Contemporary - my/maSCENA

Lebrecht Weekly: George Martin: Film scores and orchestral music

By Norman Lebrecht on 27 October 2017 CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary, Lebrecht Weekly

George Martin: Film scores and orchestral music (Atlas Realisations/Pias Classics) How good a musician was the Beatles’ producer? I talked to George Martin three or four times and, while I found him very likeable, was unimpressed by his musical curiosity. Like many other producers I knew at Abbey Road, he was a purposeful fixer who knew what needed to be done to make a track work and which of London’s hundreds of freelancers he had to call in to patch up a session that, somehow, lacked the finishing touch. String quartet for ‘Yesterday’, piccolo trumpet for ‘Penny Lane’, George Martin…

Lebrecht Weekly – Leo Weiner: Five Divertimentos (Chandos)

By Norman Lebrecht on 21 October 2017 CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary, Lebrecht Weekly, Orchestral

Leo Weiner: Five Divertimentos (Chandos) It was George Solti who first mentioned Weiner to me as his most sympathetic teacher in Budapest, an astute encourager of musical temperament. Solti returned to Weiner in what would be the last recording of his life, an affectionate account of the 1906 f-minor Serenade, perhaps Weiner’s trademark work though scarcely known beyond Hungarian borders. This new account by Neeme Järvi and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra is strikingly fresh and virtuosic – just wallow in that sumptuous third-movement clarinet – less relaxed than Solti’s and altogether more together. The rhythms might sound a shade…

Evangelista Legacy

By Adrian Rodriguez on 10 October 2017 Contemporary

Evangelista’s sons didn’t fall far from the tree, as both are actively involved in Montreal’s music scene. Gabriel, his elder son, is a sort of musical chameleon: his influences are jazz, Gamelan, classical and salsa. “I describe myself in this order: composer, arranger, musical director and performer,” he says in a serious tone. “My background includes classical music, jazz, Balinese Gamelan, salsa and a little bit of flamenco.” He cites the Bali X album as one of the initiatives of which he is the most proud. “Giri Kedaton [the Gamelan ensemble that had its residence in University of Montreal] and…

Photo: Marc Bourgeois

José Evangelista – Composer in Constant Evolution

By Adrian Rodriguez on 10 October 2017 Contemporary, Obituaries

José Evangelista is a composer who perfectly represents the cultural diversity and historical background of Canada and Montreal. In the early 1970s Evangelista was, like many Spaniards of his generation, in search of a better quality of life and trying to escape the Spanish dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Coming to Canada, he says, was not a straight line. “It was like this,” as he mimics a crooked bumpy road. “It was a combination of circumstances because I am an ex-scientist. I have a Masters in nuclear physics. I was given a bursary to go study in Geneva at the European…

Vale Rideout (Hades), Michael Mayes (Lucifer), Colleen Daly (Persephone); photo by Kathy Wittman and Ball Square Films

The Devil Came Up to Boston for Cerise Lim Jacobs’ New Opera, “REV. 23”

By Charles Geyer on 9 October 2017 Concert Reviews, Contemporary, Opera

REVIEW of REV. 23, a new comic opera that sees beyond the End of Days, conceived and written by Cerise Lim Jacobs, with a score by Julian Wachner; performed September 29, September 30, and October 1, 2017 at Boston’s John Hancock Hall; viewed here September 30 and October 1. The End was at hand, and it was a devil of a good time. The city of Boston recently got a privileged, early glimpse of the Apocalypse – and beyond – courtesy of resident visionary, opera-maker, and eschatologist nonpareil, Cerise Lim Jacobs, who not only conceived and wrote the libretto for…

Love Songs Opéra Not for Everyone

By Adrian Rodriguez on 2 October 2017 Concert Reviews, Contemporary, Opera

What you miss: A great performance by the polyvalent mezzo Marie-Annick Béliveau as she explored with sounds that go from raspy-bluesy to classical to flat out screaming. Saxophonist Jean Derome also showed a big palette of colours and nuances. The music will please any fan of experimental sounds and dissonant harmonies. For those expecting an opera in the traditional sense, be warned, this is more of a song cycle with staging. The sense of the piece seems to be more to explore ways of expressing love than the search of beauty. Grapes: If you’re not a contemporary music lover and instead enjoy…

Against the Grain Theatre #GoForBaroque in 2017/2018 season

By Newswire on 27 September 2017 Baroque and Early, Classical, Classical Music, Contemporary, Newswire, Opera, Vocal

A Handel mash-up and an international co-production comprise AtG’s most expansive season to date TORONTO – Against the Grain Theatre (AtG) returns in its eighth season with BOUND, a pastiche workshop of new interpretations of Handel’s music, and a groundbreaking new production of Berlioz’s arrangement of Glück’s Orphée. AtG’s acclaimed #OperaPub nights return as a monthly fixture at the Amsterdam Bicycle Club, and the company collaborates with Canadian baroque-pop artist Kyrie Kristmanson at the Alliance Française in Toronto. In addition, AtG enters its second season as company-in-residence at the Canadian Opera Company (COC). This December, Artistic Director Joel Ivany and Music Director…

Nora Graham-Smith (Fury), Jamie-Rose Guarrine (Fury), Michael Mayes (Lucifer), Melanie Long (Fury)

Cerise Jacobs is Full of Revelations in Her New Opera, REV. 23

By Charles Geyer on 27 September 2017 Classical, Classical Music, Contemporary, Newswire, Opera

PREVIEW: of the world premiere of Cerise Lim Jacobs’ new opera REV. 23 (music by Julian Wachner), at Boston’s John Hancock Hall – September 29 at 7:30 p.m.; September 30 at 7:30 p.m.; and October 1 at 3 p.m. Boston-based librettist and myth-maker Cerise Lim Jacobs has an imagination that literally knows no bounds, as amply demonstrated by her newest work, the opera REV. 23, which is set to premiere in Boston this weekend and take audiences on an adventure beyond the End-of-Days. Revving for Take-Off The title, REV. 23, is a shorthand formation designating a chapter of the Bible…

SCMQ 2017-2018 Season – Long live today’s music!

By Newswire on 21 September 2017 Canadian Music, Classical Music, Contemporary, Newswire, Opera, Quebec Music, Vocal

Montréal, Septembre 20, 2017 – Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) begins its Homage Series with six concerts plus three “special” events focussing on José Evangelista, a composer on a remarkable path. Evangelista has marked the recent evolution of music through a singular and coherent creative approach, with a greater openness to the world. Since 2007, alternating with the the Montreal New Music festival, the Homage Series allows for the discovery the body of work of a notable Canadian composer, with the cooperation of the cultural and educational milieu who are invited to include their works in their respective…

Set designs by Mimi Lien

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream: Composer Moto Osada’s New Opera at the Japan Society

By Charles Geyer on 12 September 2017 Classical Music, Contemporary, Interviews, Newswire, Opera

It is such stuff as dreams are made on. This week, the Japan Society in New York City plays host to the North American premiere of eminent Japanese composer Moto Osada’s opera Four Nights of Dream. Ironically, given the title, the run is for only three nights – Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, September 13, 15 and 16, all at 7:30 p.m., but it bids fair to be a memorable Western prelude the opera’s premiere in Tokyo later this year. The inspiration for the opera is a literary work entitled Yume Jū-ya by classic Japanese novelist and fabulist Natsume Soseki, active…

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