Volume 10 Issue 4 - December 2004

Ediior's
01e: I was curious as to
just wfiat was meant by -period
instrument- in 1he context of
Bruckner's music. According 10
the conductor's CD liner notes the
llu11:s. ro\ewood bassoons. French
horns and trumpets da11: from the
1880s and other winds are copies
or period models. Gut strings are
us 10 achieve natural balance with
these lightly less powerful wind instruments.
In addition. a smaller
stnng section conforms 10 the proporuon.\
ued in the period.
Hummel
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James Ehnes; Howard Shelley
London Mozart Players
Chando CHAN I 0255
Oohnanyi - Concertos
Ho,1ard.
Shelley; James Ehnes;
Clifford Lalltaff
BBC Philharmonic;
Matthias Bamert
Chandos CHAN 10245
Johann Nepomuk Hummel, a composer
almost forgouen after his
dea1h, eems to be enjoying a great
revival these days. Thanks to Chando\
· enes of excellent recordings.
presenting his works with the London
Mozart Players. we can now
hclatedly discovt:r this charming.
expertly writtt:n and most enjoyablt:
music.
He was a child prodigy and acquired
great fame traveling 10 the
capitals of Europe. just like Motan.
whose pupil he was. Unlike
Mozart however, Hummel was
much mon: successful in obtaining
prestigt: and highly paid posi-
1mns. His music, unforcunately,
failed 10 auain the greatness of his
contemporaries Mozart, Haydn,
Weber and Mendelssohn.
Potpourri IOr viola and orchestra
is a delightful medley or arias from
contemporary operas ol Mozan "nd
Rossini. skillfully composed" ith
ingenious variauons and embellihments.
interesung tempo and l..ey
changes and a thorough grip on
counterpoint in 1he Fugue secuon
The Piano Variations, somewhat
reminisceOI of Weber's Konzerts111ck.
has varia1 ions of progressively
increasing complexity ith
some beautiful mood changes, is
wonderfully playcd by Ho'' ard
Shelley. The Violin Concerto
shows Mendelsohn 's inllut:nce
and is played with great style and
panache by the } oung. accomplished
Canadian virtuoso. James
Ehnes.
As a parallel to 1he Hummel
there is a similar series dedicated
10 the Hungarian composer. Erno
Dohnanyi. In a way both composers
shared the same fa1e: great
fame in their lifetimes that uedined
sharply after their deaths.
Dohnanyi was an enormou:.ly
talented and prolific composer as
well as a pianist. conductor. orchestrator
and teacher. He JOmed
his two contemporaries, Banok
and Kodaly as the prim\.' expont:nts
of Hungarian music in the 20th
century. While Bartok and Km.la·
ly cut an original path with the
organic and innovative usc of Hungarian
folk tunes. Dohnany1. as a
musical conservative, remamed
behind.
For me the "piece de resistaocc ··
is the Second Piano Concerto
Played with grca1 aplomb b)
Howard Shelley. this 1s perhaps the
last of 1hc great romantic piano
concertos. It is strongly influenced
by Rachmaninov bu1 a1 1ht: same
time is full of original touches, interesting
melodics and a distinct
Hungarian flavour.
In the Second Violin Concerto
Dohnanyi employs the 111teresting
device of omining the violins from
the orchestra thu accemuating the
soloist. The solo 'iolin is beautifully
handled as a romanuc. rhapsodic
instrument and Hungarian
inlluences are again highly noticeable.
Ehnes plays it with lovt: and
affection and 1he concluctor. Mathias
Bamert has great affinity to
Dohnanyi 's music. Excellent recordings,
well up to Chandos exacting
standards.
Mosaics
Trio Lyra
Marquis 74728 13332
Janos Gardm1yi
Musique de chambre franaise
Susan Hoeppner, flute;
Judy Loman, harp; and friends
Marquis 74718 13232
Mosaics from Toronto's top-notch
Trio Lyra consists largely of tasteful
transcriptions for this uncommon
collection of instruments:
!lute. viola and harp. They range
from five sing-songy trines by
Cesar Cui, a cobbled LOgether and
rather busy sounding Trio by Mo­
L:art and the wisrfully nostalgic
Deux /111erl11des by Jacques lbert,
in which Suzanne Shulman 's wellfocused
tlute sounds particularly
gorgeous.
Works expressly composed for
the Trio Lyra include Tango 99. an
affable pastiche of Spanish dance
numbers by Lhe late Toronto composer
Milton Barnes. and Ontarian
Marjan Mozetich 's intriguingly
effusive Goodbye My Friend, which
reveals harpis1 Erica Goodman at
her best . The sense of ensemble
and dialogue is excellent throughout
in these well-recorded performances,
though the bookleL is a disappointingly
skimpy and haphazard
foldout.
Marquis's Trio Lyra album.
Lhough pleasant enough. clearly
panders 10 the pernicious "Des-
1 ined for Disc Drive" segment of
Lhe market. Musique de chambre
franraise is a considerably more
substanLial affair than that, featuring
tlutist Susan Hoeppner and
preeminent Canadian harpist Judy
Loman along with some of Canada's
finest musicians in an aJluring program
of French masterpieces of the
early 20th century.
Violist Steven Dann lends a capable
hand to a superb interpretation
of Debussy's Trio for flute,
viola and harp, and is joined by
violinist Erika Raum and cellist
Amanda Forsyth in. the Serenade
by Albert Roussel. A riveting performance
of that perfect jewel of
the harp repertoire, Maurice Ravel's
!111rod11c1io11 and Allegro, includes
a suave contribution from
clarine1is1 Joaquin Vadepei'las.
Hoeppner's striking account of
Andre Jolivel's immensely difficult
quintet Cham de linos leaves no
tone unturned. Keith Horner provides
the thoughtful program notes
as well as serving as product:r of
this fascinating album.
Passion
Daniel Foley
Angele Dubeau & La Pieta
Analekta AN 2 8724
Angele Dubeau is one busy artist -
between regularly recording CDs,
leading in performance across
Canada and abroad this ensemble
she created in 1997 and serving as
a host of a weekly musical program
on the Radio-Canada television network.
she also serves as the artistic
director of an annual music festival
in Tremblant, QC.
II seems that when you want
something done. you ask a busy
person. In the latest recording. the
busy person" and her ensemble
tackle a vast repertoire from Bizet
10 Sarasatc and Enescu to Gershwin.
La Pieta, an all-female group,
sometimes a sextet, on occasion an
octet. plays well together, creating
a uniform sound, with
Dubeau's "Des Rosiers" Stradi-.
varius from 1733 sounding particularly
entrancing in the Bizet. The
Carmen arrangement, which opens
the album. has been reworked very
successfully by Louise-Andree
Baril, La Pieta's piano player. She
contributed most of the competent
arrangements on the album.
It seems strange then Lhat the album
title is "Passion", as that is
one quality lacking in this otherwise
polished recording. The selections
are familiar, Lhe sound
clear and pleasing and an occasional
nourish adds excitement - still,
it is an album best paired with a
great, gourmet meal. It will soothe
the listeners, provide great background
to intimate conversation and
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