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now and then, entertaining - always.<br />
Scarlatti was a remarkable composer<br />
for the keyboard. You would think<br />
that after the first 2 or 3 hundred<br />
sonatas, there would be a limit to<br />
what a composer could do that was<br />
not a re-hash. It's like dim-sum for<br />
the harpsichprd. An incredible<br />
variety and even wlien you've tried<br />
them all , there are other cooks who<br />
can make it the same, but different.<br />
Luc Beausejour is a great cook,<br />
well, interpreter, when it comes to<br />
Scarlatti. He even has a kind of<br />
tongue-in-cheek grin with the Sonatas<br />
that are "serious". The raucous ones<br />
bounce along without a care in the<br />
world. What happy music! The wonderful<br />
keyboard technique is transparent.<br />
Yup, some bf these are a<br />
real workout, but they just fly from<br />
his fingers . ·Beausejour gets great<br />
sounds out of the Wm. P. Ross harpsichord,<br />
after Boffo, 1574. Rather an<br />
early design for Scarlatti, but quite<br />
successful for these sonatas.<br />
You would think that all this<br />
excitement would wear one out -<br />
nope. I hope that Luc goes on to<br />
record many more (maybe all 555!).<br />
He's certainly the man for it.<br />
Actus Tragicus<br />
Theatre of Early Music<br />
Daniel Taylor<br />
Atma ACD2 2288<br />
Den Ciul<br />
This handsome disc features the brilliant<br />
Canadian counter-tenor Daniel<br />
Taylor's bold experiment called the<br />
"Theatre of Early Music". The<br />
group has some high ideals, including<br />
"bringing back the sacredness"<br />
to the "creative" process of making<br />
music. The irtstrumentalists hail<br />
from Montreal and the singers are<br />
soprano Suzie LeBlanc, Taylor, tenor<br />
Ian Honeyman and the renowned<br />
English bass Stephen Varcoe.<br />
With the Bach and Telemann<br />
cantatas recorded here an interesting<br />
question arises: does one need a<br />
conductor/leader to - if not explicitly<br />
conduct - at least synthesize and<br />
streamline the excellent musical<br />
ideas from all involved? I don't have<br />
a definite answer; but it's clear.from<br />
these recordings that while Taylor is<br />
the founder of the Theatre of Early<br />
Music, he's encouraging ·au of the<br />
musicians to expres's their own ideas<br />
and responses to the music. This<br />
works most of the time, but with the<br />
Actus Tragicus (BWV 106), one gets<br />
the sense from the outset that the<br />
performances are too self-indulgent.<br />
The tempo of the opening Sonatina is<br />
really too slow, though I readily admit<br />
that the harmonies and sonorities of<br />
the gambas and recorders are heartbreakingly<br />
beautiful. All of the<br />
vocalists sing beautifully, but it's only<br />
Varcoe who seems to bring a<br />
refreshing forward-motion to his<br />
singing. He knows where and when<br />
to relax to great effect, but most of<br />
the time he keeps things moving and<br />
takes the listener's breath away with<br />
his remarkable phrasing.<br />
I can't get enough of Daniel<br />
Taylor's singing - it's an absolute<br />
marvel - but I think he needs to take<br />
better control of this group. The raw<br />
material he has access to is extraordinary<br />
and the potential for memorable,<br />
profound music making is<br />
clearly there. Long live the Theatre<br />
of Early Music.<br />
The juggernaut that is the Marsalis<br />
family of New Orleans seems to<br />
dominate the 'official' jazz scene<br />
these days. Consider trumpeter Wynton's<br />
considerable activities with the<br />
Lincoln Center in New York and<br />
Ken Burns' Jazz on PBS; saxophonist<br />
Branford's performances and productions;<br />
and the younger Delfeayo,<br />
a trombonist and producer. The<br />
youngest is the drummer Jason,<br />
thought of by the other family members<br />
as probably the best of the lot.<br />
The paterfamilias is pianist Ellis<br />
Marsalis, until recently teaching at<br />
University of New Orleans, and always<br />
gigging. It was his retirement<br />
from that school that caused the clan<br />
to reassemble in the home town in<br />
the summer of 200 l for a concert<br />
taped for PBS, a DVD and this CD<br />
release. The bassist was Roland<br />
Guerin, and there are guest appearances<br />
by Harry Connick, Jr. and<br />
trombonist Lucien Barbarin, heard<br />
on the traditional Saint James Infirmary.<br />
(Connick also sits in at the piano<br />
with Ellis on another frack.)<br />
This release offers a nice wide<br />
range of easy-to-hear jazz, mostly<br />
in a middle-of-the-road contemporary<br />
style, with features for each of<br />
the players. Ellis himself sparkles on<br />
The Surrey With The Fringe On Top<br />
Larry Beckwith (featuring some tasty' drum work by<br />
Editor's Note: Taylor's earlier disc Jason), '.11:1d, contributes four original<br />
of Bach Cantatas with the Theatre of comp~s1t 10~:<br />
Early Music has been nominated for ,. Whil~ this I~ no~ the most ~hallen~a<br />
JUNO award. See "Discs of the mg Il'.us1c you II listen to this ye.ar, 1t<br />
Month "for full details.<br />
certamly bea:s repeated hearmgs,<br />
and offers a mce range of styles and<br />
groupings, giving the earlier jazz<br />
A Jazz Celebration.<br />
sounds of Saint James and Struttin'<br />
The Marsalis Family<br />
With Some Barbecue the on-stage<br />
Rounder Records/Marsalis Music respect the music deserves.<br />
1166133022<br />
Ted O'Reilly<br />
WORTH REPEATING<br />
Beethoven: Symphony No.5;<br />
Schubert: Symphony No.8;<br />
Wagner: Die Meistersinger:<br />
selections; Debussy: Prelude a<br />
l'apres-midi d'un faune<br />
Leopold Stokowski; London Philharmonic/London<br />
Symphony<br />
EMI Classic Archive DVD-V<br />
72434 928439-5<br />
One of the first recordings I owned<br />
was the Schubert "Unfinished" with<br />
Leopold Stokowski ·and the<br />
Philadelphia Orchestra, recorded in<br />
<strong>April</strong> 1927 and a staple in the Victor<br />
catalogue for 20 years. No one could<br />
have known that 42 years later he<br />
would be conducting the same work<br />
for a medium not yet invented,<br />
television.<br />
The London Philharmonic concert<br />
was filmed at a public concert in the<br />
Fairfield Hall, Croydon on 8 September<br />
1969. It came as no real<br />
surprise to hear two dynamic<br />
performances and to see baton-less<br />
Stokowski carving the music out of<br />
the air, often outlining or shaping<br />
rather than simply beating time and<br />
cuing in instruments. ·His<br />
mannerisms were unique and the<br />
gestures often quite extravagant but<br />
he got exactly what he wanted and<br />
we can now see how it was done.<br />
The video image is superb and the<br />
colour true.<br />
The two London Symphony pieces<br />
date from a concert of 14 June 1972<br />
in London's Royal Festival Hall. The<br />
Wagner is suitably noble and the<br />
Debussy, always a Stokowski showpiece,<br />
shows that he had not lost his<br />
touch. As a "tasty bonus". the DVD<br />
314 Churchill Ave<br />
Toronto, Ontario<br />
M2R 1 E7 Canada<br />
Tel: (1) 416-224-1956<br />
Fax: (1) 416-224-2964<br />
www.mikrokosmos.com<br />
We buy your classical LP collection<br />
(classical, such as Beethoven. Mozart. Stockhausen)<br />
we travel anywhere for good collection<br />
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