Volume 10 Issue 4 - December 2004

When musicians decide it is time
to flex their muscles and vemure
imo new musical territories, the
results may vary. When the musical
superstars take a jab at new
horizons. they have the clout behind
them to release and market the
product regardless of the quality.
Both Yo-Yo Ma and Elvis Costello
are great musicians in their
own right and I have admired, respected
and been inspired over and
over by their artistry. musicality
and vision. When they have expanded
their musical boundaries in
the past· of note Ma's Silk Road
Project and Costello ·s work with
the Brodsky Quartet - they continued
to amaze me. Maybe that is
why I am more disappointed here
than I expected.
"Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone"
features the cellist as the
soloist in Morricone's own orchestral
arrangements of his film
scores. These "suites·• highlight
utS from his prolific film-composing
career. The Good. The Bad
and The Ugly segment from the
Sergio Leone Suite is the strongest,
with a moving symphonic accompaniment
to Ma's emotional
playing. The rest of the release
lacks this depth even though rhe
lush cello quality is consistently
aurally pleasing.
Elvis Costello composed the
music for Il Sogno as a commission
for a dance adaptation of "A
Midsummer Night's Dream" by
the Italian dance company
Aterballeuo. Rearranged for this
record ng. this is his first composmon
for orchestra. The performance
here is admirable and the detailed
liner notes clearly support
and explain his musical choices.
But as Costello writes in the liner
notes, "I'm just using common
sense and writing down what I
wanr to hear." This is exactly what
comes across. Even with his
changes, the dance element is still
apparent in the fragmented
riting. II is neither classical, pop;
Jazz nor rock but the composer
utilizes these genres freely
throughout. I'm inrerested in hearing
what future compositional ideas
will develop from Costello's
experience here.
Both recordings niay not be each
musician's best work, but certainly
consider them if you are looking
for a holiday gift with a lighter
touch.
TiinaKiik
SundaSong
Evergreen Club Contemporary
Gamelan
Naxos World 76061-2
This latest CD by the Evergreen
Club is part of an eclectic world
music series now out on the Naxos
label. "Sund a Song·· is a collection
of pieces from West Java (Sunda),
arranged by members of Evergreen
for their degu11g gamelan
ensemble of keyed me1allophones.
gongs/gong chime. drums. xylophone.
flute, and zither.
The songs. arrangements and
playing are all quite wonderful -
just as we have come w expect
from Evergreen. The musical texture
is gentle, finely blended
sometimes sparse but more ofte
ornate. As one would expect in this
music, the bamboo flute's delicate.
mellifluous embellishments and the
c isp brightness of rhe plucked
Zither stand out against the underlying
percussion patterns and deep.
warm cones of various ·gongs.
Of the eight tracks. three are by
one of West Java's most prolific
composers of pop S1111da, Nano
Suratno. The rest are drawn from
classical and traditional repertoire.
The excellent liner notes include
background iqformation, title
translations (except, curiously. for
track 4, Arang Arang), and Lhe
essence of the beautiful, though
melancholy, lyrics about lost or
nrequited love. One minor regrec
is that there is no singer on "Sunda
Song", and yet five of the tracks
were riginally designed to include
a vocalist. Admittedly a suicable
singer would be a rare find in
North America, but it may be a
onsiderati
n for a future project
m the ongomg musical evolution
of this dynamic ensemble.
Book of Life
Maryem Tollar
Independent
Annette Sanger
(www.maryemtollar.com)
Maryern Hassan Tollar's CD "Book
o
_
f Life" is a personal and impas­
1oned exploration of themes significant
to her as an Arab-Canadian
woman. Sung in Arabic or English,
some of the songs reflect the painfuJ
realities of our troubled times.
The opening track Shalam Salom
[plays with che words (Salam, Shalom)
for greetings and peace in
Arabic and Hebrew, and is a plea
for mutual recognition of the other's
humanity on boch sides of the
Palestinian/Israeli conflict. Rachel
is a tenderly sung tribute to American
activist Rachel Corrie who
died while trying to defend a Palescinian
home from demolition by
an Israeli army bulldozer. Baghdad
1258 compares the contemporary
bombing of that city to its l3th century
destruction by the Mongols.
This tune is in a lively triple meter,
with relentless percussion and
jazz saxophone accompaniment.
The Tallis Choir
presents
SpCencfours of the
H191i Renaissance
Other songs are non-political: Ya
Habibi, dedicated to a departed family
friend, opens with a prelude in
Arabic which best displays the silken
beauty of Maryem 's voice and
the beauty of the language itself.
There is also a song in Arabic about
September in Montreal, from a
poem by llya Abu Madi who visited
the city in the early l 900's, the
earliest known Arabic poem about
Canada. As on her previous release
with the band Mernie (featuring
husband Ernie Tollar).
"Flowers of Forgiveness", this
rec9rding ends with a playful sono
to Tollar's daughter Omneya. wh
makes a cameo appearance.
Back-up vocals are provided by
long-time colleagues Jayne Brown,
Sophia Grigoriadis and Yvette
Tollar, and a well-known cast of
mulri-insrrumentalists representing
a variety of middle-eastern traditions
lend their talents to this highly
accomplished, soulful recording.
Karen Ages
Concert note: Maryem Tollar's
CD release concert is December
18 at Glenn Gould Studio.
Now available
for gift giving
A two CD set of your favourite Renaissance masters taken
from the Tallis Choir's first two recordings - now on CD
Information: 416-536-9022 or www.tallischoir.com
Great gi/t suggestion!
A subscription to
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