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CD Review | Tribute to François Dompierre (ATMA Classique, 2023)

By Justin Bernard on 16 August 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Movie soundtrack music, Piano, Quebec Music

Hommage à François Dompierre Louise Bessette, piano; François Dompierre, composer and piano ATMA Classique, 2023 We rarely hear Louise Bessette in this light. To celebrate François Dompierre’s 80th birthday, the pianist offers us arrangements of film music, and other selections, all of which played a role in establishing the reputation of the Quebec composer, himself a pianist. “Most are piano reductions (…); others are adaptations of radio improvisations. Finally, a few were written especially for her, and are dedicated to her,” explains the composer, in the album’s booklet. These include Entre mer et chanterelles, written in honour of his former…

CD Review | Montréal Musica (Centrediscs, 2023)

By Pietro Freiburger on 29 May 2023 Canadian Music, CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary, Piano, Scena Jazz

Montréal Musica Marc Bourdeau, piano Centrediscs, 2023 Marc Bourdeau’s new project features piano music by Montreal composers. The innovative project, conceived during the pandemic, includes a CD containing 22 tracks and eight short films and music videos. Among the composers, there are names of yesterday and today who’ve made Montreal famous in the music world: piano star Marc-André Hamelin; “Canadian Mozart” André Mathieu; jazz monument Oscar Peterson, composers and pedagogues François Morel, Claude Champagne, Jacques Hétu, John Rea and Denis Gougeon; and organist Rachel Laurin. The CD, whose repertoire spans a century (1918-2017), offers the image of a city with…

Isidore String Quartet

Festival Picks

By Eva Stone-Barney on 26 May 2023 Baroque and Early, Canadian Music, Chamber Music, Choral, Classical, Classical Music, Contemporary, Opera, Orchestral, Piano, Strings, Vocal

Author : (Eva Stone-Barney)

MONTREAL/QUEBEC Centre Culturel de Pointe-Claire In an effort to make cultural programming accessible to its residents, and breathe life into public park spaces, the Centre Culturel de Pointe-Claire will present a series of free concerts as part of their Summer Evenings in the Parks / Summer Beats in the Parks Festival. Running from June 28 to Aug. 16, the festival will consist of 10 concerts in parks across the city. Starting at Stewart Park on June 28, audiences are invited to a concert of world music titled Paul Kunigis: Yallah. Performances of blues, Latin jazz, world jazz, and Brazilian percussion…

The New Brunswick Summer Music Festival: 30 Years in Fredricton

By Eva Stone-Barney on 26 May 2023 Canadian Music, Chamber Music, Classical, Classical Music

Author : (Eva Stone-Barney)

This year marks 30 years of the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival. Founded in 1994 by Richard Hornsby, clarinetist and Director of Music at the University of New Brunswick, and pianist Robert Kortgaard, the program has expanded substantially over the years, evolving from a three-day chamber-music event to a two-week music festival, complete with educational and mentorship programming for emerging musicians, community outreach activities, and a wide variety of concerts. Offering what Hornsby describes as a “combination of events in various locations around Fredericton,” the festival ensures that “anyone can experience and enjoy live classical chamber music.” “When we started,”…

Photo: Jerry Toth – Alto Saxophone; Roy Smith – Tenor Saxophone; Eddie Karam – Baritone Saxophone; Murray Lauder – Bass; Phil Nimmons -- Clarinet; Ed Bickert – Guitar; Erich Traugott – Trumpet (information courtesy Mike Cado) Broadcast Date: January 23, 1963 Photography Date: November 14, 1962.

Phil Nimmons – 100 Years in the Making

By Marc Chénard on 26 May 2023 Canadian Music, Mainstream Jazz, Toronto

This page also available in / Cette page également disponible en français The field of jazz has its share of stories about musicians who died young, but there are also those who lead long and productive lives, some fortunate enough to reach a ripe old age and receive due praise for their accomplishments. In this era of smoke-free clubs, more jazz figures than ever are pushing well into their 90s, a handful of them even shattering the centenary mark. In case you wondered, the oldest living jazzman today is Ray Anthony, the last of the swing era big-band leaders, now…

CD Review | Durme, Durme: Four Ladino Folk Songs (Leaf music, 2023)

By Zenith Wolfe on 29 March 2023 Art Song, Canadian Music, CD and Book Reviews, Piano

Durme, Durme: Four Ladino Folk Songs Maureen Batt, soprano; Tara Scott, piano Leaf Music, 2023 With only four short compositions inspired by prayers, poems, and lullabies, composer Elisha Denburg doesn’t have much room to establish the themes of the Judeo-Spanish folk songs. Luckily, he uses time to its fullest, enlisting soprano Maureen Batt and pianist Tara Scott to convey a wide range of raw emotions by reducing vocals and piano to their bare essentials. Batt demonstrates extreme flexibility through her limited performances, switching from solemn to jolly to confident without a second thought. She accommodates this wide range of feelings…

CD Review | Theme: Variation (Leaf music, 2023)

By Zenith Wolfe on 28 March 2023 Baroque and Early, Canadian Music, CD and Book Reviews, Classical, Piano

Theme: Variation David Rogosin, piano Leaf Music, 2023 Theme: Variation shouldn’t be taken casually—the solo piano album is a thought-provoking, conceptual experiment that deserves many rounds of active listening. David Rogosin begins Orlando Gibbons’s The Italian Ground, followed by Mein Junges Leben Hat Ein End and Est-ce Mars, both composed by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. These compositions start slow and quiet before developing into fast, loud performances, demonstrating how variation in tempo and volume impact tone. This is a grace period that eases the listener into Rogosin’s concept of “variation.” He soon introduces Chopin’s Berceuse, Op. 57 to illustrate how a…

CD Review | I and Thou (Leaf music, 2023)

By Zenith Wolfe on 27 March 2023 Canadian Music, CD and Book Reviews, Strings

I and Thou VC2 Cello Duo: Amahl Arulanandam, Bryan Holt, Paul Widner and Andrea Stewart, cello; Ben Reimer, drums; Stephanie Chua, piano Leaf Music, 2023 VC2 Cello Duo’s new album, I and Thou, is not for the faint of ear. The Violet Hour and Heist 2 give listeners a brief introduction to the cellists’ performance style on the album: busy and chaotic. Amahl Arulanandam and Bryan Holt highlight how they clash and co-operate as musicians in a joint performance that is more tense and disturbing than the sum of its parts. This is the strained nature of human relationships, the…

Airat Ichmouratov (à droite) et Bertrand Laverdure (à gauche). Photo: Rico Michel

Festival Classica: The Man Who Laughs, opera by Airat Ichmouratov and Bertrand Laverdure

By Charles Angers on 25 March 2023 Canadian Music, Interviews, Opera

In 2019, Russian-Canadian composer Airat Ichmouratov teamed up with librettist, poet and writer Bertrand Laverdure to bring to life the favourite novel of his youth: The Man Who Laughs, based on the timeless tale of legendary playwright Victor Hugo. For both men, this is their first foray into opera, and for Ichmouratov, this will be his 75th opus. Ichmouratov’s love and obsession for the novel began at the age of 16 after his brother had gifted him a copy. “I was immediately captivated by the story of love and betrayal,” said Ichmouratov. Laverdure added: “Working on an unadaptable 800-page novel…

Festival Classica Goes Opera

By Justin Bernard on 25 March 2023 Canadian Music, Interviews, Opera

The history of opera in Quebec begins a new chapter this year with the arrival of Nouvel Opéra Métropolitain (NOM). In its upcoming 13th edition, Festival Classica paves the way for the future by introducing a most promising and ambitious component in its program devoted to this genre, with no less than three original productions—two of which are world premières: L’Homme qui rit (2023), L’adorable Belboul (1874) and Miguela (1891). New opera, new venue The festival team and its joint artistic and managing director Marc Boucher have worked out an agreement unlike any other with the venue, the Salle Claude-Champagne.…

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