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Exactly the same can be said for thebeautiful performance of the Bruch, whichmakes this old favourite sound new and fresh.Hyperion’s excellentongoing series TheRomantic ViolinConcerto has reachedVolume 14 with worksby AlexanderGlazunov and OthmarSchoeck (CDA67940);Chloë Hanslip is thesoloist, with the Orchestra della SvizzeraItaliana under Alexander Vedernikov. Abeautiful performance of the Glazunov AMinor Concerto reminds us what a trulylovely work this is, and the short MeditationOp.32 is no less lovely despite its brevity. TheMazurka-oberek dates from 1917, whenGlazunov’s work as head of the Conservatoryin St. Petersburg left him with little time forcomposition; its Polish flavour suggests that itmay have been one of the small number ofworks written with wartime patriotic associations.The Swiss composer Schoeck is knownprimarily for his vocal works, and hisConcerto quasi una fantasia in B-Flat Major,Op.21 is one of the few orchestral works thathe produced. Written in his early 20s, it is awork that is an appropriate and welcomeaddition to this Romantic series.Anotheroutstanding ongoingseries is The SovietExperience: StringQuartets by DmitriShostakovich andhis Contemporaries,which reaches VolumeIII with a 2-CD setof Shostakovich quartets Nos.9 through 12paired with Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s StringQuartet No.6 in E Minor (Cedille CDR 90000138). The Polish-born Weinberg was a closefriend of Shostakovich, and both composersinfluenced each other in their quartet writing.Weinberg’s quartet, one of a series of 17, waswritten in 1946 but never performed; it wasbriefly included on the list of “non-recommended”works produced in 1948 as part ofAndrei Zhdanov’s anti-formalist campaign.Not published until 1979, it was apparentlypremiered as late as 2007.The Pacifica Quartet is once again in simplysuperb form, playing these intensely personalworks with sensitivity and passion and awonderfully expressive range of dynamics.Strings Attached continues at thewholenote.comwith more Shostakovich performedby French cellist Emmanuelle Bertrand,Scenes from a New Music Séance featuringviolinist Kate Stenberg and pianist Eva-Marie Zimmermann and a new release fromthe Del Sol String Quartet.MODERN & CONTEMPORARYAnn Southam 5Eve EgoyanCentrediscs CMCCD 19113!!There are manyreasons to get excitedabout this recording oflate works by maverickCanadian composerAnn Southam. For onething, no one knewthese works existeduntil they turnedup in Southam’s Toronto home after herdeath in 2010. For another, this is a gorgeousrecording.What struck me the first time Ilistened — and after many listenings I’m stillnot ready to put this disc away — was thatalthough these works are strikingly austere,they throb with vitality. Like the watersculptedfallen trees on the booklet cover,they enchant by stealth, as though they areemerging from another world.Southam wrote these works with Torontopianist Eve Egoyan in mind, like the works onEgoyan’s two previous Southam recordings.Egoyan is able to bring special insights fromthose close collaborations with Southam toher exquisite handling of the lilting, haltingand shifting rhythmic patterns which connectthese works to each other, and to previousworks called Returnings (two of these sharethe name Returnings, while the rest were leftuntitled).The booklet throws light on Southam’spersonal sound-world, especially by reproducingpages from her manuscripts. The soundis clear and spacious, allowing the pauses toresonate. But this disc deserves a more meaningfultitle, especially since it makes such animportant addition to the already substantialevidence that Southam is not just one of ourfinest composers — hers is a significant voicein contemporary music.—Pamela MarglesConcert Note: Eve Egoyan plays a recital forMusic Toronto on November 26 in the JaneMallett Theatre at the St. Lawrence Centre forthe Arts.T. Patrick Carrabré – War of AngelsWinnipeg Symphony OrchestraCentrediscs CMCCD 18513! ! T. PatrickCarrabré’s accessible,modernistmusic is characterizedby angular linesand apt, dissonantsonorities orchestratedwith clarity andbalance. Inuit Games(2002) is an engrossing work in which Inuitthroat singers Pauline Pemik and InukshukAksalnik together weave continuous vocalpatterns. Around them Carrabré emphasizesthe low and high orchestra registers inmysterious, menacing sonorities. A uniqueand strong piece. In Symphony No.1: TheWar of Angels (1996), the opening movement’sfast triplet motion initially struck meas suggesting a finale. But then, shouldn’twars happen differently in angel spaceand time? The sombre slow movement hasprofound moments, while the concludingone needs more intensity, in my view. TheWinnipeg Symphony brass and winds shinein this work.Hearing the workmanlike first movementof Symphony No.3 (2003) left me withsome qualms about the composer’s propensityfor the moto perpetuo process. But thesecond one is richer and more expansive; theWinnipeg winds give their numerous atmosphericsolos loving treatment. And the finaleis dramatic and varied, with some intricatecounterpoint that builds to an impressiveclimax. The Dragon’s Tail (1997) is theexciting closer on this disc, featuring percussionpassages performed energetically as theother sections of the orchestra also generateplenty of menace! Kudos to Carrabré forhis compositions and his work (along withconductors Andrey Boreyko and BramwellTovey) for the annual Winnipeg New MusicFestival, which has helped composers,orchestra and audiences for contemporarymusic flourish.—Roger KnoxRiteJon Kimura ParkerIndependent FP 0907jonkimuraparker.com!!Rite is an excitingCD of world premieretranscriptions ofStravinsky’s The Riteof Spring (1913) andthe complete balletPetrouchka (1911) bypianist extraordinaireJon Kimura Parker.There have been numerous transcriptions ofthe Rite, notably, by Stravinsky himself, SamRaphling and Dickran Atamian. There arecountless CDs and YouTube versions of threemovements from the ballet Petrouchka. EmilGilels, Grigory Sokolov, Alexis Weissenberg,Maurizio Pollini are excellent, Yuja Wangand Lang Lang with huge followings less so.What makes Parker’s version of Petrouchkaa “must listen” is his remarkable and sensitiveadaption of the complete ballet for solopiano. The focus is not so much on the pianisticfireworks of the famous dances but moreon the pathos and lyrical qualities of melodicpassages and the storyline. His attention todetail in transcribing is impeccable and hisperformance is never rushed but unfoldswith singing lines and capricious humour.The ballet breathes in shapes and emotions. Irealized at the end of the piece that I had notthewholenote.com June 7 – September 7, 2013 | 87