poggio Claudio Monteverdi. It is high time that Florentines for her lovely singing, received early Imperiale on February 3, 1625. The list of dancers Francesca’s talent and contributions be acknowl- training in singing and composition from her father who performed in the balletti was composed of edged, taught, celebrated and performed. p at a time when monody and opera were new and Florentine aristocrats, which demonstrates the growing genres. She would eventually compose artistic stature of this masterpiece, and the This essay is dedicated to all the unsung female and publish the first collection of sacred monodies, esteem with which Francesca’s music was heroes—real, fictional, past, present and future. Il Primo libro delle musiche a una e due voci (pub- regarded. Prince Sigismund IV was so impressed Bess Vasilakopoulos received her MA (University of lished in 1618), which was the most extensive col- by the opera that he had it translated into Polish Connecticut) in 1999 with a thesis on the subject lection of solo songs by a composer to be pub- and performed in his own country three years of Caccini’s first opera. lished at the time. later. Francesca was admired by the Medici court and A tale of female power and desire, the plot cen- famous intellects of the day, including composer tres around two women, the evil and seducing sor- Claudio Monteverdi, Italian Renaissance poet ceress Alcina and the good Melissa, the true hero Francesca Caccini: Gabriello Chiabrera and opera composer Giacomo of the story, who fight for the possession of the fall- La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina Peri. Impressed by Francesca’s October 1600 per- en war hero Ruggiero. Francesca’s music displays formance at her wedding to King Henry IV of marked sophistication in its manipulation of musi- France, Maria de’ Medici took notice of this rising cal structure, harmony, motives, phrase rhythm, Discography star, asking Giulio to consider keeping Francesca at text-painting, and broader issues of musical repre- the French court permanently. Giulio’s refusal would sentation. Her use of harsh intervals, namely the Nannerl Recordings later benefit his daughter. diminished fourth and fifth, addresses Alcina’s Ars Femina Ensemble/Richard Burchard On September 15, 1607, Francesca officially seductive and deceitful words. Unlike Alcina, Cat. Nº Nanerl NR-ARS 003 (1 CD) entered the service of the Florentine court receiv- Melissa’s character makes comparatively little use 1993/out of print ing a small salary, composing smaller works and of harsh intervals, proving that she is good and quickly graduating to large-scale operas as well pure. Pro Musica Camerata/ Wladyslaw Klosiewicz as her aforementioned Primo libro. She would The harmonic and tonal means used by PMC 012 (1CD) later become the Medici court’s highest paid Francesca to portray the characters and dramatic 30 Spring 2005 tms3-3_AC p18-31 2005-03-14 11:52 Page 31

Who’s Afraid of Classical Concerts? NORMAN LEBRECHT

henever someone predicts the demise of ance for prolonged concentration. If politicians W symphony concerts, reassurances come speak in soundbites, how can we expect voters fluttering from every obvious quarter. The to sit through a Bruckner symphony? Association of British Orchestras (ABO) pro- It is a persuasive argument but one that I have duces a wireless device that allows concertgoers come to find both fatuous and patronising. to follow the music interactively. A Around me I see people of all ages who sit pays a million pounds to a schoolgirl violinist. A gripped through four hours of King Lear, Lord of big-name soloist announces that more people the Rings or a grand-slam tennis final but who, ten than ever are tuning into classics. minutes into a classical concert, are squirming in As in any death foretold, these final rites will their seats and wondering what crime they have not affect the sad outcome. The Co-Co (short for committed to be held captive, silent and legroom- Concert Companion) that the ABO showed in restrained, in such Guantanamo conditions. February at its annual conference enables listen- Their ennui will not be relieved for long by an ers to zoom in on the conduc- electronic gizmo which gives tor’s sweaty brow or the deep them an illusion of mechanical cleavage in the second desk of control, nor for that matter, by a worship, its exclusiveness innate. Thirty years ago, cellists, while receiving snippets kid soloist who has yet to grow a in my mid-20s, I used to sit in the backless choir of text information. It has novelty musical personality. These are seats behind the orchestra at the Royal Festival value but that will soon wear off gimmicks bred of desperation, Hall, studying conductors’ expressions. At the time, once the menu options are not a coherent approach to a I was one of the older kids on the row. Today, at my exhausted. cultural crisis. present age, I’d practically be the youngest. Deutsche Grammophon’s If the shrunken attention span The greying of the audience is an admitted fact huge deal with Nicola is not to blame for the classical of concert life. Less acknowledged is the ageing Benedetti, winner of BBC’s turn-off, nor is price. Most con- of everyone else. One expects conductors to be 2004 Young Musician of the cert tickets now cost less than in their seventies, but most soloists have been at Year, is equally flimsy. DG is in cinema stubs. Last year, the it too long and there is barely an orchestral man- the market for physical assets. London Symphony Orchestra ager of any consequence under 50. Benedetti, 17, an Ayrshire adopted an impulse price of four Small wonder that the concert hall atmosphere blonde of Italian blood, has Nicola Benedetti, photo: David Woolfall or five pounds but failed to is about as lively as a cruise liner, its intellectual been trailed in The Sun as attract first-timers. Let’s face it: magnetism as potent as a pension plan. Why ‘’s sexiest star’. Declining modelling in a busy metropolis with multiple counterattrac- would any redblooded postmodern person want jobs, Benedetti is keen to proselytise classical tions, most people won’t be dragged to a sym- to spend an evening in God’s waiting room, even music among her own age group. But when her phony concert at any price. As the New York with a Co-Co to sex up the da capo? CDs are counted a year from now, DG will find impresario Sol Hurok used to say: “When people Other arts, too, have rigid traditions. Theatre, that Nicola has sold overwhelmingly to middle- don’t want to come, nutting will stop them.” you might argue, has also failed to alter its timing aged men in country towns and to grannies look- So what, precisely, scares them off? In a word, or rituals since Olivier was in full cry. But theatre ing for an educative birthday gift – just as every the atmosphere. The symphony concert has stulti- has continuously overhauled its repertoire, mak- other teenage wonder has done over the past fied for half a century. It starts in mid-evening and ing Shakespeare and Schiller fight for stage time two decades. last two hours. The ritual cannot be altered without against Pinter and Osborne, Stoppard and Hare, New audience? What new audience? Classical inconveniencing the musicians and alarming the and Jerry Springer: The Opera. Theatre has managers clutch at straws when they look to subscription audience; so nothing changes. sharpened its capacity to surprise, while classical Classic FM, with six million UK listeners, for hope A Chinese businessman, David Tang, believes concerts rely on stupefying familiarity. of renewal. Classic’s audience is chiefly passive: busy people want shorter concerts. He is launch- There are ways to change the atmosphere. they may tune in, but they seldom buy concert tick- ing one-hour concerts at Cadogan Hall, Chelsea, Design 40-minute concerts for under-40s. ets or extend their taste for Mozart to encompass next week, but his revolution has been disabled Provide free child-care on weekends. Introduce a complete work. During the 12-year lifespan of from the outset by a standard 7 pm start. standing room. Try the late-night route. If there Classic FM, concert attendances in Britain have The only concerts that attract twenty-somethings was a genuine will to refresh the concert experi- steadily declined. Meanwhile, educational invest- are those which play to their rhythms. In Madrid ence, it could be done. ments by many orchestras have failed to yield more and Barcelona, concerts begin at 10 pm and are But, as any good shrink will confirm, the clas- than a smattering of children for whom classical thronged by youngsters. In Vienna, the standing sical business music must first want to change – music becomes a lifelong passion. room at the rear of the and the and I detect no such desire. The old gang won’t Why the world has gone off classical concerts Musikverein is a singles-scene enclosure, walled give up its hegemony and the last one to leave is a conundrum in which almost every reasonable off from the stuffy interior and giving the standees will politely turn out the lights. p assertion is disputable. Take the attention-span a sense of ownership and empowerment. Norman Lebrecht is a prolific writer on classical thesis. Many in the concert world believe that its Elsewhere, the concert hall is a gerontocracy, its music and culture. His weekly column can be decline stems from the public’s flickering toler- decorum enforced more rigidly than in places of found at Spring 2005 31 tms3-3-EG-p32-39 3/14/05 2:45 PM Page 32

Kurt Atterberg: Symphonies 1-9 fashionable “Ludwig van Lite” manner. This tech- Reviews Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt, Radio- nique is applied more flexibly to achieve closer inte- Philharmonie Hannover des NDR, Radio gration between keyboard and orchestra by Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart / Ari Railainen with Pierre-Laurent Aimard Review Policy: While we review all the best CDs CPO 777 118-2 (329 min 55 s - 5 CDs) and the COE in their excellent cycle for Teldec. Yet we get, we don’t always receive every new ★★★★✩✩ $$$ Martha’s legion of fans will not be disappointed release available. Therefore, if a new recording is This attractively priced box with the results here. Those who still worship not covered in the print version of LSM, it does gathers up the first complete Beethoven at the altars of Kempff and Gilels need not necessarily imply that it is inferior. Many cycle of Atterberg’s sympho- not apply. WSH more CD reviews can be viewed on our Web site at www.scena.org. nies issued individually bet- ween 1999 and 2003. Richard Wetz: Violin Concerto & Vocal Works ★★★★★★ a must! Atterberg (1887-1974) com- Ulf Wallin, violin; Markus Köhler, baritone; ★★★★★✩ excellent posed in all forms, played the cello in chamber Kammerchor der Musikhochule Augsburg, ★★★★✩✩ very good music concerts, engaged in music journalism and Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz / Werner ★★★✩✩✩ good served in an executive capacity in professional asso- Andreas Albert ★★✩✩✩✩ so-so ciations and musical governing bodies. Moreover, CPO 999 933-2 (52 min 11 s) ★✩✩✩✩✩ mediocre throughout his long and productive life he continued ★★★★✩✩ $$$$ $ < 10 $ to hold down a full-time job as an electrical engineer Collectors acquainted with $$ 10–15 $ in the Swedish Patent Office (having been retired, the CPO recordings of the $$$ 15–20 $ under protest, at the age of 81). He considered him- three symphonies of Richard $$$$ > 20 $ self a nationally oriented Classicist rather than a hol- Wetz (1875-1935) will not Reviewers dover Romantic. His symphonies are of a higher be entirely prepared for this JKS Joseph K. So order of attainment than those of predecessors very original concerto — his WSH W.S. Habington Wilhelm Stenhammar and Hugo Alfvén and still orchestral manner has been typically Brucknerian in head and shoulders above closer contemporaries scale in previous issues. The Violin Concerto is thir- such as Ture Rangström and Dag Wirén. ty minutes long and cast in four movements. Its In 1928 Columbia Records sponsored an interna- introduction is dramatic but the interplay between ORCHESTRAL MUSIC tional competition for composers to commemorate soloist and orchestra is primarily lyrical in design. the Schubert centennial. Atterberg took first place Wetz takes infinite care with his note clusters to Gavriil Popov: Symphony No 1 with his Symphony No. 6. His sound symphonic skills achieve a developmental metamorphosis that : Theme and Variations had been on display since his First of 1910, and the continues throughout the work. This is definitely not London Symphony Orchestra, cycle was distinguished by its variety and instinctive a concerto as Bruckner might have conceived it. Leon Botstein, conductor balance. From the vivid tone painting in No. 3 (West It was Wetz’s penultimate composition — a more Telarc CD-80642 (65 min 24 s) Coast Pictures) to the folk inspired aspects of Nos 4, personal statement than the symphonies convey ★★★★★✩ $$$$ 7 and 8, and the stupendous choral Ninth (Sinfonia and in an advanced idiom entirely appropriate to The past year has seen a Visionaria), the music is original and stimulating. The the 1930s. The soloist, Ulf Wallin, provides a fine number of important releas- fine consistency of the three orchestras involved in interpretation with excellent support from Werner es of Eastern European the recording project is a tribute to Ari Rasilainen’s Andreas Albert and the orchestra. The couplings music, especially dating grasp of the music and his ability to communicate the are the brief Traumsommernacht for female chorus from the Soviet era. composer’s ideas. Overall, it is an essential acquisi- and orchestra and Hyperion (16+ minutes) for bari- Composers such as Ivanov, tion for collectors with Nordic sympathies, and tone, mixed choir and orchestra. These provide Miaskosvsky, Vainberg / Weinberg, Khrennikov and conclusive proof that the era and region contained interesting examples of the composer’s sympathe- Tishchenko are gradually emerging from relative more than just Sibelius and Nielsen. WSH tic approach to vocal music (Wetz also composed obscurity as their music reaches a wider audience two operas). This disc is recommended as a wor- via recordings. This account of Popov’s First Beethoven: Piano Concertos 2 & 3 thwhile exploration. WSH Symphony is the best of the lot by a significant Martha Argerich, piano; Mahler Chamber Orchestra/ margin. Indeed, with respect to form it is a work that can stand alongside Shostakovich and Prokofiev’s DG 00289 477 5026 (64 min) VOCAL best efforts. Conceived with incendiary revolution- ★★★✩✩✩ $$$$ ary fervour, it was nevertheless banned the day These performances were Naxos Robert Craft Collection after its 1935 premiere in Leningrad. The opening recorded at live concerts in movement (Allegro energico) thunders and thrash- Ferrara in 2000 (No. 2) and Arnold Schoenberg: Gurrelieder es for more than 23 minutes. The slow middle 2004. The account of No. 3 Vocal soloists; Simon Joly Chorale; Philharmonia movement conveys musical expression of aching is of special interest becau- Orchestra / Robert Craft beauty followed by a diabolical and aggressive se it is Martha Argerich’s Naxos 8557518-19 (117 min 48 s - 2 CDs) finale. In all, a remarkably imagined composition first recording of the work, which has been absent ★★★★✩✩ $ which reveals a more Central European orientation from her performing repertory for many years. : rather than a strictly Russian one. The very appro- Argerich is in full, idiosyncratic flight in both concer- Vocal soloists; Simon Joly Male Chorus, priate Shostakovich (Op. 3) coupling is also a rari- tos. The disc offers a dazzling display of pianism Philharmonia Orchestra / Robert Craft; Les Noces - ty on disc. The LSO tackles both unfamiliar pieces although one suspects that the soloist takes an Vocal soloists; Simon Joly Chorale; International under the fearless direction of Leon Botstein, with individual view of every performance. The Mahler Percussion Ensemble / Robert Craft Telarc providing outstanding sound quality through- Chamber Orchestra is alert and precise in the Naxos 8557499 (76 min 31 s) out. W.S. Habington accompaniment, with Abbado directing in the ★★★✩✩✩ $

32 Spring 2005 tms3-3-EG-p32-39 2005-03-16 13:14 Page 33

These recordings were previously issued on the Koch label. Naxos scooped them up for the Robert Craft • Over 2,700 titles Collection. It plans to record, under Craft’s direction, the • All digital recordings complete works of Schoenberg, Stravinsky and Webern. • New recordings and The conductor’s credentials in are compositions monthly impeccable. He became musical assistant to Igor • Critical acclaim in all key Stravinsky in 1947 and was closely associated with the classical publications composer for more than two decades. • Featuring great Canadian artists If ’s Ninth Symphony extinguished the embers of the Romantic era, Schoenberg provided its summation with Gurrelieder. The Craft Collection is All this at an astonishingly low price! off to an auspicious start with this performance that, in terms of spectral grandeur, is comparable to Stokowski’s pioneering 1927 recording from Philadelphia. The world’s leading Craft’s interpretation is swift and thrilling. Stephen O’Mara really inhabits the part of Waldemar. Melanie Diener (Tove) and Jennifer Lane (the Wood Dove) are poi- Classical Music label! gnant and ethereal. The limited documentation to the set includes the text of a let- ter written by Schoenberg in 1950, which sharply critiques Stokowski’s recording Disc of the Month Disc of the Month of the work. Unfortunately, neither libretto nor translation is provided. For March April Gurrelieder, this resource is essential to achieve a full understanding of the Romantic archetypes (virtue defiled, love, death, blasphemy and damnation) conveyed in the original poetry of the Dane, Jens Peter Jacobsen. But for such false economy, this issue would have been awarded five stars. Full text and translation are provided in the booklet for the Stravinsky disc. It is especially welcome as recordings of this combination are not thick on the ground. Currently, the Mariinsky forces under Valery Gergiev have been perfor- AVAILABLE ming Oedipus and Noces in live stagings. The Craft accounts are good but not MARCH 22 of the same exalted quality as the Gurrelieder set. Initial releases in the Craft Collection also include probing discs of orches- Brahms Symphony No.1 Discover the Music of tral and chamber works by Schoenberg (8557520) and Webern (8557530). Marin Alsop, Conductor the Baroque Era The collection is an ambitious and potentially valuable undertaking, which will 8557428 8558160-61 be followed with interest. WSH

Pauline Viardot-Garcia Songs , soprano Serouj Kradjian, piano Analekta AN 2 9903 (69 min 8 s) ★★★★★✩ $$$$ Some of these Viardot songs date back to the very begin- AVAILABLE MARCH 22 ning of Isabel Bayrakdarian’s career. She sang them in a church concert while making her professional debut as Canteloube - Dave Brubeck - Songs Diana in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride at Glimmerglass Chants d’Auvergne Various Opera. It is nice to hear her return to these pieces now, Véronique Gens, Soprano 8559220 with the same beauty of tone and natural charm, but with 8557491 the addition of well-judged nuance, technical assurance, and a flamboyance that come with experience. These Viardot gems, with their natural lilt and sunny seductiveness, fit the Bayrakdarian soprano like a glove. The French pieces such as Hai luli, Havanaise, Les filles de Cadix, and L’enfant et la mère, are sung with great attention to textual detail, and in particular to the sudden shifts of mood through subtle vocal shading. In the German songs, the soprano shows off her excellent diction even if she loses some of the spontaneity present in the French AVAILABLE AVAILABLE pieces. Melodically recalling Liszt, Die Sterne shows much poise and plangent MARCH 22 MARCH 22 tone. Pianist Serouj Kradjian, who happens to be the singer’s husband and artis- tic partner, offers assured support, with the two of them performing as one. The English Choral Music Elgar - Marches recorded sound is clear and favors the voice; the packaging and design are first Church of St. John’s Coll., James Judd, Conductor rate. An important addition to the discography of Pauline Viardot. Joseph K. So Cambridge 8557273 8557557-58 CONTEMPORARY Pick up your 2005 NAXOS Catalogue or visit www.naxos.com Elvis Costello: Il Sogno Peter Erskine, percussion, John Harle, Saxophone, Chris Laurence, double bass, Discover NAXOS at all London Symphony Orchestra, , conductor Indigo and select DG B0003284-02 (61 min 56 s) Chapters locations ★★★★★✩ $$$$

Spring 2005 33 tms3-3-EG-p32-39 3/14/05 2:52 PM Page 34

The portrait of Elvis Costello, truly a joy to behold. “Muddle instead of music” editorial was published in which appears on the cover, Versions of more advanced Pravda. Overnight, the work vanished from Soviet displays a perceptive, pene- technical quality exist and theatres and Shostakovich almost disappeared with trating gaze with just a hint of others make claims for it. Stalin’s personal objections apparently focused on concern. Yet, it seems there “authenticity” but this pro- the sexually explicit subject matter and the wide-open really was no cause to worry. duction is infused with the dissonance of the score. Yet in many ways, Lady It is a rare thing for an emerging composer of serious purest essence of opera Macbeth of Mtsensk is a perfect fit for the narrowing to achieve an outright success with a first buffa. Director Peter Hall Soviet artistic template of the time. It is merciless in its major orchestral score and Costello has done just makes it great fun and satirical depiction of the pre-revolutionary land owning that. Il Sogno was commissioned by the Italian humourous in the way that Mozart and da Ponte mercantile class, the Orthodox clergy, Czarist police dance company Aterballetto as an adaptation of surely intended it to be. The international cast forms and the emancipated but docile serfs of provincial Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was a natural ensemble of comic compatibility. On Russia. If the portrayal of Boris Ismailov witnessed by first performed at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna in stage, the tone is set by ’s straying Stalin was anything like Anatoli Kotcherga’s in the pre- October 2000. For the present recording, the com- Count. Knut Skram gives us an unexaggerated sent issue, the great dictator was confronted with a poser and conductor collaborated to cut passages Figaro whose cunning makes a greater than usual character very much like himself. Kotcherga anchors of the work applicable only to the choreography. The impact by emerging from a straight face. On the the performance convincingly. His Ismailov is brutal, resulting twenty-four numbers adhere to the sequen- female side, Cotrubus, Te Kanawa and von Stade greedy and lecherous. ce of stage presentation and can be followed in the are superb. This is also a musically superior Figaro, Excellent performances are offered across the handy booklet synopsis. But this is a performance outstandingly well sung and played. John Bury’s often crowded stage. Nadine Secunde and Chris- that can also stand up on its own. realistic sets fit the modest Glyndebourne stage topher Ventris personify the lethal lust of wayward And what is the music like? Some have detect- perfectly and Dave Heather’s camera work (for tele- Katerina and dastardly Sergey. Alexander Anissi- ed influences as varied as Sibelius and Bernstein, vision) has stood the test of time. Sound quality is a mov’s command of the score is impressive and he but in fact the score is not at all derivative and bit shallow but certainly better than it had ever been never carries it to excess. The flexi-set by Benoit affinities are much closer to home. In character, the heard before. Arthaus provides a decent booklet Dugardyn displays and demands imagination and music is comparable to the exquisite poise of note and a choice of multilingual subtitles. Stein Winge’s direction is thoroughly apt. The final Michael Tippett, the impish wit of Malcolm Arnold Enthusiastically recommended. WSH moment involves a postmodern twist for Katerina’s and the eclecticism of them both. Costello trans- third homicide, which is actually more effective poses the play into a musical score with the utmost Dmitri Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk than the original tandem plunge into an icy lake. sensitivity and an expansive imagination. Courtiers Nadine Secunde, Christopher Ventris, Anatoli Until we can have a production of Lady Macbeth get the formal orchestral treatment while common- Kotcherga, Francisco Vas, Graham Clark; Symphony from the Mariinsky and Gergiev, this will do very ers are brought on with folk tunes and marches. Orchestra and Chorus of Gran Teatre del Liceu, nicely. WSH The supernatural element is conveyed by vibrant Chamber Chorus of the Palau de la Musica jazz led by the distinguished soloists. The styles Catalana / Alexander Anissimov - Stage Director: 1978 become entwined as the plot advances and the Stein Winge, Video Director: Toni Bargalló : Il Trovatore - Piero Cappuccilli, whole works together superbly. The LSO and EMI 5 99739 9 (187 min - 2 DVDs) Sound: 2.0 & 5.1 Raina Kabaivanska, Fiorenzo Cossotto, Plácido Tilson Thomas give the sort of enthusiastic per- ★★★★★✩ $$ Domingo, José van Dam; Chorus and Orchestra of formance which puts all doubts to rest. WSH Barcelona might not seem to the Vienna State Opera / Herbert von Karajan - be an obvious place to stage Stage Director: Herbert von Karajan, Video Director: Shostakovich’s politically af- Günther Schneider-Siemssen DVD flicted masterpiece. However, TDK DVUS-CLOPIT (151 min - 2 DVDs) Sound: 2.0 & 5.1 considering Spain’s own his- ★★★★★★ $$$ W.A. Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro tory of internal conflict and : Carmen Knut Skram, Ileana Cotrubus, Benjamin Luxon, Kiri repression in the not-so-dis- , Plácido Domingo, , Te Kanawa, , Nucci Condo, tant past, a powerful synergy ; Chorus, Ballet and Orchestra of Marius Rintzler, Glyndebourne Chorus, London makes this a Lady Macbeth of the Vienna State Opera / - Stage and Symphony Orchestra / Sir John Pritchard - Stage ferocious dedication. The Video Director: Franco Zeffirelli Director: Peter Hall, Video Director: Dave Heather opera premiered in Leningrad in 1934 and was per- TDK DVUS-CLOPCAR (154 min) Sound: 2.0 Arthaus 101 089 (185 min) Sound 2.0 formed to wide acclaim in the Soviet Union and ★★★★★★ $$$$ ★★★★★✩ $$$$ abroad. In December 1935, Stalin attended a perfor- TDK launches its “Wiener Staatsoper Live” series This 1973 live performance from Glyndebourne is mance in Moscow. Within a month, the infamous with these superlative productions of Il Trovatore and

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Carmen staged, respectively, transform Carmen into the most desirable woman Theresienstadt concentration in May and December of on the stage. The infatuation of Domingo’s Don camp who stayed alive in 1978. Both feature an ardent- José is utterly believable. Yuri Mazurok gives us a body and spirit through the ly youthful Domingo and are strong, if more sympathetic, Escamillo than usual power of music, are particular- essential acquisitions for the but nothing about the performance is the slightest ly memorable. The title of the sake of his formidable por- bit routine. The Scottish soprano, Isobel Buchanan, documentary, "We Want the trayals of Manrico and Don is also well cast as Micaëla. Light", is taken from a poem José. If further incentive to Zeffirelli’s staging is spectacular and old Seville by 12 year old Theresienstadt invest is required, these springs to life with multitudes of people and wor- inmate Eva Pickova, whose pieces can also be considered the definitive perfor- king quadrupeds. As film director, he shows us words are set to music by American composer Franz mances of the operas to have appeared thus far on what he wants us to see and often cuts from the Waxman in his work The Song of Terezin. The sound- DVD. Even though the plots are well known, the stage to the conductor. It is as if Zeffirelli unders- track also includes fragments of works by Mahler, Vienna productions of Trovatore and Carmen still tood that the images of Carlos Kleiber in the pit Bach, Schoenberg, Bruch, Schumann, Mendelssohn, generate dramatic tension throughout. would have special significance later – and alas, so Wagner, Schubert, Bloch, and Brahms, with the Il Trovatore was a Karajan specialty. Under his they have. WSH Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne conducted by baton, the score is rendered with exquisite vehe- Vladimir Ashkenazy. The DVD is in three parts: the 60 mence; the violence of the music erupts with Christopher Nupen: We Want The Light minute documentary, followed by a visual presentation Hellish intensity. It is entirely in accord with The Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne, Vladimir of the music alone, and four hours of additional in- Karajan’s stage direction and sensitive support to Ashkenazy, conductor depth interviews of such musical luminaries as the singers. Kabaivanska and Cossotto are musi- BBC Opus Arte (336 min - 2 DVDs) Barenboim, Kissin, Mehta, Perlman, and Zukerman. cally and dramatically perfect as the female leads. $$$$ Definitely not to be missed. JKS Cappuccilli projects Luna as an obsessively malign On the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz nobleman damned to survive the final torment of comes this deeply moving documentary by filmmaker Azucerma’s revenge. Sets and costumes are tradi- Christopher Nupen. It focuses on the roles played by BOOKS tional in design and video direction by Schneider- Jews in the German classical music tradition, from the Siemssen is excellent. Despite two cut numbers, time of Mendelssohn to the Holocaust. It deals with the Renée Fleming this is the Trovatore to have. influence of Wagner’s anti-Semitic essay “Das The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer Kleiber and Zeffirelli combine their unique talents Judenthum in der Musik” on the thinking of Hitler that Viking 2004, 222 pp. to produce a marvelous Carmen. Obraztsova’s ultimately led to the wholesale slaughter of 6 million ISBN 0-670-03351-0 interpretation of the title role is fascinating. The Jews. Of the many poignant moments, the interviews This is a singer’s autobiography with a difference. conjunction of the music and her intuitive nature with 98 year old Alice Sommer Herz, a survivor of the First of all, there is no ghostwriter – not only does

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Spring 2005 35 tms3-3-EG-p32-39 3/14/05 2:28 PM Page 36

she sing beautifully, but and Arleen Auger – makes for fascinating reading. ring into a classical record Renée Fleming, America’s Particularly memorable is her audience with the shop. favourite prima donna, is great Leontyne Price. Many conductors and fellow The toughest part of also a good writer. Fans singers make cameo appearances, the likes of preparing the book must might be disappointed to Carlos Kleiber, , and Plácido have been picking the 101 learn that other than a dust Domingo. Despite the absence of an index and a most essential CDs out of jacket photo and one in the general lack of glitz in terms of production values, the entire classical invento- frontispiece, the book has this is serious book. Reasonably priced at $36 ry. Result: only three no pictures, almost unheard Canadian, this makes a great gift and should be on Beethoven symphonies of in a diva tome. But perhaps this is to its benefit, every opera lover’s book shelf. JKS (Nos 5, 7 and 9) are dis- since The Inner Voice is no puff piece. In 13 chap- cussed, one of Mahler’s (No. 4) and none by ters spanning 220 pages, Fleming writes articulate- The Essential Classical Recordings: 101 CDs Schumann. The survey is nonetheless wide-reach- ly and with candor about every aspect of her art, Rick Phillips ing — it starts with Gregorian Chant and finishes from the early days spent honing her skill to the trials McClelland & Stewart (Toronto) with Arvo Pärt — and the recommended recordings and tribulations of career building, the first flush of Trade Paperback 240 pages are well-chosen. It is true that Herbert von Karajan success, and finally the musings of a mature artist. ISBN 0-7710-7001-2 gets but one nod (Mussorgsky’s Pictures) but There is a welcomed sincerity and simplicity to her ★★★★★✩ $$ bless the author’s heart for plugging Sir Charles writing. Only when it comes to her failed marriage Rick Phillips, host and producer of Sound Advice on Mackerras in his Mozart symphonies with the and personal relationships does one detect that CBC Radio, is a man with a mission. He is out to Prague Chamber Orchestra. And no argument much is left unsaid. Voice aficionados will find her debunk the erroneous notion that “classical” music from this quarter on the unsurpassed Mackerras discussion of technique interesting. Her singing is is arcane and elitist. This is a worthy objective and recording of Rimsky’s Scheherazade with the LSO. so remarkably effortless that it comes as a surprise Phillips is fully deserving of our support. One of the The commentary on each selection is in good plain to learn that she struggled like everyone else to most forbidding obstacles to the wider popularity of English and fully accessible to the general reader. acquire the solid technique for which she is famous. serious art music is the lack of basic knowledge. An excellent gift for a novice collector or any bright Her accounts of meeting and working with other sin- This handy little book supplies the optimum entry- youngster, this book has the potential to please the gers and teachers – among them Jan DeGaetani, level information which will do away with any appre- classical aficionado as well. Hopefully, it will help Edith Wiens, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Marilyn Horne, hension of appearing silly and ignorant upon ventu- Phillips reach mission accomplished. WSH

Symphonies from CPO

The German independent record label Classic Ries. The NDR Radio Philharmonic under Johannes stantially restored by cpo. Produktion Osnabrück (cpo) has seemingly taken Goritzki perform symphonies (Nos 1 and 3) of com- Symphonies Nos 1 and 8 up the task of reviving the music of every parable merit by Onslow (999 747-2). Symphonies (999 998-2) by Wellesz, “unknown” symphonist worthy of the name. Its cat- Nos 8 to 11 by Joachim Raff (1822-1882) repre- splendidly performed by the alogue offers a wealth of rewarding rarities on sent the succession of the seasons and are given Vienna RSO under Gottfried compact disc. These include the symphonies of superb, mid-Romantic readings by Werner Andreas Rabl, is the third release in Carl Friedrich Abel, Felix Draeseke, Louise Albert and the Philharmonia Hungarica in a bargain the cpo cycle of his nine Farrenc, Benjamin Frankel, Herman Goetz, Ernst priced double disc set (999 536-2). symphonies. Wellesz was an early disciple of Krenek, Allan Pettersson, Ervin Schulhoff, Robert The young Slovenian conductor, Marko Letonja Mahler. Mahlerian principles also surface in Volkmann, Richard Wetz, and many others. The leads the Basel SO in the first installment of a cycle Rathaus’s Symphonies Nos 2 and 3 (777 031-2 ). artistic, technical and presentation values main- of the symphonic works by Israel Yinon, perhaps the leading authority on the tained by cpo are of the highest standards. Some the great Dalmatian-born music of Rathaus, directs the Brandenburg State excellent examples (all four-star performances and maestro, . Orchestra Frankfurt in searing accounts. better) released during the past year were fully Weingartner’s Symphony Carl St. Clair conducts the Stuttgart RSO in auditioned and can be confidently recommended: No. 1 and König Lear sym- the continuing series devoted to the doyen of For adherents of authentic period performance, phonic poem (999 981- Brazilian composers, Heitor The Symphonies Op, 3, Nos 1, 2 and 6 of Franz 2/Hybrid SACD) reveal Villa-Lobos. Symphony No. Ignaz Beck (777 034-2) will musical works of real stature. As Christoph von 7 of 1945 is coupled with surely please. An almost Dohnanyi remarked, “In the last resort, it doesn’t mat- Sinfonietta No. 1 (999 713- exact contemporary of ter how good – or bad – a symphony by Klemperer 2). Modern Turkish music is Haydn, Beck was adventur- is... it is a process he has gone through and a represented by Symphonies ous by nature, and Michael process he is better able to grasp.” That statement is Nos 3 and 5 (999 968-2) of Schneider and La Stagione substantiated by Alun Francis and the Rhineland- Ahmed Adnan Saygun (1907-1991). The Frankfurt are truly swash- Pfalz State Philharmonic with their recording (999 Rhineland-Pfalz State Phil perform under the baton buckling in their interpretations. Ferdinand Ries 987-2) of orchestral works (including Symphonies of the redoubtable Finn, Ari Rasilainen. For mod- was a close colleague of Beethoven’s. Howard Nos 1 and 2) by . ernism verging on steel-fisted contemporary, it is Griffiths and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra con- Alun Francis completed his cycle of the sym- difficult to find a more intricately gritty composer clude their Ries symphony cycle with dashing phonies of genial serialist Ernst Toch (1887-1964) than Israel’s Joseph Tal. Tal was born in Poland in accounts of Nos 7 and 8. The disc (999 904-2) is with Nos 1 and 4 (999 774-2). Francis conducts 1910 and attended the 2003 recording sessions the first Hybrid Super Audio (SACD) released by the Berlin RSO. The musical reputations of two for his Symphonies Nos 4-6. Israel Yinon imparts cpo. The Anglo-French composer, Georges other Jewish composers fleeing the Nazi regime, his special insight of the scores with the NDR Onslow, was also active during the same period as Egon Wellesz and Karol Rathaus have been sub- Radio Philharmonic (999 922-2). WSH

36 Spring 2005 SRI_SCENA 2005-03-14 10:52 Page 37

NEW RELEASES from the WORLD’S BEST LABELS

Morten Lauridsen: choral works

Polyphony; Britten Sinfonia; SACDA67449 Stephen Layton, conductor t once genuinely original and yet reassuringly accessible, Athe music of Morten Lauridsen has achieved something of a cult status in his native America (O magnum mysterium currently being the top-selling choral octavo in the country – the number 2 spot is also a Lauridsen work), and Stephen Layton draws from his musicians some of the most ardently lyrical performances of recent years.

Johann Sebastian Bach: Weinen, Klagen... Cantates BWV12,38 & 75 901843 Carolyn Sampson; Daniel Taylor; Mark Padmore; Peter Kooy; Collegium Vocale Gent; Philippe Herreweghe n 1723 and 1724, the congregation of the Lutheran parish Ichurch of St Thomas’s in Leipzig had ample opportunity to discover, week after week, a litte more of the talent of their new Kantor, a certain Johann Sebastian Bach. These Cantatas are some from this period. This is also the first recording from Philippe Herreweghe in which he makes use of the Canadian Countertenor, Daniel Taylor.

Baroque Music from the missions of Chiquitos and Moxos Indians CCSSA22105 Florilegium with Bolivian Soloists his recording is one of our most ambitious and unique Tprojects to date – a recording of Bolivian baroque music in the Church of Concepción in the middle of the Bolivian jungle. Following auditions held in Santa Cruz, four unknown Bolivian singers were selected and trained by Florilegium’s director Ashley Solomon to participate in a unique recording. Channel Classics (and 300kg of equipment brought over from Holland) teamed up with Florilegium and recorded this disc of music which flourished in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Jesuit Missions. The majority of the programme was only recently rediscovered in the crypt of the Church of Concepción which dates back to 1707. Both the music and the story behind the music are here for the first time on SACD and DVD.

FOR STORE LOCATIONS PLEASE EMAIL [email protected] tms3-3-EG-p32-39 3/14/05 4:39 PM Page 38

CDs Rick’s Picks Rick Phillips reviews four of his top ten picks for the current issue of The highlighted the vocal qualities and strengths of this Music Scene. Phillips is the Host/Producer of SOUND ADVICE, the weekly music. It’s one singer to a part, rather than a choir of guide to classical music and recordings on CBC Radio One and Radio Two. several singers on each part, and the instrumental com- Sat. at 12:05, 1:05 AT, and 1:35 in Nfld., on CBC Radio Two, and Sunday ponent is scaled down. By using this method, clarity evening at 6:30, 7:30 AT, and 8:00 in Nfld., on CBC Radio One. and articulation are enhanced and the music has a more agile, responsive and dance-like character. It all 1) A. SCARLATTI: Disperato Amore – Cantatas & Instrumental Music seems very alive, natural and unencumbered. Matthew White, Les Voix Baroques (Analekta AN 29904) There have been transpositions of keys and the like – Alessandrini restoring 2) HAENDEL: Opera Seria things to the way he believes is correct. The chant antiphons before each number Sandrine Piau, Les Talens Lyriques / Christophe Rousset (Naïve E 8894) are not included and the set includes two versions of the closing Magnificat – one for seven parts and a rarely recorded one for six parts. In comparison to previous 3) C. MONTEVERDI: Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610 Vespers) recordings of this work by English early music types like Philip Pickett or Andrew Concerto Italiano/Rinaldo Alessandrini (Naïve OP30403) Parrott, they come across as a bit formal and stilted – not as free. The vocalists and instrumentalists of Concerto Italiano are top-notch and the recorded sound is 4) : The 1953 American Decca Recordings (5-CDs) superb. Here’s yet another feather in the ever-growing cap of Rinaldo Alessandrini. New York Stadium Symphony Orchestra / Leonard Bernstein 4) LEONARD BERNSTEIN: The 1953 American Decca Recordings (5-CDs) (DGG Original Masters 00289 477 0002) New York Stadium Symphony Orchestra / Leonard Bernstein 5) A. VIVALDI: Orlando Furioso, R. 728 (DGG Original Masters 00289 477 0002) Marie-Nicole Lemieux et al, Ensemble Matheus / Jean-Christophe Spinosi The Deutsche Grammophon (DG) label, on their Original (Naïve OP 30393) Masters line, has recently released recordings from 1953 featuring Leonard Bernstein. This is a 5-CD box set at a 6) Grands Succes du Deuxieme Millénaire – Musique Française 1000–2000 budget-price containing Bernstein’s first recordings of Skye Consort (Ombu 1006) five great symphonies. It is the first time these sym- 7) STEPHEN KOVACEVICH Plays BEETHOVEN (6-CDs) phonies, recorded when Bernstein was in his mid-30s, Stephen Kovacevich, BBC and London Symphony Orchestras / have been available on CD. You get Symphony No. 2 by (Philips 475 6319) Schumann, No. 4 by Brahms, No. 9 From the New World by Dvorak, No. 6 Pathetique by Tchaikovsky and No. 3 Eroica by Beethoven. Also included are 8) Music For A While –Baroque Melodies Bernstein’s musical explanations of these works, never before available on CD. Anne Sofie von Otter, Jory Vinikour, Jakob Lindberg, Anders Ericson Bernstein was much more than a conductor. He was also a talented com- (Archiv 477 5114) poser, pianist, writer, teacher and educator. In 1954, he appeared on the CBS 9) S. BARBER: Piano Sonata, Op. 26 TV program “Omnibus,” and explained how Beethoven had composed his Marc-André Hamelin, piano (Hyperion CDA 67469) Symphony No. 5. It was the start of a long side-line to his musical career, that of an educator breaking down some of the walls to classical music and encour- 10) J. A. DONOSTIA: Basque Preludes, etc. aging a better appreciation of it. A little later, the Book-of-the Month club com- Jordi Maso, piano (Naxos 8.557228) missioned him to write and narrate, with musical illustrations, an analysis of each of the five symphonies recorded in 1953. These musical explanations are 1) A. SCARLATTI: Disperato Amore – Cantatas & Instrumental Music included with the five symphonies in this new box set from DG. Matthew White, Les Voix Baroques (Analekta AN 29904) To some, Bernstein was conceited, arrogant, pompous and brash. But oth- Last year, Canadian countertenor Matthew White and ers found him brilliant, insightful and engaging. He always had something inter- Tafelmusik released a very strong CD on the Analekta esting to say, even if it was controversial at times. He reached out to us, chal- label called simply “Italian Oratorios.” It was one of my lenging, stimulating, even annoying us. If you don’t like Bernstein, you won’t picks for the Sound Advice Best of 2004, and has a Juno like this set. But I enjoyed it, and his fresh interpretations of the symphonies Award nomination. “Italian Oratorios” featured some of the included here. They are in mono sound, but good mono sound. The New York music of Alessandro Scarlatti, the father of the more pop- Stadium Symphony Orchestra, by the way, was just a summer name for the ular Domenico. For his latest Analekta recording, Matthew . White teams up with the Montreal-based group Les Voix 7) STEPHEN KOVACEVICH Plays BEETHOVEN (6-CDs) Baroques, of which he is artistic director. The recording contains nothing but Stephen Kovacevich, BBC and London Symphony Orchestras / Colin music by Alessandro Scarlatti – four vocal works and two instrumental sonatas. Davis (Philips 475 6319) In addition to having a beautiful countertenor voice of great purity and accu- Over the years, this pianist has been known by several racy, Matthew White is very musical and expressive. I loved his subtle ornamen- names – Stephen Bishop, then Stephen Bishop- tation in the da capo, or repeat sections of many of the arias. Always aware of the Kovacevich, then Stephen Kovacevich. The Bishop part text, it is ever tasteful and never overdone. I also enjoyed the work of Les Voix of the name came from his mother’s second husband. Baroques, a group only six years old. It’s made up of solid and experienced early Today, he’s known exclusively as Stephen Kovacevich. music string players like Chantal Rémillard, Hélène Plouffe and Amanda Keesmat, The music of Beethoven has been an important part with the continuo nicely filled out by Alexander Weimann on keyboards and the of his career all along. To me, Stephen Kovacevich’s finest incomparable Sylvain Bergeron on lute and theorbo. You feel as well as hear the Beethoven was his earlier stuff – from 30 years ago now, for the Philips label, and rich theorbo sound, due to the expert playing and a rich, full, recorded sound. that’s what’s been recently reissued on this 6-CD set. In his 30s, Kovacevich had 3) C. MONTEVERDI: Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610 Vespers) a better grip on Beethoven. There was a sense of discovery and fascination that Concerto Italiano / Rinaldo Alessandrini (Naïve OP30403) was very appealing. It’s not without depth and understanding, but it is without Rinaldo Alessandrini is an Italian Monteverdi scholar and performer who has some of the affectations and mannerisms that cropped into his later EMI record- just come out with a version of the Vespro della Beata Vergine, also known as ings. To be honest, I had forgotten how good these earlier Beethoven recordings the 1610 Vespers, with his group Concerto Italiano. They had recently been with Kovacevich were. Included are the five Piano Concertos, eight Piano working away at recordings of music by Vivaldi. Now they’ve turned their Sonatas, the Diabelli Variations, and the complete Bagatelles by Beethoven. The sights to arguably the crowning glory of Monteverdi’s work. concertos are magical at times, thanks to close work with his frequent collabora- This is one of the hallmarks of all vocal music – a work that sets the stan- tor, conductor Sir Colin Davis. The Sonatas, Variations and Bagatelles have dard in the early Baroque. Alessandrini went back to the original sources for always been solid performances, rarely available for 30 years – a very attractive an unclouded view, and, as he’s done before in his Vivaldi recordings, he’s all-Beethoven box set, especially at a budget-price. p 38 Spring 2005 tms3-3-EG 3/11/05 9:04 PM Page 39

World Class early music on period instruments

Telemann Tutti flauti ! & Concertos by Georg Philip Telemann for various instruments Arion Direction : Jaap ter Linden Soloists : Matthias Maute and Sophie Larivière, recorders Claire Guimond and Mika Putterman, baroque flutes Chantal Rémillard, baroque violin and Mathieu Lussier, bassoon Jaap ter Linden, viola da gamba EMCCD 7763 She’s sweetest when she’s naked & Flute Music from 18th-century Scotland Alison Melville, baroque flute and recorder with Michael Jarvis, harpsichord Paul Jenkins, harpsichord Charlotte Nediger, harpsichord Mary-Katherine Finch, baroque cello Kirk Elliott, harp and guitar Ben Grossman, bodhrán, tambourine and snare drums EMCCD 7761

de Bach à Mozart & Following the path of the Trio Sonata Claire Guimond, baroque flute Gary Cooper, harpsichord Jaap ter Linden, baroque cello EMCCD 7762

ON SALE NOW IN ALL RECORD SHOP or on the internet www.early-music.com or by mail order : early-music.com 7753 Tellier Street Montreal, (Quebec) H1L 2Z5 (514) 355-1825 tms3-3_AC p40, 42-50B 2005-03-14 13:18 Page 40

Concert Picks Spring 2005

Find complete listings at

Howard Shore Huutajat title role. Soprano Laura Claycomb, the stunning Southern Gilda from last season, has unfortunately cancelled, Southern but COC has found a worthy replacement in fiery Ontario Bulgarian Alexandrina Pendatchanska as Ontario Armenaide. Those who saw her performing the Choral, Orchestral, Vocal Preview roles of Ermione and Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito BY JOSEPH K. SO in Santa Fe will tell you that this incredibly exciting Early, and New Music inter-weary Torontonians can look forward to singer will knock your socks off! Returning to the BY PETER PHOA Wa spring of wonderful vocal blooms. The COC will be Quebec contralto Marie-Nicole armer weather often corresponds to an Matthias Goerne recital, postponed last fall due to Lemieux, tenor Michael Colvin, and bass Robert Wonslaught of weddings. Sometimes wonder- illness, has been rescheduled for April 3 at Roy Pomakov – talk about a dream cast! Six perform- ful and intimate, these spectacles can also be Thomson Hall. We should be holding our collective ances are scheduled at the Hummingbird Centre gaudy and impersonal. With a bit of luck, the circus breath, as Herr Goerne has just cancelled two (April 1, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16). Paired with the rare of weddings can provide great entertainment. Even dates at the prestigious Wigmore Hall last week, Rossini will be the Verdi warhorse Il Trovatore, mark- if the bride’s dress is frightful, you can delight in the again due to illness. He last visited Toronto during ing the local debut of Romanian soprano Doina horror factor and do your best to turn awful nuptials the SARS crisis, one of the few star performers Dimitriu, who is making quite a splash in Europe. into exciting events. who didn’t cancel. His smooth-as-silk baritone and Russian tenor Mikhail Agafonov returns as Manrico, Now, if only audiences would approach concerts consummate artistry are always a joy. He will be and American baritone Robert Hyman will make his of new music in the same way they approach wed- performing Schubert’s Die Winterreise, a cycle he debut as Count di Luna. Hyman, incidentally, will dings. Although there is a good chance that the recently recorded with at the piano. open next season in the title role of Macbeth. marriage will end in failure, you still attend the cer- Let’s keep our fingers crossed! Vocal fans will get For those interested in early music, emony and hope for the best. In much the same a chance to compare Goerne with Canada’s own (OA) presents Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and way, a large percentage of the pieces you hear at a baritone extraordinaire, Gerald Finley, who will be Charpentier’s Acteon as a double bill, starring new music concert will not endure. Yet, it is vital for singing his first Winterreise, with Stephen Ralls at many OA regulars, including sopranos Nathalie its propagation that new music continue to be pro- the piano. This concert is Aldeburgh Connection’s Paulin, Jennie Such and Monica Whicher, tenor duced and performed, and that the public attend. In Annual Greta Kraus Schubertiad (April 14, 8 pm, Colin Ainsworth, mezzo Laura Pudwell, and bari- addition to the composers who are there merely to Walter Hall). tone Curtis Sullivan. This company is known for its flex their intellect or to fulfill the requirements of Of great interest is Canada’s newest prima historically-informed baroque productions that some grant or commission, to those who appear donna Isabel Bayrakdarian, who has been wowing combine period dance styles and stage move- irretrievably clueless, you will find the composer audiences everywhere with her special blend of ments, sumptuous costumes, and the mellifluous who is truly inspired and touches his audience. sparkling voice, innate musicality, and beguiling strings of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra under Amid the dross will emerge the classics of our age stage persona. Her husband and artistic partner, Jeanne Lamon (April 21- 30, Elgin Theatre). Farther and it would be best if we were there to hear them. pianist Serouj Kradjian, will accompany afield, there is Opera Ontario’s (OO) Carmen, star- New Music Director for the Toronto Symphony Bayrakdarian in her Roy Thomson Hall recital on ring a voice new to Ontario – mezzo Jessie Raven. Orchestra, Peter Oundjian, has inaugurated the May 8. Their recent recording of Pauline Viardot Quebec audiences may remember her in the title New Creations Festival celebrating works of our Songs on the Analekta label has garnered role of Thérèse Raquin. Singing Don Jose will be time with the foremost soloists of our time. At favourable notices. Also noteworthy is the return of American Patrick Marques, who performed in the Fireworks & Flourish (March 30, 31) the charming the ever-popular tenor Michael Schade, in a Montreal Opera Gala in 2002, singing Siegmund’s Oundjian will act as onstage guide while Oliver Liederabend of works by Schubert, Mendelssohn aria, and more recently as Tichon in Janacek’s Knussen conducts his own Flourish with Fireworks and Pfitzner (May 25, 8 pm, Glenn Gould Studio). Katya Kabanova. Now called a heldentenor, it will and Violin Concerto. Pinchas Zukerman is the On the opera front, the most anticipated event is be interesting to see if he lives up to that billing. soloist. The program will also feature the world pre- undoubtedly the Canadian Opera Company’s OO Artistic Director Daniel Lipton conducts miere of Gary Kulesha’s Symphony No. 2. In a con- Canadian premiere of Rossini’s Tancredi, starring (Hamilton Apr. 16, 21, 23; Kitchener Apr. 29). cert entitled Modern Masterpieces (April 6, 7), vio- the incomparable Polish contralto Ewa Podles in the lin virtuoso Joshua Bell plays Iranian Behzad 40 Spring 2005 tms3-3_SD p41B 2005-03-16 17:17 Page 41

THE MUSIC SCENE’S SUBSCRIPTION SERIESSeries FIRST ANNUAL GUIDE SubcriptionSubscription Series scription series, a good investment for passionate concert-goers and a With spring comes the launching of the 2005-06 concert season. The source of financial stability for arts organizations. Consider supporting both Music Scene is proud to introduce the following companies offering a sub- your passion for music and your local arts group — consider subscribing! • András Schiff, piano PoperaTM Grandé, featuring Tracy Dahl, Sunday, October 16, 2005 Allyson McHardy, Gordon Gietz and James • Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello Westman Sunday, November 20, 2005 Hamilton: November 24 & 26 Victoria Symphony • Christine Brewer, soprano Kitchener-Waterloo: November 25 Victoria, BC :: 250-385-6515 Sunday, February 12, 2006 [email protected] • Vadim Repin, violin & , by Mozart, featuring Russell www.victoriasymphony.ca piano, Friday, March 24, 2006 Braun, Lyne Fortin, Benjamin Butterfield, • Krystian Zimerman, piano Sally Dibblee and Gary Relyea Opening Night! - Pianist Krzysztof Jablonski Thursday, April 27, 2006 Hamilton: February 11, 16 & 18 Kitchener Waterloo returns again this season to play the Grieg Kitchener-Waterloo: February 3 & 5 Philharmonic Choir Piano Concerto in A minor (September 10). Kitchener, ON :: 800-265-8977 La Traviata by Verdi, featuring Jeanine Tafelmusik Baroque [email protected] Pianist André Laplante and principal guest Orchestra and Chamber Choir Thames, Marc Hervieux and John Fanning www.kwphilharmonic.com conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin join forces Toronto, ON :: 416-964-6337 Hamilton: April 29, May 4 & 6. to present Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 1 [email protected] Kitchener-Waterloo: May 12 & 14 Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony (December 3 and 5). www.tafelmusik.org : Gloria October 22, 2005 Renowned violinist Moshe Hammer returns Be a part of “the Tafelmusik Experience”— , soprano to Victoria for a performance of Beethoven’s the exhilarating power of the live concert stirring Violin Concerto in D major (January experience, with its excitement and intima- Toronto, ON :: 416-598-3375 G.F. Handel: Messiah 29 and 30). cy! Tafelmusik 2005-06 Season is jam- [email protected] December 16 & December 17, 2005 packed with divine baroque and classical www.tso.on.ca Soloists: Nancy Argenta, soprano The talented young musicians of the music: Bach’s Mass in B Minor and his Russell Braun, baritone Welcome to Peter Oundjian's second great Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra join the beautiful Wedding Cantata; a 3-Concert season with the TSO! Maestro Oundjian will Victoria Symphony to perform Mahler’s Mozartfest — in honour of Wolfgang’s 250th Derek Holman: Magnificat appear on every series in the 2005-06 sea- Symphony no. 1 (February 26 and 27). birthday — featuring the Jupiter Symphony, Mozart: Mass in C Minor (compl. by Robert son. The TSO's top six: Coronation Mass, and Exsultate, jubilate; Levin. Canadian premiere) Brian Jackson fans will be in for a treat and Handel’s beloved oratorio Messiah. February 25, 2006 1. Russian phenom will per- when he teams up with Victoria’s own Joining the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra Sookhyung Park, soprano, Michael Colvin, form all five Beethoven piano concertos famous fiddler Daniel Lapp for a celebra- and Chamber Choir this season is a stellar tenor over a 2-night period, with Sir Andrew tion of Celtic music (March 2, 3 and 4) cast of soloists, including conductor Bruno Davis conducting. Oct 5/7, 2005. Weil, sopranos Suzie Leblanc and Gillian J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion 2. The Mozart@250 Festival. Celebrate Our 4-year cycle of Bach’s greatest choral Keith, countertenor Matthew White, male April 15, 2006 Mozart's 250th birthday with Peter works continues with the St. Matthew soprano Michael Maniaci, and more! Isabel Bayrakdarian, soprano, John Aler, tenor Oundjian and friends, including violinist Passion, led by Maestra Tania Miller (April 1 Viktoria Mullova, Canadian sopranos and 3). Isabel Bayrakdarian and Karina Gauvin, pianist Yefim Bronfman and actor Colm Vancouver Recital Society Feore. Jan. 18 - 28, 2006 3. Shostakovich Remembered: concerts Vancouver, BC :: 604-602-0363 celebrating the master’s 100th anniver- [email protected] www.vanrecital.com sary feature cellist Enrico Dindo, Maxim FESTIVAL 500 - Sharing the Vengerov, and conductors Peter Voices The Vancouver Recital Society presents a Oundjian, Stefan Sanderling, and St. John’s, NL :: 709-738-6013 new season full of both fresh discoveries . Feb. 15 - Jun. 3, 2006. 4. Peter Oundjian conducts the New [email protected] and internationally acclaimed musicians. www.festival500.com Whether you enjoy the thrill of hearing new Opera Ontario Creations Festival. Soloists include Leila rising stars, or look forward to the return of Hamilton & Kitchener, ON :: 800-575-1381 Josefowicz, Emanuel Ax, Leon Fleisher FESTIVAL 500 Sharing the Voices is an artists like Radu Lupu, you will find much [email protected] and the TSO's Joel Quarrington. internation festival of choral music that that is memorable in this gem of a series. www.operaontario.com Composers include Jacques Hétu, John takes place every two years in St. John’s, NL. Join us and treat your senses to some daz- Adams, and Chen Yi. Mar. 30 - Apr. 5, Kitchener Waterloo Opera and Opera In 2005, July 3-10, choirs from Algeria, zlingly fresh experiences. Subscriptions 2005. Hamilton present their 2005-06 Season: Argentina, Australia, , Czech Republic, start as low as $79. 5. Canada's exciting showman pianist Jon China, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Kimura Parker plays Prokofiev 3. Mar. 8- Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod, fea- Venezuela, United States and Canada will The Vancouver Recital Society’s 2005-06 10, 2005. turing Laura Whalen, John Bellemer and join in the celebration of song with massed Season includes: 6. Peter Oundjian and the great Canadian choir conductors Maria Guinand and Tonu Alexander Dobson tenor collaborate in a con- Hamilton: October 15, 20 & 22 Raljuste. Join us also for 2007, from July 1 • , mezzo-soprano cert of Sibelius, Wagner, and Beethoven. Kitchener-Waterloo: October 28 & 30 to 7! Zurich Orchestra La Scintilla June 15/17, 2005. Sunday, October 2, 2005 NOTE: Programme and soloists subject to change.

Spring 2005 41 tms3-3_AC p40, 42-50B 2005-03-14 13:21 Page 42

the Festival (June 3-5, 10-12). Choristers, conduc- Canaanite leader Sisera. Gillian Keith returns to tors, and others involved in the choral world are Toronto to sing prophetess Deborah, and Ann invited to attend the various vocal workshops, Monoyios is the assassin Jael who slays the choral showcases, round table discussions, and wicked, wicked Ben Butterfield. Sounds like a real- seminars. Speakers include John Tavener, R. ly good episode of Alias. Ivars Taurins conducts. Murray Schafer and John Ralston Saul - they will be (416-964-6337) covering topics such as choral aesthetic, northern identity, and new creation. (416-504-1282) Fans of J.R. Tolkien can hear The Lord of the The Winnipeg Rings Symphony by Canadian . Maestro Markus Huber conducts the Kitchener Scene Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and a chorus of BY ANDREW THOMPSON Norwegian Soloists more than 250 voices from the Kitchener Waterloo Ranjbaran’s Violin Concerto which has been Philharmonic Choir, Kitchener Waterloo Philhar- praised for its ravishing melodic line. Noted inter- monic Youth Choir, Kitchener Waterloo Philhar- preter of new music, Canadian soprano Barbara monic Children’s Choir and Consort Caritatis Hannigan, sings Correspondances by Henry under the artistic direction of Howard Dyck. (June Dutilleux, a work currently making the international 4, 7:30 pm at Centre in the Square, 800-265- rounds that Hannigan has already sung at the Royal 8977, www.centre-square.com). Toronto audiences Concertgebouw. will also have the chance to hear The Lord of the Esprit Orchestra presents the final concert of its Rings Symphony. (June 5, Roy Thomson Hall, 2:00 season on May 26, as part of its New Wave pm and 7:00 pm, 416-872-4255) Composers Festival. Funded by the Canada Council, Chris Paul Harman’s Concerto for Cello Other Choral Events and Orchestra will be premiered by virtuoso cellist Shauna Rolston. Other works include Paul Frehner’s two new pieces Sanctuary and Profanity, Scott Wilson’s Four Names of Beauty, and the Canadian Premiere of Gyula Bánkövi’s Accord(ion) Concerto. When he was a boy, Soundstreams Artistic he big news in Winnipeg’s classical music Director Lawrence Cherney remembers looking Tscene involves a substantial change in the down at a globe of the world, and seeing a new musical landscape. In early January, the Winnipeg landscape of the circumpolar world emerge. Symphony Orchestra’s (WSO) Conductor and Northern Voices Choral Festival and Conference Music Director Andrey Boreyko announced that (June 3-12) showcases ensembles from over a he would not be extending his contract at the end dozen northern countries, each with their own of the 2005-06 season. Maestro Boreyko’s deci- choral tradition. Daily concerts held at either sion does not come as a big surprise considering Metropolitan United or Trinity-St.Paul’s, will feature his recent successes as a guest conductor in the likes of the Danish National Choir, Erik Berlin and Chicago. Future engagements are Westberg Vocal Ensemble, Latvian Radio Choir, booked with major symphonies in Philadelphia, Los Norwegian Soloists, Nordic Voices, and Canada’s Those looking for seasonal music have the option Angeles, Pittsburgh, and . own Tafelmusik, Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Elmer of hearing St. Matthew Passion (March 24, 26) at Candidates auditioning for the WSO will appear Iselers, and Pro Coro. Ten of days of heaven for the Roy Thomson Hall. An Easter tradition in Europe, it as guest conductors for the 2005-06 season. With lover of choral music. would be great if, at this time of year, the Passions a new board of directors and recent financial prob- Intriguing programming includes the pairing of became as regular as Messiahs at Christmas. If you lems, it would not be suprising to see the WSO Finnish choirs (June 7) Rajaton & Huutajat. Both like your Bach big, this evening with the Mendels- undertake a financial re-evaluation of the sort of star internationally renowned, Rajaton, and its more sohn singers, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, power expected to be on its podium. popular sensibilities (their was a top-10 hit conductor Nicholas McGegan, evangelist Ben Meanwhile, Boreyko’s final concert of the 2004- back home), sings in one half, while Huutajat, with Butterfield and tenor John Tessier, is for you (416- 05 season promises to be an impressive event. On its performance art immortalized in the film 498-0422). In Kitchener Waterloo, Howard Dyck April 28-30, he will lead his forces (along with the “Screaming Men”, sings the other. Those who enjoy leads his Philhamornic Choir for a Good Friday Mennonite Festival Chorus) in Arvo Pärt’s Cecilia, the Voices of Youth (June 12, 3pm) will like the pair- performance of Brahms’s glorious Ein Deutsches vergine romana, along with the Sibelius Symphony ing of Canadian Youth Opera Chorus with Iceland’s Requiem. Soprano Charlene Pauls and ever-out- No. 2 and Dvorák’s Cello Concerto, performed by Hamrahlid. Hamrahlid is a cultural institution, its standing baritone Russell Braun present what is Johannes Moser. Moser is the 25 year old German most famous alumnus being singer Björk. Swan considered the Protestant response to a requiem who received great acclaim as the winner of the dress, anyone? The celebratory Opening Gala mass, in this case, an extraordinary one. (519-578- 2002 Tchaikovsky Competition. (www.wso.mb.ca) (June 3) and Closing Gala (June 12) combine sev- 1570) The WSO is not the only group undergoing eral of different choirs. Repertoire for the Festival Later in the spring, Tafelmusik presents its first changes at the top. The Manitoba Chamber ranges from Baroque to Modern, with a particular ever performance of Handel’s oratorio Deborah Orchestra (MCO) is also actively seeking appli- focus on the finest composers of each visiting (May 5 - 7 at 7:30pm, May 8 at 3:30pm). After his cants for its soon-to-be-vacant conductor position. country. (416-366-7723) Italian operas fell into disfavour, Handel came into The departing Roy Goodman has left his mark on Honorary Patron, her Excellency the Right his own with this dramatic English oratorio. Based the MCO with his vigorous style and period instru- Honourable Adrienne Clarkson opens the Northern on a story from the book of Judges, Deborah tells ment background. The organization now has a Voices choral conference held on the weekends of of the captive Israelites assassinating the evil strong characteristic sound that combines the 42 Spring 2005 tms3-3_AC p40, 42-50B 3/14/05 2:01 PM Page 43

Toronto’s New Creations Festival Creations Old and New

DANIELLE DUBOIS Photo:Tiedeman von Cylla

Quartet Becomes Orchestra Thomson Hall on April 2 will be a new composi- Music Festival in 2001. tion for winds and percussion by Ray Luedeke, Despite the success enjoyed by his First hat is a Beethoven’s String Quartet, from clarinettist with the TSO, as well as Murray Symphony, Kulesha was left with the nagging W the early 19th century doing on a program Schafer’s Quartet entitled Fourty-Four. The latter feeling that the there was still much to add to this of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s (TSO) New will be performed by the St. Lawrence String story. “This Second Symphony begins with the Creations Festival? Maestro Peter Oundjian, who Quartet. “It creates a balance,” says the conduc- end of the First Symphony,” says the composer will lead the TSO in his orchestration of tor who is very attentive to the juxtaposition of who began work on it in March of last year. The Beethoven’s Op. 131 has a ready answer. He pieces making up a . The New end result is a four-movement work lasting twen- describes the threefold aim of the festival : “One: to Creations Festival runs from March 30 to April 7. ty-three minutes. “It’s separated in two parts. commission new pieces, two: to bring to the audi- Movement one and two telescope together, as ence some interesting pieces from around the Gary Kulesha’s Symphony No. 2 do three and four,” describes Kulesha. world and three: to include music relevant to the As in the First Symphony, the piano plays a first two categories.” For Oundjian, the Beethoven ary Kulesha’s Symphony No. 2 was born out significant role. “It’s a recurring instrument meant Quartet fulfills this last criterion. “The music is so Gof a moment of illumination. “As I finished my to represent my voice,” says Kulesha, who’s given original, it will always be a new creation.” First Symphony in 1998, I instantly had an under- it two extended solos. The other important solo Beethoven’s penultimate work, the Quartet was standing of what the Second Symphony would in the Symphony was given to the tuba, some- reputedly his favourite. “It is seven movements with- thing Kulesha admits is a little unusual. He had no out interruption, an incredible world of fantasy which pre-conceived ideas about the instruments he opened up the door to the ideas of Gustav Mahler. would use when he sat down to compose: Mahler was in fact the first to say it should not be “That’s simply how it evolved as I was writing.” played by just four people,” declares Oundjian, Although he finds it demanding, Kulesha loves whose long history with the piece makes its orches- working for orchestra. “The symphony has a tral transcription an ever-evolving process. unique architecture,” says the composer who has “I know it from every fibre of my body,” says the written chamber music as well as opera. “Yet the conductor and violonist who has played it literally problem remains the same: getting notes that are hundreds of times. Such initimate knowledge of the convincing onto a page,” remarks Kulesha. He work has definitely influenced the way in which believes his symphony has the innate sense of Oundjian transformed the chamber-size work to one drama required to keep listeners convinced from for an orchestra of over 50 musicians. He is not the beginning to end. first to have been moved by the universal dimen- “It’s definitely not an easy-listening piece,” sions inherent in the Quartet; both Leonard warns Kulesha. He grieves the fact that com- Bernstein and conducted orchestra- posers often simplify the technical demands of tions of it. “I try to get a concertante feeling, add first their music rather than do something serious. As violins in octaves for example, make it more orches- a conductor, he is well aware of what the Toronto tral,” explains Oundjian who describes the process Symphony Orchestra is capable of. “If anything, it as “Quartet becoming orchestra. We work as a encouraged me to write very difficult music.” team and performing it is a very spiritual experience.” Indeed, the sheer technical virtuosity of the piece As with all transcriptions, some things are more will be the biggest challenge for the TSO players delicate than others. In this case, the main chal- come March 30. “There are lots of notes. lenge comes from the Scherzo. “To make it crisp Rhythmically, it’s complex, and the metric struc- and delicate enough with all the players is a chal- ture is complicated, though it won’t appear so to lenge, but one were excited about,” shares be,” says the TSO Composer Advisor Gary the audience,” asserts the composer who finds Oundjian. He depicts the alteration in the following Kulesha, who explains that the two works are the New Creations Festival a very exciting initia- way: “The quartet version is pure in a personal way intimately tied. In many ways autobiographical, tive for the city of Toronto. while the orchestral version is pure with broader Kulesha’s First Symphony deals with his forma- With his Second Symphony completed, horizons.” For Oundjian, the act of transcribing the tive years. “I turned 50 when I was writing it; it Kulesha does not deny having given thought to a Op. 131 Quartet is that of servant rather than cre- looks at how I have evolved, how I see myself and third. “It will be different, but in a sense a contin- ator. “When you share the stage with Beethoven, the world.” Performed by several orchestras in the uation of the last two,” he hints. “It will probably you have to disappear,” says Oundjian. “My goal is country, Kulesha’s Symphony No. 1 received the be less serene, and deal more with the struggle to fulfill what Beethoven meant.” prize for Best Canadian Orchestra Composition to live.” Something to look forward to, perhaps in Sharing the stage with Beethoven at Roy of the 1990s at the Winnipeg Symphony New a future edition of the New Creations Festival. p Spring 2005 43 tms3-3_AC p40, 42-50B 2005-03-14 13:26 Page 44

romantic shades and lush textures of Goodman’s Richard Raymond on April 2. (www.virtuosi.mb.ca) predecessor, Simon Streatfeild, with Goodman’s Yamagami’s career started with a bang when The Edmonton she won the 2001 CBC Radio National Competition for Young Performers. This led to her Scene being loaned the 1696 Bonjour Stradivari cello, an BY GORDON MORASH instrument which, valued at $4.5 million (USD), is dmonton classical music lovers — and the Canada Council’s most valuable instrument. EEdmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) play- Although Raymond is no stranger to Winnipeg ers in particular — sent cheers heavenward in audiences, it is worth recalling that he won the Van January with the announcement that after a two- Cliburn Competition’s Chamber Music Prize. year search, the ESO had chosen a new musical The Virtuosi Concert program leans heavily on director in the form of Buffalo, New York-born Romantic repertoire: Raymond will tackle the , current resident conductor of the oen elastic and driving energy. Second Ballade of Liszt before the two pair up for Chicago Symphony. The audition process for Goodman’s replace- Chopin’s light Polonaise Op. 3, Schumann’s The Edmonton Journal muted the thunder of the ment has been going well, with the buzz indicating Fantasy Pieces, and the staggeringly beautiful ESO’s announcement somewhat by disclosing that a couple of key candidates have already been Rachmaninov Cello Sonata. Hearing Yamagami Eddins’s appointment a day before the symphony identified. The MCO will be looking to make its and Raymond playing the gorgeous third movement, had done the deed. Unfortunately, for all of its choice public in the very near future, most likely in Andante, should be well worth the price of admis- eagerness in jumping the gun, the newspaper did conjunction with the announcement of the 2005- sion. Clark Ross’s Lamentations for solo cello and a not publish a story about Eddins’s first concert in 06 subscription season. Haydn Divertimento round off the program. February until two days after the fact. Goodman’s farewell concert held on May 17 Eddins quickly became a controversial figure last features three composers with whom Goodman October when he was quoted as saying he had no can be strongly identified: Weber, Haydn, and interest in spending time courting monied dowa- Mozart. The former’s Concertino for Clarinet will be gers in fund drives. Some considered his statement played by Connie Gitlin, while the great Oxford and to be a slam directed at Harriet Winspear, the 100- Jupiter symphonies of the latter two are the year-old arts patron whose husband Francis had evening’s main offerings. (www.manitobacham- donated $6 million to complete the concert hall that berorchestra.org) bears his name. 2005 is proving to be a breakout year for Yuri The infamous quote in The Journal certainly Klaz and the Winnipeg Singers (www.win- seemed designed to inflame: “I’m not the guy nipegsingers.com). This group of 24 trained voic- And, of course, spring in Winnipeg would not be who’s going to walk in, in the suit, with the es will first be performing in an Easter choral con- complete without an opera production from German accent, and go over and schmooze Mrs. cert along with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra . On April 16, 19, and 22, fans of Whatever-Her-Name-Is, who’s 93 years old and on March 26. This is a big production featuring the the genre will be able to attend Donizetti’s delight- is ready to donate all her husband’s old gold Fauré Requiem, the Verdi Stabat Mater, and Bach’s ful L’elisir d’amore at the Centennial Concert Hall. stocks to the orchestra and have everyone call Cantata No. 4, Christ lag in Todes Banden. Klaz’s Stuart Howe, a New Brunswick native whose me ‘Maestro’ and run things like some last out- other major choir, the large Winnipeg Philharmonic European premiere of the tenor role in this opera post of the Third Reich.” Choir, will join the Singers to achieve the required earned him the title of “the quintessential However, on the day of his appointment four numbers. Frédérique Vézina and Nathaniel Watson Nemorino”, and coloratura soprano Nikki Einfeld, a months later, Eddins took pains to state clearly that are, respectively, the guest soprano and baritone. Winnipegger currently with the San Francisco he was not referring to either Winspear. In July and August, the Singers have been invit- Opera as and Adler Fellow, should bring consider- In the 2005-06 season, Eddins will conduct ed by the International Federation for Choral Music able stage presence to this production. (www.man- concerts in all of the ESO’s programs save one— to perform at the 7th World Symposium on Choral itobaopera.mb.ca) the country-and-western series. His first trip to the Music in Kyoto, Japan. This event, which happens Manitoba Opera’s long-standing financial woes ESO podium for the remaining part of the current once every three years, brings together the best have slowly begun to subside: with four years of season will be as conductor and performer at the choral conductors, choirs, and choral instructors in balanced budgets and shows that are filled to second annual Mozart Effect on June 14, 16 and a week long series of seminars and concerts. This 97%, Manitoba Opera is successfully reducing its 18, a three-concert event that was tailored for him international recognition is a huge honour for the $600,000 debt. Its current policy of fiscal respon- last year. Singers; the only other Canadian choir attending is sibility, realistic productions, audience develop- And so, to some of the better draws of the the Nathaniel Dett Chorale. ment, and traditional programming, paired with an remaining spring season: The Singers have been trying to fundraise to understanding of what it means to be an opera Alberta Baroque Ensemble: The closing con- help pay the costs of attending a symposium so far company in Winnipeg’s relatively thrifty and limited cert of ABE’s 25th season on April 17 will feature away. At press time however, financial pressures market, seems to be paying off. soprano Linda Perillo in a program of Handel and continued to jeopardize the Singers’s attendance at this prestigious event. It would be a shame if Klaz and his ensemble were unable to represent Canada under such circumstances. The The finale of the Virtuosi Concerts in the University of Winnipeg’s Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall is a typical one for this first-rate organization. Patrons of the Calendar Online series have grown accustomed to solo piano and Find complete listings at chamber recitals and will not be disappointed by the >canada.scena.org appearance of cellist Kaori Yamagami and pianist

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tify to composer Carl Orff’s apparent pro-Nazi sen- ing works by Heinrich, Hasse, Handel and timents during the Second World War. Unlike the Mattheson), and her Pauline Viardot-Garcia, a col- glitz-and-glamour of the mammoth-staged produc- lection of art songs by the 19th century singer and tions that played in Toronto and Montreal earlier this composer. Bayrakdarian’s ESO concert on April month — the Globe and Mail called it “Cirque du 22 and 23—her second appearance here—will fea- Soleil having a run at Gregorian chant”— Pro Coro’s ture arias and scenes from Rossini’s Semiramide, Carmina Burana will present a more concertized Verdi’s Nabucco, Mozart’s , approach by employing a piano quartet, percussion and Donizetti’s . (780-424-1818, and timpani, children’s choir (the Cantilon Chamber www.edmontonsymphony.com) Choir), the appropriate vocal soloists (soprano Bach. ABE’s concert earlier this month has already Sharla Nafziger, alto Mireille Rijavec, tenor John drawn significant attention. It featured an oboe con- Tessier and baritone Michael Meraw), and a chorus certo commissioned from Edmonton composer quite capable of handling the devilish Latin word- The Calgary , who approached the task in the style play. (780-420-1247, www.procoro.ab.ca) of Albinoni. The 16-member ensemble conducted Alberta Scene … and Heard in Ottawa: It is Scene by ESO’s assistant principal oboe Paul Schieman perhaps a bit sobering that the most representative BY KENNA BURIMA will also perform in Ottawa for the April 28-May 10 concert of Alberta artists and composers will be s spring arrives in Calgary, audiences wanting Alberta Scene festival, with the Edmonton-born, held at the National Arts Centre on April 29, cour- Ato reunite themselves with the classical music Los Angeles-based trumpet soloist (and former tesy of a touring Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. scene will find there is much to choose from. Canadian Brass-man), Jens Lindemann. (780-467- The content of the concert, titled Made in Alberta, The Millenium Music Foundation continues to 6531, www.albertabaroque.com) has been heard in Edmonton in various programs present the world’s best musicians in an intimate : In its edgiest and most dis- throughout the fall. Included on the program are chamber music setting with the Brazilian-born gui- placed season due to the year closure of its tradi- works by the ESO’s two former composers-in-res- tar duo, the Assad Brothers, March 30. The con- tional Jubilee Auditorium digs, the Edmonton idence, (composer of the opera cert takes place at 7:30 pm in the Rozsa Centre at Opera concludes the 2004-05 season at the Filumena) and Allan Gilliland, as well as works by the University of Calgary and will feature a tran- Francis Winspear Centre for Music with a concert Allan Gordon Bell, Malcolm Forsyth and Jeffrey scription of three Baroque sonatas by Scarlatti performance of Porgy & Bess. Throughout the cur- McCune. Throughout the three-week festival, other arranged by Sérgio Assad. The brothers will also rent season, opera goers have been offered a mix Alberta classical music artists will appear, including play two Preludes and Fugues by Castelnuovo- of Weill in a refurbished movie house, Lakmé on the cellists Amanda Forsyth, Shauna Rolston and Tedesco, the Pavane pour une infante défunte by Winspear stage, as well as The Emperor of Atlantis David Eggert; pianists Lana Henschell, Heather Ravel and the Tonadilla for two guitars by Rodrigo. in both play and opera at the Citadel. While it has Schmidt, Daniel Moran and Katherine Chi; violinist After intermission, the concert will have a dis- opened up the to some audiences Juliette Kang and Jessica Linnebach; and tinctly Brazilian flavour, with Baião malandro by that might not previously have given opera a renowned trumpet soloist Jens Lindemann in the Gismonti, Choros no. 5, “Alma Brasileira” by Villa- chance, other regular subscribers have clearly aforementioned Alberta Baroque Ensemble con- Lobos, arranged by Sérgio Assad, as well as the taken the year off. (www.edmontonopera.com cert. Still, if you need an at-home ESO concert to Danzas concertantes by Brouwer, Noites Cariocas 780-424-4040) by Bandolim and O Ovo/Bebe by Pascoal. The A two-pack of tradition and controversy: Pro evening will end with Sérgio’s own Suite Brasileira. Coro Canada has been working its way through (www.mmf-ymf.org, 403-283-5388) the memorial choral canon each Good Friday for The Land’s End Chamber Ensemble will perform the past seven years. This year, the work of choice its last concert of the season with a mixed bag of to be sung on March 25 is the Mozart Requiem, works on April 4, in the Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall. with soloists Jolaine Kerley (soprano), Mireille The night will feature a new work for two pianos by Rijavec (alto), Michel Landry (tenor), and Paul Allan Gordon Bell, works by Henryk Górecki, Grindlay (bass). But if a nuance of controversy is Darius Milhaud, and Arnold Schoenberg and the more to your liking, Pro Coro performs Carmina winner of the Land’s End composer’s Competition. (www.landsendensemble.ca, 403-220-6395) On Saturday April 2 the University of Calgary’s Celebrity Series presents the ninth installment of the Special Beethoven Piano Series, with pianist Charles Foreman, playing Sonata No. 7 in D Major, Op. 10, No. 3, Sonata No. 12 in A Flat Major (“Funeral March”), Op. 26, and Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111. (www.ffa.ucalgary.ca, 403-220-4999) Each year more than 20 students working towards their Performance degrees in the attend, see what follows immediately below. Department of Music compete for the chance to Isabel Bayrakdarian and the University of perform a major concerto work with the University Alberta Madrigal Singers: This could be a concert of Calgary Orchestra. This year Edmond Agopian made in heaven. The award-winning 40-voice leads the University Orchestra Friday, April 8 and Mads have just returned from a prestigious Los Saturday April 9 in the Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall. Angeles gig at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Previous winners have gone on to win national and Bayrakdarian is a bit of a double threat with her international awards and to perform throughout Burana on April 24. Lately, some music commenta- Juno-nominated recording Cleopatra (accompa- Canada, the United States and Europe. The evening tors have detected strong Nazi overtones that tes- nied by Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and featur- will feature winners Sherrie Ashworth (soprano), Spring 2005 45 tms3-3_AC p40, 42-50C 2005-03-16 10:56 Page 46

Vancouver Mid- Season Report BY ROBERT JORDAN ancouver’s 2004-5 classical season lurched a Vbit coming out of the gate last fall when two big-name artists cancelled right off the bat. First, bowed out of his solo piano recital for the Vancouver Recital Society on October 12 because of back problems. Then American soprano Deborah Voigt withdrew from ’s first-ever staging of Der Rosenkavalier, a production in which she was to have made her role debut as the Marschallin. Press releases claimed Voigt “was stretched too thin and exhausted” and that “her personal life was unset- On March 25 at the Orpheum Theatre, the Daniel Fung (pianist), Nadia Sparrow (flautist), and tled by the recent hurricanes” in Florida, where she Vancouver Chamber Choir (VCC) tackles Bach’s Tao Yan (violinist), performing works by Donizzeti lives, to such an extent that she was “unable to Mass in B Minor. Conductor Jon Washburn does and Delibes, Chopin, Liberman, and Khachaturian. complete her personal preparations for the role.” not have a way with Bach but still, the professional (www.ffa.ucalgary.ca, 403-220-4999) It was interesting to note, then, that Voigt sang VCC is a polished and skillful group and up to the Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin her first Marschallin at the prestigious Deutsche technical demands of this immense score. Besides, makes his Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) Oper in Berlin three months later. Reviewer Jochen the musical strengths of Bach’s Mass in B Minor debut with an evening of Berlioz and Beethoven, Breiholz raved over the newly-trim Voigt’s fabulous are so awe-inspiring that it is always worth hearing, Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2 in the Jack looks, divine singing and meticulous preparation. and even more so with this dream team of soloists. Singer Concert Hall. Only thirty years old, Nézet- Clearly, it was Vancouver’s loss and Berlin’s gain, Soprano Suzie LeBlanc, alto Anita Krause, tenor Séguin already holds the position of Artistic even though Voigt’s replacement, American sopra- Colin Balzer and bass Daniel Lichti are skilled, dex- Director of the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand no Carol Wilson, was an absolute triumph. terous and experienced interpreters of this sublime Montréal and is Principal Guest Conductor of And so Vancouver’s season surged on, if not tri- music. Backed by the CBC Radio Orchestra, this the Victoria Symphony. Berlioz’s Le Corsaire and umphantly, at least garnering a generous quantity of performance of the Mass in B Minor promises Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony is on the program, superlatives in the local press with few performers intrinsic musical rewards. (www.vancouvercham- as well as Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, going wrong in most reviewers’s eyes. Ironically, berchoir.com) performed by Calgary favourite Michael Kim. the National Arts Centre Orchestra’s reception in With the Vancouver Recital Society, one is (www.cpo-live.com, 403-571-0270) the press was only lukewarm for its Vancouver con- always spoilt for choice. Performing are pianists The CPO draws its season to a close with the cert on November 10, even though touring sym- Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman on March 22 at presentation of two important works Friday, April 22 phony orchestras include Vancouver in their itiner- the Orpheum, soprano Dawn Upshaw and pianist and Saturday, April 23 in the Jack Singer Concert aries about as often as Paul Martin says something Richard Goode on April 12 and finally Isserlis and Hall. The evening includes the thrilling world pre- decisive. “Zukerman’s overall conception of Hough at the Chan Centre on April 17 at 3:00 pm. miere of a brand new work commissioned by the [Brahms’s Symphony No. 1] appeared suspect,” Can’t make all three? Well, if you really must CPO, Andrew Paul MacDonald’s Symphony No. 1 sniffed David Duke in The Vancouver Sun. Duke choose, the refreshing Isserlis and the never less- (The Red Guru). Completing the evening, conductor also queried the orchestra’s current direction, won- than-profound Hough are a safe bet. Besides, the Carlos Miguel Prieto leads the Calgary Philharmonic dering if the aspirations of the orchestra were any novelty of hearing an international calibre cellist in Orchestra, soprano Catherine May, tenor Benoit different from those of its current music director, Vancouver who is not Yo-Yo Ma (Ma is a sublime Boutet, and baritone Peter McGillivray in what is sure Pinchas Zukerman. These were valid questions but artist – he’s just not the only wonderful cellist out to be an exciting performance of Orff’s Carmina Duke elaborated no further, probably because he there) is too enticing to resist. (www.vanrecital.com) Burana. (www.cpo-live.com, 403-571-0270) was too busy reviewing other concerts, of which It has been more than 20 years since Vancouver Though their official season will be over, the there will be many more before the season is over. Opera staged Un Ballo in Maschera. The compa- CPO continues to present concerts throughout the ny’s billed-in-English, sung-in-Italian, non-surtitled summer. One of their most popular along with production of October 1984 left many audience spring’s Mozart in the Mountains is Beethoven in members somewhat hazy as to what was going on. the Badlands held in Drumheller’s awe-inspiring This production, running from April 30 to May 7 at Canadian Badlands Passion Play site. Rosemary the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, will certainly allow for Thomson conducts this second annual outdoor a better comprehension of this curiously underrat- concert Saturday May 28. (www.cpo-live.com, ed Verdi opera. Stage direction is by Stanley M. 403-571-0270) Garner while the company’s resident music direc- Still homeless, the continues its tor, Jonathan Darlington, is in the pit – also worth creative 2005 season with A Kurt Weill, starring mentioning, Vancouver Opera’s surtitles which will Jean Stilwell March 10 to 12, 16, 18, and 19 at the be a valuable comprehension aid to the Italian-chal- Calgary Petroleum Club. This evening includes a lenged in the audience. (www.vanopera.bc.ca) dinner and cabaret featuring The Seven Deadly Here are some of the most promising. All The Little Chamber Music Series That Could’s Sins, considered by many to be Kurt Weill’s mas- except the joint recital by cellist Steven Isserlis (LCMSTC) is not saying much about its season- terpiece among his European scores, plus a variety and pianist Stephen Hough are at 8:00 pm and closing show on May 15, other than it will be of other great cabaret songs. (403-262-7286, tickets can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster performed in the intimate confines of the www.calgaryopera.com). at (604-380-3311). Vancouver East Cultural Centre by three 46 Spring 2005 tms3-3_AC p40, 42-50C 2005-03-16 11:01 Page 47

singers/actors, six musicians and a ghost or two. The show is set in an old time radio studio where The Victoria a group of artists perform a chilling radio drama in the style of the Golden Age of Radio. It is Scene made up of original songs and music, with a BY JOHN DEFAYETTE number of classical and jazz standards thrown in ast month, Victoria had a plethora of musical for good measure. And if you still need convinc- Levents – orchestral concerts, chamber music, ing, know that the LCMSTC has a proven track jazz and opera to celebrate the arrival of an early record of highly original shows laced with intelli- spring and to prolong the festivities of the Chinese gence and wit. (www.littlechamber.org) New Year. Though March brings with it a blizzard of cherry blossoms, there are fewer musical offerings. On March 18 and 19, the Victoria Conservatory of Music has an ‘Opera Studio’ performance featur- ing Riders to the Sea by Ralph Vaughn Williams and The Old Maid and the Thief by . (250-386-5311) Yannick Nézet-Séguin is conducting the Victoria Symphony in a programme of ‘Sacred Music’, well- Spring brings many events to the Victoria area. suited for an Easter concert which will include On March 19 and 20, the Sooke Philharmonic Beethoven-Mahler Quartetto Serioso, Op 95 and Chamber Players & Chorus perform Vivaldi’s pop- Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ. This perform- ular Four Seasons, his Concerto for orchestra in G ance is on March 26 at 2:30 pm at the U. Vic major, and Schubert’s Mass No. 2 in G major D Auditorium. (250-385-6515) 167; Christopher Taber is the violinist, Norman On a different note, the Van Isle Music Society Nelson the conductor. (250-642-2849) has a Hot Jazz Jubilee on April 14-17 with 11 On the same dates in Sidney, a 60-voice chorus groups performing at different venues. (www.victo- present ‘Broadway and Beyond’ at the Charlie ria-hot-jazz.com) To get you warmed up for the White Theatre with pianist Bob LeBlanc, soprano One of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Jubilee, well-known trombonist, composer, conduc- Sue Doman, and artists Kathleen West, Dwayne few forays from the warhorse paddock this season tor, and professor Hugh Fraser, presents the U Vic Gordan, Timothy Kyle and Pam Miller. This pro- comes on May 16 at the Roundhouse Arts & Jazz Ensembles at the U. Vic Centre Farquhar gramme is repeated in Victoria on April 2 and 3. Recreation Centre with True Brit: New Music from Auditorium on March 20 at 8pm. (250-721-8559) (250-474-5525) the Old Country. Music director , May will be busy for the Victoria Symphony and The Sidney Classical Orchestra is celebrating who hails from England himself, has a good ear for its conductor Tania Miller. She leads her musi- 1685 by performing Handel Coronation Anthems, new, well, newish music (Peter Maxwell Davies’ A cians in the performance of Beethoven’s nine Bach Brandenburg Concertos and Scarlatti’s Mirror of Whitening Light dates from 1977), sure to Symphonies with the exception of May 8, when Sonata Suite with the Via Choralis Elizabeth. have a minimum of audience appeal and artistic Bramwell Tovey takes over. All concerts of the Shannon Brown conducts. (250-480-1133) substance. If the idea of hearing a rare Vancouver Beethoven Festival are at the Royal Theatre (250- The Aventa Ensemble, conducted by Bill performance of Judith Weir’s Piano Concerto or 385-6515). Linwood, presents a program featuring the music of James MacMillan’s … as others see us … or even With more than 5,000 young performing artists Ligeti on May 20 at the Philip T. Young Recital Hall. Gavin Bryars’ The North Shore is alluring, give this having enrolled in piano, choral, strings, ethnic (250-592-9713). On June 4, the Linden Singers concert a try. (www.vancouversymphony.ca) dance, studio dance, speech and dramatic arts and present their 25th Anniversary Concert which will CBC Radio is hosting a Gala Operatic Tribute to school dance, there will be no lack of performances include Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Schubert’s two of Canada's most famous French Canadian during the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival Part songs, as well as favourite spirituals. (250- opera stars of the international opera world- taking place March 30 to May 11. Particularly pleas- 592-2596). and Leopold Simoneau. Some of urable will be the vocal finals and RoseBowl held on Also on June 4, the Sooke Philharmonic per- Canada's finest young singers have been assem- April 30 at 7:30pm. Another interesting perform- forms Bernstein’s Candide Overture, Gershwin’s bled for the occasion – soprano Lyne Fortin, mezzo ance is the Roberto & Mary Wood Scholarship con- Rhapsody in Blue (Linda Gould, piano), Barber’s Allyson McHardy, tenor Philippe Castagner and cert which will be held on May 1 at 1:30pm. Both Adagio for strings, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, baritone Jean-François Lapointe. The concert is at concerts are at the University of Victoria Philip T. and the world premiere of Cheryl Stanz Symphony the Chan Centre April 10 at 3 pm. Young Recital Hall. (250-386-9223) No. 1, Pilgrimage. (250-642-5760) p

Spring 2005 47 tms3-3_AC p40, 42-50B 2005-03-14 10:01 Page 48

Jazz Crossing Borders (The Canadian presence on the

John MARC CHÉNARD Stetch international scene)

s the neighbouring country to the birth- pianist Paul Bley (1932-) and twin trumpeters in 1992. In that same decade, he landed a spot place of jazz, Canada was well exposed to Maynard Ferguson (1928-) and Kenny Wheeler with New York’s first-call mainstream jazz drum- Athis music as Toronto journalist Mark Miller (1930-). Others like guitarist Peter Leitch (1944), mer Victor Lewis, which was followed by a stint is well documents in his fascinating book Such former Goodman trombonist Murray MacEachern, with John Scofield. In between, he would put his Melodious Racket, the Lost History of Jazz in (1915-1982), pianist Kenny Kersey (1917-1983) own groups together, one of these being his Canada, 1914-1949 (Mercury Press, Toronto, or the swing tenorman Georgie Auld (1919- quirky electric quintet the Bloomdaddies. 1997). Although the migration of American musi- 1991) are jazzmen worth including. After studies in the States and subsequent cians across our borders has been steady for periods of residence in Europe, trumpeter Ingrid decades now, there has been a conspicuous lack The new breed Jensen (1966-) has now established a solid of “free trade” with regard to the music. At least As modest as the above list appears, it has been foothold in the ever competitive New York scene. until recently. By and large, the spectre of protec- bolstered considerably over the last 20 years. A winner of the prestigious Carmine Caruso tionism down South has been a major stumbling While some may view her with a jaundiced eye, trumpet competition, she has proved her mettle block for our musicians, what with its exhorbitant- few can deny the fact that Diana Krall (1964) has with Maria Schneider’s Orchestra. Jensen now ly priced work permits and red tape. achieved a degree of notoriety at least compara- concentrates on her own musical projects, a Nonetheless, these circumstances have not ble to Peterson’s. But there are many other New- number of them with her saxophonist sister, and deterred some of our talents from settling there York based Canadian expats. Of these, pianist Montreal resident Christine (1970-). and, in some cases, earning much acclaim both Renée Rosnes (1962-) qualifies as the first of her If wind players are increasingly making their stateside and internationally. generation to make it in the Apple. Like Krall, she mark, pianists continue to be the most significant For a long time, the list of Canadian jazzmen too was raised in British-Columbia and started Canadian contribution to the jazz world, in the tra- who made it to such a level was an all too short dition exemplified by Peterson and Bley. Leading one. The average jazz fan can readily identify the pack in the younger generation is D.D. Montreal-born Oscar Peterson (1925-) as the Jackson (1967-), an Ottawa native who made his most notable Canadian contribution to the jazz breakthrough over a decade ago in company of world, while more knowledgeable ones may add the ubiquitous tenorman David Murray. A musi- cian best known for his florid technique, he is an insightful writer, most notably in his periodical Downbeat columns. After a short stint with a major, he is back to his orginal label, Montreal’s Justin Time Records, his latest recording being “New York Suite”, a post 9-11 tribute work for a larger ensemble including Americans and Canadians such as Montreal trombonist Tom Walsh and Vancouver cellist Peggy Lee. As for John Stetch (1966-) and Jon Ballan- tyne (1963-), natives of Alberta and Saskatche- wan respectively, both are products of McGill University’s jazz program and one-time winners of that city’s annual jazz competition. Each headed her musical career there. By 1983, she had made south in pursuit of the big times. While the former the move and five years later, she landed a deal has managed to maintain his profile thanks to the with Blue Note Records, an association that support of Justin Records (see review on next enhanced her profile throughout the next decade. page), the latter (who also benefited from that In so doing, she would pave the way for a host of label’s support in the past) has been rather elu- Western Canadian talents. sive in recent times. In contrast, Andy Milne Among these, tenor saxist and bass clarinetist (1967-) found his niche with altoist Steve Michael Blake (1964-) made a similar West-East Coleman in his Five Elements band, a prelude to move in the late 1980s. Mixing in with a crowd of his jazz-meets-rap project, a.k.a. the “Cosmic like-minded contemporary jazzers, he would be Dap Theory”. an integral part of fellow saxophonist John Lurie’s “Lounge Lizards” throughout the last decade. By On the European Front 1997, he started moving out on his own, his first Generally overlooked in surveys of Canadian jazz album (“Kingdom of Champas”), the result of a musicians abroad are those who, like Wheeler trip to Vietnam. He has of late begun a trans- headed to Europe. Since moving to England in Atlantic collaboration with Danish musicians in a 1952, he is celebrated as a brassman with a dis- band known as “Blake Tartare”. Related only by tinctive voice, a composer of considerable influ- name, the upstart tenorman Seamus Blake ence on musicians back home, and a seasoned (1970-) who headed East in 1986, where he player at ease in traditional and experimental set- emerged as one of the prize students at Boston’s tings alike. Largely forgotten nowadays is saxo- Berklee College, and finished in the runner-up phonist John Warren (1932-), who also moved to spot at the annual Thelonious Monk competition Continued on page 49 48 the music scene Spring 2005 tms3-3_AC p40, 42-50B 2005-03-14 12:58 Page 49

Jazz Off the record MARC CHÉNARD PAUL SERRALHEIRO

Normand Guilbeault and Terry Clarke on drums—is top-notch with sen- John Stetch: Exponentially Monk Ensemble: Mingus Erectus sitive renderings of the melodies and polished Justin Time Just 206-2 Ambiances magnétiques solos. Conversely, there is a lack of intensity in ★★★★✩✩ AM134 CD spots, most notably in the theme statement of Is there a jazz musician, next ★★★★✩✩ “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”. Perhaps the space to Duke Ellington of course, used for this live recording, Toronto’s noted Top whose work has been more of the Senator, has something to do with it, but recorded than that of Dave Young Quintet: the performance clearly conveys only one aspect Thelonious Monk? Hard to Mainly Mingus of the composer’s style, i.e. the cool, melodic ‘think of one’, which hap- Justin Time JTR 8512 one. Even if a tune like “Self-Portrait in Three pens to be one of the thir- ★★★✩✩✩ Colours” comes off well, the rowdier vehicles teen tracks (but no “Friday As the noted Mingus schol- don’t quite make it. While the leader and his the 13th” on this set), cut by the native ar Andrew Homzy mentions drummer provide a good anchor, it is the horn- Edmontonian keyboardist turned New Yorker, in the liner blurb to the first players who provide some personality in their John Stetch. Clocking in at a shade over 55 min- of these recordings under solos, albeit much more restrained than in the utes, this all-solo side is a carefully chosen collec- review, the Normand Guil- previous recording. Young’s quintet sounds tion of the masters’ most beloved opuses, “Round beault Ensemble is able to respectful of the letter of the late bassist’s law, Midnight”, “Blue Monk” and “Evidence” topping play Mingus’s music con- although it doesn’t rise to the heights of the that list. But more obscure gems like the rarely vincingly because the Maestro`s rebellious spirit. PS heard “Gallop’s Gallop”, the waltz-time ballad Montreal musicians make it their own. With a “Ugly Beauty”, the minimalistic “Green Chimneys” slightly different instrumentation than the Mingus Kate Hammett Vaughan Quintet: Eclipse and the jaunty opener “Bright Mississipi”, surging usual, the band plays with the boisterous energy Maximum Jazz Max 14782 forth with its perpetual motion and quasi surrealis- and the lyricism that characterize the bassist-com- ★★★✩✩✩ tic stride playing, also make it on. Stetch, it must poser’s original creations. Furthermore, the live Originally from Nova be noted, has done more than simply take a performance captured at a Montreal club venue Scotia, but a Vancouver bunch of tunes he likes and play them; he has gives the music an immediacy that is essential to resident for 25 years, worked out his renditions beforehand, so much so the Mingus style. The up-tempo tunes are the vocalist Kate Hammett that each cut sounds like a thoroughly composed more successful, wherein the soloists shine over Vaughan has followed a arrangement. While he can demonstrate consid- a driving . Ivanhoe Jolicoeur, with singular musical path, one erable keyboard prowess, it never seems self- appropriately hard bop trumpet playing full of that cross-cuts through the serving or overly indulgent. Stetch makes use spark and ideas, turns in some sizzling work. mainstream of jazz right throughout of a wide range of so-called extended Musique actuelle icon Jean Derome on saxo- into the more open forms of improvised music. techniques, like prepared piano on “Well you phone and flute, and Mathieu Bélanger on clar- When she is not doing the latter, as with the Now Needn’t” and “Think”, with some strummed strings inets, weaving freely over the idiosyncratic vehi- Orchestra or in duo with guitarist Ron Samworth, at the finale of “Ask me Now”. Musicians will also cles, are no slouches either. “Peggy’s Blue she tackles the great American songbook of ven- appreciate the pianist’s insights into technical Skylight” isn’t quite as successful as the other erable tunesmiths like Cole Porter, Kurt Weill or points which he shares in the liner notes, always tunes; the energy flags and it comes off as too Richard Rogers. For this live date recorded in with a good dose of dry wit. In fact, it is the pedantic a reading, much in contrast to the soul- April 2003, she is backed by a reliable quartet of humour that really shines through in these takes ful abandon of “Pithecanthropus Erectus”, and “All local confreres: Chris Gestrin, piano, Jim Pinchin, on Monk, a man whose enigmatic persona often the Things You Could be by Now if Sigmund tenor sax, André Lachance, bass, and Tom overshadowed his mischievous streak. In any Freud’s Wife Was Your Mother”. The mid-tempo Foster, drums. Anchored by standards like “All or event, if this side doesn’t make you smile at least “Fables of Faubus”, with an update on political Nothing at All”, “Falling in Love with Love” (two once, then the joke is on you. MC idiocy via new with references to George items by Rogers) and the Weillian “This is New”, Dubya and his war on Iraq, is slightly better, but this session includes less obvious choices, Crossing Borders, from page 48 “MDMD”, a tune penned by Derome in the style of notably the moody Mingus opus which gives the the British Isles from his hometown of Montreal, a Mingus dirge and embroidered with a long solo title to this disc and a pair of more off-beat choic- but spent his career working as an arranger. by Normand Guilbeault, is convincing and rele- es in ’s “For the Roses” and “Cold In neighbouring France, the connections with vant. Yet the band is more engaging in the faster Blue Steel (and) Sweet Fire”. Because of Quebec are many and of the expatriates there, tunes, like the closer, “Moaning,” with its signature Vaughan’s work in freer musical settings, she has saxophonist François Théberge has achieved the baritone riff. more of a “team player” approach than that of most prominence by directing the jazz studies Toronto bassist Dave Young’s Quintet pays the traditional diva. She gives her sidemen a lot of program at the Paris Conservatory, while main- tribute to the master with another set of tunes room, something to be expected in a live perform- taining his ties to home by recording for the which are played in a more understated way. Of ance; the pianist in particular is heavily featured Montreal label Effendi Records. the seven tracks, only the “All the Things…” vari- as a soloist, but there are spots for the bassist The Canadian contribution to the jazz world has ant is heard here, but more importantly, the band and saxist, the latter putting his best foot forward been more significant since the 1980s than in all offers a milder reading of Mingus’s music. Of on the lilting and somewhat whimsical of the previous decades combined. But outside of these, they tackle the often-covered “Goodbye “Tatamagouche Tango”. Mainstream jazz fans will our country, being Canadian has little bearing in Pork Pie Hat”, “Nostalgia in Times Square”, and like the relaxed grooves and the soothing voice of the jazz world, unlike being American or, more sig- “Self-Portrait in Three Colours” along with the singer, who thankfully keeps the scat cliches nificantly, a New-Yorker. Without pretending to be “Oscar Pettiford” and “Wham Bam Thank You to a bare minimum. And speaking of “bare”, is it exhautive, this survey gives but a glimpse of how Ma’am”, rounding out the program with two origi- really necessary to undress oneself to sell Canadian jazz musicians have made their way onto nals by the leader. The playing by Young and his records these days, however tasteful or arty the the international stage, thus proving that our coun- cohorts—Gary Williamson on piano, Kevin image may be? MC try is rife with exportable talent. p Turcotte on trumpet, Perry White on saxophones Spring 2005 49 tms3-3_AC p40, 42-50 2005-03-12 12:11 Page 50

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Trudy Desmond David Clayton-Thomas “A Dream Come True: The JustinJustin TimeTime “Aurora” forfor DiversityDiversity Best Of Trudy Desmond” The latest releases from Justin Time Records offer a bit of something for everyone. On Aurora, former Blood, Sweat & Tears vocal legend David Clayton-Thomas does a turn at jazz standards, blues and self-penned tunes; on Mainly Mingus, bass great Dave Young (in quintet) pays tribute to his idol Charles Mingus and Quadro Nuevo return (after the highly succesful Canzone Della Strada) with their latest, Mocca Flor. Also new on Justin Time are two retrospective releases that feature music from Quadro Nuevo Dave Young Quintet Russ Freeman the fine jazz vocal inter- “Mocca Flor” “Mainly Mingus” “Safe At Home” preter Trudy Desmond and 20th Century piano mainstay Russ Freeman. All in all, a diverse offering that we’re proud of, and certain that you’ll enjoy.

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