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learned a lot about each other.For me, it was about learninghow to lead efficiently andhow best to communicatewith musicians for phrasingand time changes. For theensemble, it was about trustingone another and watching andlistening with a more heightenedsense of awareness inorder to play together and withthe same musical intentions.From my experience, it was themost comfortable and relaxedperformance I have playedbecause I was literally in thecentre of the ensemble and thecentre of the sound (rather thanbeing steps in front of it), andI was backed by a great band ofmy colleagues and friends who were truly supportive. One of our goalsis to continue becoming a more cohesive group and truly finding andhoning our own sound and I feel like we are on the creative track toachieving that!”There was something about the performance by Tanya Charles thatreally struck a chord with the audience, and it wasn’t because everynote was technically perfect; rather, it was more intense and exciting,and her beaming expression throughout the performance was absolutelycontagious. For Capet, this must have been a triumph; back atthe coffee shop, he expressed his desire to take perfectionism out ofthe classical music tradition.“I don’t go to symphony concerts. I’m bored,” he explains. “We livein a wonderful time now, because of the internet there are so manyrecordings of 20th century music that are available to us, from about1900 onwards. And if I was to give you a dozen recordings of Brahms’First Symphony, say between 1900 and 1910, I could find you a dozentotally different takes and sounds on that orchestra. But if I took themfrom the last decade, they’d all sound rather similar, because whathappened in the history of recordings in the 1960s and 1970s is thatbig companies like Deutsche Grammophon and EMI, etc., put millionsand millions of dollars into the uber stars — the Karajans and theBernsteins — and these uber orchestras, the Chicago Symphony andthe San Francisco and Vienna. So what happened from the very beginningof the recording industry is that, as a recording became available,everything changed and it became “listen to this — it’s the wayBeethoven intended it!” with the full orchestra. The pretension of theMembers of Euphonia. Simon Capet is second from left.recording industry became “what we have is better than what you had”and so it grew and by the time Bernstein and Karajan were around,it became the battle of stereophonic sound — “our orchestra is moreperfect than your orchestra,” and Bernstein’s recording of Mahler was“the definitive.” As if we can have a definitive recording of anything, orwould want a definitive recording of anything. Can there be a definitiveShakespeare? Or the definitive cover of a Cole Porter song? It’sridiculous,” Capet scoffs, almost out of breath. He takes a sip of coffeeand continues.“But to get the big money, the recording contracts, you had to beperfect. And this was the analog world, this wasn’t the cut and pasteworld of digital technology. You had to be able to do this in a takeor a couple of takes, so accuracy would lead towards getting thosecontracts. A friend of mine in Copenhagen, after | continued on page 51Amy BuchwaldViolins, violas, cellos & bowsComplete line of strings & accessoriesExpert repairs & rehairsCanada’s largest stock of string musicFast mail order servicethesoundpost.cominfo@the soundpost.com93 Grenville St, Toronto M5S 1B4416.971.6990 • fax 416.597.9923A treasure trove for string players& lovers of string musicthewholenote.com September 1 – October 7, 2013 | 15