CD and Book Reviews - my/maSCENA

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…

Lebrecht Weekly | Grazyna Bacewicz: Piano concertos &c (Ondine)

By Norman Lebrecht on 11 August 2023 CD and Book Reviews

Is there a more elusive composer in the whole of the 20th century than Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)? Bacewicz is usually designated a Polish composer but her Lithuanian father left the family after his state won independence in 1918. Her brother, Vytautus Bacevičius, was a composer in New York. Grazyna, landing a well-paid job as concertmaster of the national radio orchestra, shuttled between Warsaw and Lodz. She is Polish, then, by circumstance; also, by marriage and child. But her sound does not fit somehow in the Polish tapestry of Szymanowski, Lutoslawski, Panufnik and Penderecki. She is an outsider, and not by reasons…

Lebrecht Weekly | Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn: Choral and vocal works (Pentatone/First Hand Records)

By Norman Lebrecht on 4 August 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Lebrecht Weekly

It’s not often one gets a chance to compare two composers who are brother and sister. In fact, apart from the Mendelssohns, there is hardly another instance except Mozart and his inauspicious sister, Nannerl. In the Mendelssohn family, Fanny was the first to show talent, only to be silenced by her father once young Felix displayed a boyish genius that many likened to Mozart’s. Fanny went off, got married, acted as family conscience and shocked Felix by taking up composing again in her thirties. The works on these two albums are disparate in tone and intent. Felix’s psalms, sung by…

François Bourassa

Post Festival Record Roundup

By Marc Chénard on 1 August 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Scena Jazz

The Nimmons Tribute — Vol. 1 To the Nth / Vol. 2 Generational — Artist Produced Composer and educator Phil Nimmons, featured as the cover story of the previous issue, was celebrated for his centenary at the Toronto Jazz Festival on July 2, his music heard outdoors in spite of a steady drizzle. For those who did not make it, there are a pair of hour-long studio recordings of the pieces played on that occasion and much more to listen to, the first disc issued three years ago, its follow-up launched at the show. Given the dedicatee’s prolific output over his long…

CD Review | Art Choral Vol. 4 Classique (Atma Classique, 2023)

By Kristen Whittle on 31 July 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Classical, Classical Music

Art Choral Vol. 4 Classique Ensemble Artchoral (conducted by Matthias Maute) Atma Classique, 2023 This album is the fourth release by Ensemble Artchoral, previously known as Ensemble vocal Arts-Québec, focusing on composers and music from the early 18th-century. In their “Classique” volume, Ensemble Artchoral provides stunning renditions of early classical-era liturgical music. The album marries choral music and the nuances of the 18th- century German enlightenment in a modern way, particularly with the addition of singing Gottlob Benedict Bierey’s “Kyrie for four voices’’ over the first movement of Beethoven’s infamous Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No.…

CD Review | Hommage à François Dompierre (Atma Classique, 2023)

By Justin Bernard on 31 July 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Classical

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 | O Sun O Moon (True North Records, 2023)

By Zenith Wolfe on 31 July 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary, Folk, Strings, Vocal

O Sun O Moon Bruce Cockburn, vocals and guitar True North Records, 2023 O Sun O Moon marks Bruce Cockburn’s 37th album, an incredible feat for any musician. While some of the songs on this new release serve as a reminder of why Cockburn is considered among Canadian folk-music greats, others suggest he is aiming for quantity over quality. The guitar in O Sun O Moon is naturally where his writing shines most. Cockburn turns even the simplest chord progressions and rhythms into wonderfully transfixing experiences, most noticeable in Haiku – Instrumental. He pairs his distinct lyricism with varied vocal…

CD Review | Moongate (Self-published, 2023)

By Zenith Wolfe on 31 July 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Ottawa, Romantic, Strings

Moongate Victor Anastacio, guitar; Philippe Charbonneau, bass; Colleen Leslie, flute Self-published, 2023 Moongate, the debut album by composer and acoustic guitarist Victor Anastacio, is a hidden gem. The work sounds deceptively simple at first. The titular Moongate, as well as Amethyst Sky and Northern Lights, are easy to digest: light and peaceful, with an emphasis on the play between Leslie’s disjunct flute melodies and Anastacio’s fingerpicking. Gathering Wind’s more staccato performance breathes energy into the album before the deep, slow notes of Charbonneau’s bass rein in the two treble instruments for a few compositions, creating a more melancholic experience. The…

CD Review | A Dream of Colour (Self-published, 2023)

By Kristen Whittle on 31 July 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Strings, Visual Arts

A Dream of Colour Emma Rush, guitar Self-published, 2023 Emma Rush is a renowned Canadian classical guitarist who has spent the past two years living between Halifax, N.S., and Hamilton, Ont. Her newest album, A Dream of Colour, includes the works of seven Canadian composers that Rush commissioned, with inspiration for each piece stemming from William Blair Bruce’s impressionist paintings. The album showcases the different identities and styles of the various composers, uniting them through the imagery of Bruce’s paintings. This unifying theme gives the album cohesion, despite the composers having complete artistic freedom over their compositions and the paintings…

CD Review | Weyn Allah (Self-published, 2023)

By Zenith Wolfe on 31 July 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary, Vocal, World Music

Weyn Allah Al Qahwa ensemble Self-published, 2023 Their first album explored the traditional songs of the Middle East; the second, Egypt, and the third, South Africa. Al Qahwa’s latest addition to their discography, Weyn Allah, is a much more ambitious venture: uniting humanity through original world music. No two songs are alike on this album. The titular Weyn Allah (Where is God) addresses social issues of inequity and racism to the tune of a qanun, saxophone and busy backing choral group singing in Arabic and English. Peace and Safety (Salma Ya Salama) incorporates French lyrics that promote acceptance, and Humanity…

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