VERY SPECIAL MUSIC ON 25 CDS: FAVORITE RECENT LISTENS – THEIR PERSONAL IMPACT AND CONNECTION

Posted on December 10, 2022 by strecker

1)FAIRUZ: ALMAHABA – A voice full of horizon and instinctive understanding.  I wrote a poem about her decades ago that hardly even reached her a nuanced profundity. A few weeks ago, a young cashier, Serena, from Lebanon, and I chatted away about Fairuz while other shoppers waited patiently to pay for their groceries. They must have respected our adoration of the singer.

2) MELINA KANA: PORTRAIT – Another unique and haunting voice, accompanied with irresistible bouzouki and distinctively Greek rhythms and includes one almost overwhelming selection of Kana with the band Ashkabat from Turkmenistan. Maybe ten years ago, a Greek friend who had moved back to Greece wrote and said, “Send me your poem about Melina Kana, because she is now a neighbour of mine and I want to give it to her.”

3) JOHANN BAPTIST VANHAL & ANYTHING BY THE EYBLER QUARTET – Great joy was mine last week when Bud Roach’s Hammer Baroque offered a recital by one of my favorite chamber music groups, the Eybler Quartet. The Eyblers are special for many reasons: their vigorous technical mastery, their intriguing and sometimes not widely known (Eybler, Vanhal) repertoire, their compelling joie de vivre, their delightful introductions to the quartets they play in recital, their unity of purpose in musical magic.

4) RICHARD & LINDA THOMPSON: HARD LUCK STORIES – Once long ago when I interviewed Richard Thompson, I told him that should I ever have a funeral I’d want his guitar instrumental, Dargai, played. This box set collects all the recordings of the – at the time – married pair, and because Linda has one of most quietly gripping voices in folk and because Richard is always a guitarist, songwriter, singer of piercing and imaginative versatility, we have an abundance of often unforgettable gems here.

5) RICERCAR CONSORT: DIETRICH BUXTEHUDE KANTATEN – Like many, I used to spend hours in the classical music section of Sam the Record Man and A&A Records, and during one such pilgrimage the good folks were playing the Ricercar Consort’s recording Dietrich Buxtehude’s Kantaten. I found myself prolonging my browse until, finally, I said to the sales staff, “I want that recording!” And ever since I have enjoyed the recording’s lilting purity of heart and its unforced sense of spiritual dignity.

6) DICK GAUGHAN: A HANDFUL OF EARTH – Once at Dick Gaughan’s gig at Toronto’s Tranzac Club, singer Gartnet Rogers said to me, “I can’t believe he plays all those notes!” And, to be sure, Dick Gaughan of Glasgow is definitely a genius of imaginative flatpicking in Scottish repertoire. Moreover, his voice is full-bodied, assertive, and challenging in its connection to his native land, the working class, and depths of the human heart. Handful of Earth was voted Recording of the Decade in Britain about thirty years ago.

7) KATHLEEN FERRIER: BACH AND HANDEL- Contralto Maureen Forrester once told me that her career moved into a higher level when Bruno Walter needed a contralto to replace the recently deceased Kathleen Ferrier. I always find that I stop whatever I’m doing when Ferrier starts to sing, especially Bach and Handel, and feel transported to another level of being human. I’ve loved this recording a long time for that reason alone – and the profound beauty of her voice.

8) TIME IS ON MY SIDE: IRMA THOMAS, 24 CLASSIC RECORDINGS FROM THE SOUL QUEEN OF NEW ORLEANS 1962-66 – There are a number of widely adored and sometimes brilliant popular singers – like Aretha Franklin – I simply do not listen to any more. But I return to this collection whenever I want a soulful voice that sounds like a life lived, a life deeply felt, and a voice that makes intimate connection as it swings with the human heart. Ruler of My Heart makes me melt every time I hear it.

9) VILDE FRANG: BRITTEN KORNGOLD VIOLIN CONCERTOS – What is that musical instinct in us that, upon hearing a musician, says to us “Check out this one?” I know not, but there are several recordings on this list that appear owing to that instinct, and Frang’s is one. I once heard her first playing the Stravinsky concerto and, here again, so fused is the musician to her instrument that the violin seems to have its own presence, its own quality of being. Frang can be breathtaking, but so compelling is she as a performer that we never stand back and marvel but feel compelled instead to live the music with her.

10) CAPELLA INTIMA & THE GALLERY PLAYERS OF NIAGARA: WORSHIP IN A TIME OF PLAGUE – Not only is Bud Roach the founder of Hammer Baroque, but he has likewise designation as the founder of Capella Intima. Not only is Margaret Gay the cellist of the Eybler Quartet, she is also Artistic Director of the Gallery Players of this recording. The plague in question is not ours, but one from the time of Heinrich Schutz whose work is featured here as six of the thirteen works, the same Schutz who, on his return to Dresden from Venice, was soon to see that “one third of the Republic’s population succumbed” to the plague. This a quietly delicious recording, rich with vocally shaped passion, poise in manner, and idiomatic savoir faire.

11) SERGIO AND ODAIR ASSAD: ALMA BRASILEIRA – I discovered Sergio and Odair Assad, acoustic guitarists extraordinaire, through Scott Yoo’s programs on music on PBS television and, as quickly as I could, tracked down four of their now hard-to-find CDs which now give much regular pleasure. “These don’t sound like usual guitar recordings,” said Margaret, and, yes, through the playing of the Assads we delight in the guitar’s many tonal resources as we, through their imaginative mastery, flow invariably from atmosphere to atmosphere in something of a dream. If you love guitar, the riches and pleasures here are many.

12) INTRODUCING SHIYANI NGCOBO – As I write these words, I am listening to Shiyani Ngcobo’s recording and find I cannot still – I find my body parts each want to follow some calling from the music and the singer’s sometimes raspy voice. The disc’s notes say that this music, maskanda, is “born of the Zulu experience of labour migrancy” and is ” a musical dance style dominated by lush acoustic guitar picking and distinctive rhythms.” I also find it celebratory and life-affirming, stylistically intriguing and a joy to hear.

13)MOZART VIOLIN CONCERTOS, FRANCESCA DEGO WITH SIR ROGER NORRINGTON & THE ROYAL SCOTTISH NATIONAL ORCHESTRA – Sometimes following media hoopla pays aesthetic dividends, and with two discs of Mozart violin concerti now declared as Roger Norrington’s last recordings and having sampled violinist Francesca Dego on the internet, I am happily taking much pleasure in this Volume 1. Norrington, of course, has a history of controversy for his interpretations, say of Beethoven, but I find his partnership with Dego makes me pay attention to the music and enjoy the technical virtuosity, the interpretive choices, the implicit humour, and the obviously informed commitment of both conductor and violinist. I find I want to take time to appreciate these interpretations, which indeed I surely already do.

14) MICHAEL PRAETORIUS MESSE DE NOEL: GABRIELLI CONSORT AND PLAYERS, DIRECTION PAUL MCCREESH -We have here a case of (a) and (b) so let me explain, starting with (b) which is a CD released in 1994 and which I have treasured since that time. It’s a Lutheran Mass for Christmas Morning “as it might have been celebrated around 1620” and in this performance has the formal vocal grandeur and somewhat peppy tempo in the instrumental parts that would make it a compelling occasion in a large cathedral. And then half a year ago I acquired a DVD of the same mass with Paul McCreesh and his Gabrielli group, performed this time two years ago in the Chapelle Royale of Versailles which gives a more intimate space, and ergo a more intimate performance to which I had not been accustomed. So, to be brief, I love this performance which I have viewed several dozen times. I love the feeling of intimacy with the singers and players, I love feeling of smaller scale which draws one in to the space of these folks, and I love the photography with its frequent cuts which place us pore to pore beside the fine musicians.

15) JACQUES BREL: L’INTEGRALE DES ALBUMS ORIGINAUX – Again many years ago, we saw Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris one night in Toronto, then stopped off at Sam the Record Man to buy an LP of Brel himself singing, and rarely listened to any Broadway-ish take on his songs again.  I have watched films of Brel’s many available performances and listened to most of his CDs, and find most English versions of his songs idiomatically off base, often whimpy and whiny or hurried in manner, and a very inaccurate reflection of the man’s unique presence ad style. I have also happily found a number of not-too-well-known gems in his creative box, songs like Sur la Place, Pourquoi Faut-il Que les Hommes S’Ennuient? and Il Neige sur Liege, and recently was frustrated with myself for forgetting some of the lyrics or chords in his songs. There is work to be done, n’est-ce pas?

16) OUM KALTHOUM: DIVA OF ARABIA – Twice in the past week I surprised Arabic speakers from the Middle East, including a doctor whom I was visiting for consultation, by saying that one of my favorite singers is Oum Kalthoum, here presented in a five CD set. My friend Brenda Bell, who as Badia Star used to dance in the more prestigious hotels of Cairo, once explained how, when she danced to songs of Oum Kalthoum, Arabic-speaking audiences would appreciate how she physically translated the words of this great singer’s songs, whereas Canadian audiences were of the immature “take it off” mentality. You’ll hear much audience response in these recordings and also much soul as it is experienced in the Middle East.

17) MARTIN CARTHY: WAITING FOR ANGELS -By some quirk of fate, I was once offered the opportunity of a performance by British folk legend Martin Carthy in my class of students at the Sheridan College School of Design. I’ve seen him perform many times in Canada and Britain since that fortunate day and you’ll now find  many of the much-honoured Martin’s CDs on my shelf. His guitar playing, which he created through years of experimentation, is one-of a kind and highly respected and influential, his singing is evocative, and he is also a traditional song reviser with respect for the original a primary concern. He’s been called the most important British folk singer in Britain in the past fifty years.

18) NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN: SUFI SOUNDS FROM THE QAWWALI KING – The man was and is a legend, and as I found out during our interview, one devoted musically and spiritually to his music. He didn’t have reason to expect to be “the qawalli king” in his earlier years but here he was on tour with music and singing that are passionate, joy-inducing, and memorable. This Rough Guide sampler is a good introduction to this joyful, spirited music.

19) SATIE: PIANO WORKS – The piano music Erik Satie is perfect for so many nights or so many mornings, rich as they are with longing and wistfulness that easily echo one’s existence in times like these. I’m especially fond of these recordings by Anne Queffelec and have spent many hours with these well-known works massaging the atmosphere about me and within me. Mood-making and mood-changing music, this is.

20) PURE BACH: VIVIANE CHASSOT – A new discovery and recently highly-honoured recording of – who would have guessed? – Bach on the accordion of Viviane Chassot. Chassot has an instinct for the essence of this music, one feels, and it’s a quiet joy to surrender to her nuances and musical flavours, be they reflective or dance-worthy, in these five works of the great one – the Well-Tempered Clavier being one. An irresistible recording.

21) TOUMANI DIABATE’S SYMMETRIC ORCHESTRA: BOULEVARD DE L’INDEPENDANCE – We are told in the CD’s booklet that “the Symmetric Orchestra is an institution, a whole legend in Mali,’ and even a brief listen to the pulse of this compelling music with its many surprises in arrangement and sound along the way explains all. Included is a DVD for footage of home turf in Mali with the music being both made and listened too. Kora lovers will have some interesting footage of this kora master explaining the development of the music, and the kora.

22) DOMENICO SCARLATTIT: DOMENICO SCARLATTI SONATAS – One of my regular go-to pianists is Angela Hewitt, whenever I need a dose of Bach, of course. But this collection of Scarlatti is also a special pleasure chez moi, one which invariably delights. And I’m now checking out her take on Beethoven sonatas, especially number 17 which was the first of Beethoven’s I really listened to. I’m always in awe of Angela’s technical precision and astutely-judged fluidity that, combined, denote a well-honed communication between the pianist’s creative spirit and her instrument.

23) IVANA GAVRIC: IN THE MISTS: Another pianist to whom I give regular listenings is Ivana Gavric, here with a selection from Janacek, Schubert, Liszt, and Rachmaninov. With Gavric, I usually feel an instinctive blending of thinking and feeling in her playing, one in which both currents flow, twinned, at one time. Also, I feel a sense of unfolding in her playing as if each recital is a musical path of discovery which, as witnesses, we share. In turn, a subtle undercurrent of suspense sometimes prevails in her playing.

24) SOLLAZZO ENSEMBLE: PARLE QUI VEUT, MORALIZING SONGS OF THE MIDDLE AGES – This CD features a combination of musicians and singers you might not hear, for the most part, in other performances by Sollazzo, since director/fiddle player Anna Danilevskaia certainly shows a repeated knack for putting together new groupings, all of whom delight with their artistic smarts and enthusiastic energy in an always intriguing repertoire. I recorded one performance from MEZO television, a performance in which voice and lyrics seemed uncannily in sync, and here we have another. An important group.

25) MIVOS QUARTET: FOR THOSE WHO DIED TRING BY FRANK HORVAT – Described as a means to pay “homage to these human rights defenders in Thailand who were killed trying to stop powerful interests that wanted to destroy their community environment,” Horvat’s composition in 35 movements is a heart-stopping experience that forces the listener to touch human emotions and thoughts that are sometimes impossible to articulate in fickle words. Thus, a sensitively crafted music from Horvat’s imagination, does the job in creating a dignified and haunting homage. We live in a time when humanity becomes more cruel and ugly in some quarters, and I hope that Horvat continues to watch, experience, and create more such works.