Volume 10 Issue 4 - December 2004

The Mau in tl1e Red Suit
.Joe Seal) and Paul Novotny
SeajamS.11011-2
Tht:se nine sclei.:tions from jazz
vc1crans Joe Sealy and Paul Novotny
an: grown-up Christmas musii.:
\\ ith a sense of wonder and dt!light.
Simple. sophisticaced. heanreh
and playful, they include Novotny's
n.:visiting of' Howard Blake's theme
lor the lilm "The Snowman" that
has the gentle couch of snowllakes
melting on your tongue. Sealy's
arrangement of the traditional We
Three Kings nicely complements
his origmal The Dunes, which envisions
1he three mysterious visitors
in their dest:n travels, with
strong Arabic and African flavours.
Novotny's uplifting Good
Folks more than once riffs on the
bel()ved hymn Go Tell It 011 tlze
Mo11111ai11. Among the collaborators
arc Archie Alleyne, Mark Kelso,
Walccd Abdulhamid. Debbie
Fleming, and Molly Johnson who
upplit:s lyrics for.a sexy. bluesy
cold-weather song called It Started.
A Ceremony of Carols
The Toronto Children's Chorus
Marquis 81327
Fiftv Years of Christmas Music
Chir of St. Simon-the-Apostle,
Toronto
lndependent
(ww" .St-simon-the-apostle.ea)
88
Among this year·s standouts are
two distinguished compilations from
local choirs that feature children's
voices. "A Ceremony of Carols''
is mainly a reissue of previously
released material, bui it goes to town
wich a lineup of stirring 1raditional
carols like Es is ei11 Ros' e111spnmge11
and Noel 11011vele1.
Most of the 65-mimue recording
is taken up with two major
suites: John Rutter's Dancing Day
(with invigorating harp accompaniment
by Judy Loman) and Benjamin
Briuen's A Ceremony of
Carols. The choir performs these
demanding pieces with a crystalclear
diction and attention to dynamics.
which is a1 the same time
never sterile.
Toronto's Choir of St. Simonthe-Apostle
has accrued a century
of performance in the English choral
tradition. Unfortunately, the
group. made up of men and boys
for mos1 of its his1ory, has only
been recording for hal r thal lime.
In ''Fifty Years ofChrisunas Music",
tht: ensemble presents 14
works recorded at various periods.
Recording qualities vary greatly
from selection to selection, as one
might expect. Howl;lvcr. the calibrt;
of arrangemen1s and performance.
as. well as the selection of
unusual repertoirt: - including Provenal
and medieval songs - makes
this disc well wonh hearing.
Concert Notes: The Toromo Children's
Chorus presents ''Music for
the Holiday Season" in Markham
on December 11. In Toromo they
perform "A Chorus Christmas"
including Britten's Missa Brevis on
December 18. Britten's A Ceremony
of Carols will receive a number
of performanct:s this month: Etobicoke
Centennial Choir December
10: Uxbridge Chamber Choir December
11 (further afield listings);
St. James Cathedral "Music at
Midday" December 14 and the
Amadeus Choir on December 18.
Noel Pianissimo
Duo Campion-Vachon
Aoalekta 2 9818
Guy Campion and Mario Vachon
specialize in piano for four hands,
and this disc is their dexterous tour
1hrough 25 classic carols and coniemporary
Christmas tunes. They
open with five heartfelt and slightly
jazzy renderings of old-fashioned
c w
m wO. •wW"ị lruHE\ w
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carols that might serve as accompaniment
for an intimate Yuletide
soiree a deux. But then they get
frisky with the next ten pieces.
whkh are done "in the style of"
such composers as Ravel; Mendt:lssohn
and Liszt. (Some of the
bes1 are We
Wish You a Merry
Christmas a Ja Bach and the Gershwin-styled
Let fr Snow! Let It
Snow! Let It Snow.1). Then the duo
settles down again, more or less.
into ten more traditional renditions.
Odd. but fun.
A Winter's Night - The Best
of Nettwerk Christmas
Various artists
Nettwerk 30379
Maybe This Christmas Tree
Various artists
Nettwerk 30380
Two compilations by contemporary
Canadian artists. Although both include
a few cheerful standards. the
overall mood evokes the loneliness
and disaffection of urban, post­
Christian Christmas. "A Winter's
Night" features such big names as
Barenaked Ladies, Ron Sexsmith,
Sarah Mclachlan, Avril Lavigne
and Chantal Kreviasuk (the latter
two collaborate on a plaintive and
unadorned 0 Holy Night). Meryn
Cadell performs a heartbreaking
L ENl/OT•e.
Cat Ct1rol; The Be Good Tanyas
sing about a homeless man in Rudy,
and Martina Sorbara leaves us
wondering how cynically we should
take her assertion that It's rile Most
Wonderful Time of the Year.
The title of ''Maybe This Christmas
Tree" is a pun: it's the third
in a series thal started with ''Maybe
This Christmas". Except for
Lisa Loeb, the artists are less well
known: The Polyphonic Spree.
Death Cab for Cutie. Jars.of Clay.
Belasana and others. They give us
songs of crowded sidewalks, intimate
dinners and sparkly lights that
may not hold a promise of peace
or redemption, but at leas1 of a
good 1ime. Pilaie's upbeat Fairytale
of New York exemplifies this
quality. Also of note: Polyphonic
Spree· s faith fu 1-to-the-origi nal
Happy Xmas (War Is Over).
The Mario Lanza Christmas
Album
Mario Lanza
Naxos Nostalgia 8.120720
There's nothing ironic or cynical
about this recording, whi(;h offers
20 numbers originally laid down by
the beloved Hollywood belter bet
we en I 950 and 1952. The repertoire
includes carols, religious
standards like Ave Maria and some
inspiring songs of the period like
You 'II Never Walk Alone from the
musical Carousel. Lanza's fullthroated
and unabashed renditions
of songs about guardian angels and
rosaries. lushly backed up with full
orchestra. chorus and a few church
bells for good measure, reveal how
much North American religious
attitudes have changed in the past
few decades. While many will flnd
this recording unbearable, others
will breathe a nostalgic sigh,
Puer natus est
Concerto Palatino; Studio de
Musique ancienne de Mo11treal
Christopher .Jackson
ATMA Classique ACD 2 2311
cn o M ,. --D- £ -CĒM - 8 _ £ _ R _1_2_0_0_4_-F ĒB - RU_A_R_Y_7_2_0_05