Volume 21 Issue 2 - October 2015

lapping water and sparkling rivulets (and perhaps towards the end,
birdsong) in the canals of Venice. The Canzone, based on a melody by
Rossini, has a sense of deep foreboding, with throaty melodic lines
and an underlying tremolo in the left hand. The Tarantella is perhaps
the most famous of the set and is a wonderful example of the colours,
textures and moods that can be created on the piano.
WN: Why are you so drawn to those pianists of the first half of
the last century? How has listening to them informed the way you
play? Are there contemporary pianists you admire? Do you have any
musical heroes who have inspired you?
Grosvenor: I do have an interest in pianists of the past, both for the
absolute merits of their performances and because one is potentially
exposed to expressive and pianistic tools that may have disappeared
from the modern lexicon. There are a great many contemporary musicians
I also admire, but I’d rather not mention names for fear of
leaving out others...!
WN: You’ve been in the public eye for more than half your life, since
your first appearance on the BBC. How do you reconcile your public
and private life?
Grosvenor: I don’t think I’ve ever really found it difficult to reconcile
“public” and private life. Life as a classical musician is not quite
like that of people who have high profiles in other fields, and it is easy
to descend into the background. It is a demanding profession though,
and involves a lot of work. The challenge is to reconcile private life and
professional life. Good planning and time management is key!
The vital middle: According to Taylor, Music Toronto occupies “the
vital middle” in the city’s classical music life. It’s hard to imagine a
better concert or more exciting artist than Grosvenor to open their
44th season. Season highlights include two noteworthy string quartet
debuts – Cuarteto Casals and the Artemis Quartet – the return of
favourites Marc-André Hamelin, the St. Lawrence Quartet and the
Gryphon Trio, as well as appearances by the superb JACK Quartet and
Quatuor Ébène, the welcome return of pianist Steven Osborne, and
debuts by Peter Jablonski and the young-Polish-quartet-on-the-rise,
the Apollon Musagète Quartett.
Taylor books 12 to 18 months in advance after a varied process that
ranges from surfing the Internet and gleaning concert programs from
around the world to listening to advice from other presenters and
audience members. A recommendation from an audience member
of a Schubert recording by the Cuarteto Casals two years ago led to
their upcoming October 22 recital (with a program including Mozart,
Kurtag and Ravel). The Berlin Philharmonic Quartet recommended
the Artemis Quartet to Taylor several years ago; she finally booked
their April 14, 2016 concert after trying since 2012. An amateur pianist
and old friend of Taylor’s recommended Jablonski five years ago. Two
years ago, something related to the Apollon Musagète Quartett came
in the mail. Intrigued by the name, Taylor investigated and closed the
deal for their November 26 recital. “It’s always guesswork,” she said
about the process. “But at the end of the first movement you know.
Sometimes it’s extraordinary.”
COC Rehearsal. At the end of week one of rehearsal for the COC’s
world premiere of Barbara Monk Feldman’s Pyramus and Thisbe, a
small group of invited media witnessed a fascinating process unfold
in the company’s headquarters on Front St. Baritone Phillip Addis and
mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó sat in front of a tall, massive, bright
yellow cinder block wall, three metres from conductor Johannes
Debus, separated only by their music stands amidst the vastness of the
rehearsal room. Addis, his eyes wide open this early in the rehearsal
process tells Debus that when he first learned his part as Pyramus, his
approach was very rigid; now that he’s more familiar with the piece
he feels it can be more jazzy. Debus replies that when the score calls
for only one note (and a long one, at that) there’s nowhere to hide.
“It’s necessary to discover the Frank Sinatra (or the Ella Fitzgerald) in
all of us,” he said.
There really are three characters in this new work, Debus told us,
but paradoxically Pyramus, Thisbe and the chorus (plus the orchestra)
also merge into one (quite slowly). “Maybe we lose the sense of time,”
he pointed out. Another one of Monk Feldman’s qualities is that very
difficult-to-perform sustaining of notes. Ultimately, Debus finds the
Music director and conductor Johannes Debus, with director Christopher
Alden (in foreground), at a music rehearsal of Pyramus and Thisbe
opera to be a piece in suspended time. Performing it properly is a lot
about breathing.
“Ninety percent of the time we’re like curators in a museum.
[Working on a new opera] puts certain things for us as interpreters
into perspective. The exchange between creative minds is absolutely …
an adventure as none else. A Canadian-composed-opera premiere is
something quite remarkable.
“Monk Feldman’s writing is basically orchestral. It works a lot with
the natural decay of orchestral music … It’s kind of a meditation on
this old Pyramus and Thisbe myth, kind of fragmented.”
It’s hard not to overstate Debus’ versatility and engagement in the
process. In addition to much back and forth banter with director
Christopher Alden, his involvement with the singers was direct and
supportive. He sang the chorus cues in Pyramus and played impeccable
harpsichord in Il combiattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, one
of two Monteverdi works that complete what should be a memorable
CHRIS HUTCHESON
14 | Oct 1 - Nov 7, 2015 thewholenote.com