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CD Review | Paris 1790: The Music of Monsieur Vidal (Analekta, 2023)

By Zenith Wolfe on 6 October 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Romantic, Strings

Paris 1790: The Music of Monsieur Vidal Pascal Valois and Jean-Guy Côté, baroque guitar; Jacques-André Houle and Olivier Brault, violin; Amanda Keesmaat, cello; Jessy Dubé, alto Analekta, September 2023 Seeing a new release by Pascal Valois is enough to make a classical-guitar fan giddy; his elegant fingerpicking is a beautiful sound to behold. Paris 1790, featuring compositions by Monsieur Vidal —a baroque composer with no known last name—offers great additions to the modern maestro’s solo repertoire, and proves him to be a highly skilled accompanist. The album opens with the first guitar concerto ever composed, an immediate burst of energy.…

CD Review | Inuktitut (Bonsound, 2023)

By Hassan Laghcha on 6 October 2023 Canadian Music, CD and Book Reviews, Indigenous

Inuktitut Elisapie Bonsound, September 2023 Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, Going to California by Led Zeppelin, Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones, The Unforgiven by Metallica, I Want to Break Free by Queen, Heart of Glass by Blondie, Born to Be Alive by Patrick Hernandez. These are just some of the classics reinterpreted in Inuktitut by Quebec native artist Elisapie on her new album, produced by Joe Grass. The 10 chosen hits, translated and adapted into Elisapie’s mother tongue, evoke emotionally-charged moments from her youth in her community of Salluit, Nunavik. The result is a highly personalized artistic…

CD Review | Wanderlust (Leaf Music, 2023)

By Kristen Whittle on 6 October 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Strings, Winds

Wanderlust Lara Deutsch, flute; Adam Cicchillitti, guitar Leaf Music, August 2023 Flutist Lara Deutsch and guitarist Adam Cicchillitti bring travel to life in Wanderlust. The concept for the album originated during the pandemic, when travel was virtually impossible. The duo tactfully uses music’s ability to transport listeners, embarking on a journey through sound. The album opens with Jason Noble’s “Folk Suite, ” in which each movement features extended techniques, performed by flute and guitar, to emulate a different part of the world. The third movement, “Ceilidh,” which is meant to emulate the joy and business of a Newfoundland kitchen party,…

CD Review | Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces (Reference Recordings, 2023)

By Paul E. Robinson on 6 October 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Orchestral

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Manfred Honeck, conductor Reference Recordings There are a great many pundits in the music world who are convinced that Manfred Honeck will succeed Riccardo Muti as conductor of the Chicago Symphony. Music historians will recall that Fritz Reiner, one of Honeck’s predecessors in Pittsburgh, went on to head the Chicago Symphony and make many recordings that remain classics to this day. But why would Honeck want to leave Pittsburgh? As demonstrated by the strength of this new recording, and numerous others that have preceded it, Honeck is already leading…

Concert Review | Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s splendid modernization of baroque music

By Kristen Whittle on 27 September 2023 Baroque and Early, CD and Book Reviews, Concert Reviews, Contemporary, Dance, Toronto

The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir opened their 2023/24 season with “In Time,” a program that combined baroque music and contemporary dance. The choir collaborated with dancers from Compagnie de la Citadelle to create an amalgamation of old and new that was both captivating and eye-catching. Dance was incorporated into Bach’s Christ lag in Todesbanden (Christ lays in the snares of Death) and Handel’s Dixit Dominus. Considering the popularity of dance in the baroque period, it is not surprising that this music would be well-suited to accompanying dance. The Bach featured a solo dancer that acted out the German text in a…

CD Review | Debussy: C’est l’extase/La Mer (Alpha, 2023)

By Pietro Freiburger on 1 September 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Orchestral

Debussy: C’est l’extase/La Mer Vannina Santoni, soprano; Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Mikko Franck, conductor Alpha, 2023 Soprano Vannina Santoni joins Mikko Franck and the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra for an album dedicated to the works of Debussy. One of the recording’s most notable characteristics is its exceptionally high quality, which emphasizes the truly remarkable timbre of the orchestra. The album opens with C’est l’extase, a set of songs written on texts by Verlaine, presented here in Robin Holloway’s arrangement for soprano and orchestra. The work, originally written for soprano and piano, was commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra…

CD Review | Iridescence (Leaf Music, 2023)

By Kristen Whittle on 1 September 2023 CD and Book Reviews

Iridescence Frédéric Lambert, viola; Ali Kian Yazdanfar, double bass Leaf Music, June 2023 Violist Frédéric Lambert and bassist Ali Kian Yazdanfar aimed to create an album that showcases the instruments often left “in the shadows of the violin and cello.” Iridescence thus consists of new music suited to their unique instrumentation. The opening track, “The Fisherstreet Duo,” by Evan Chambers, is in two movements. The first movement is a lament for a past teacher, while the second is a slow, nautical Irish jig. While this thematic pairing may sound unusual, the music that brings it to life perfectly mirrors the…

New Releases (September 2023)

By Wah Keung Chan on 1 September 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Opera, Piano, World Music

This section is an advertising supplement. To announce here, contact [email protected]. Kevin Lau: Under a Veil of Stars Kevin Lau Rachel Mercer, cello; Scott St. John, violin; Angela Park, piano Leaf Music LM273; release date Sept. 15, 2023 Kevin Lau: Under A Veil of Stars invites you to explore the spectrum of human emotions and experiences. Across nine captivating tracks, each brimming with its own distinct mood and theme, Kevin Lau’s composition invites you to interpret their profound meaning through the prism of your own unique perspective. This album was recorded in a studio at Western University in London, Ont.,…

CD Review | Butterfly Lovers (Sony Classical, 2023)

By Paul E. Robinson on 1 September 2023 CD and Book Reviews, World Music

Butterfly Lovers Joshua Bell, violin; Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Tsung Yeh, conductor Sony Classical, June 2023 The Butterfly Lovers is an ancient Chinese legend dating from about the 4th century AD. The story tells of an ill-fated love affair that concludes with the lovers joined together for eternity, as butterflies. Chen Gang and He Zhanhao wrote a violin concerto on this subject in 1958, based on Chinese folk songs using the Pentatonic scale, which immediately became a popular hit. The original version is written for soloist and orchestra, both playing Western instruments. In this new version, Joshua Bell is accompanied by…

CD Review | Tendres Échos (Atma Classique, 2023)

By Kristen Whittle on 1 September 2023 Baroque and Early, CD and Book Reviews

Tendres Échos Anne Thivierge, flute; Mélisande Corriveau, viola da gamba; Eric Milnes, harpsichord Atma Classique, August 2023 In this collection of French baroque flute works, baroque flute specialist Anne Thivierge, multi-instrumentalist Mélisande Corriveau (here playing viola da gamba), and harpsichordist Eric Milnes join forces to present canonical French baroque flute pieces, using historically informed performance techniques and instruments. Thivierge’s tone is sweet and fluid; she expertly showcases the difference between the 17th-century German flute and the Boehm model used beginning in the Romantic era. Her musicality and inflection is extremely well-suited to the dance styles of many of the sonata’s…

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