A Net of Gems -- Suzanne Shulman and Erica Goodman

 This is one of my occasional reviews of an audio recording.

 

The music in question is a fascinating and diverse programme of music for flute and harp entitled A Net of Gems. The performers are respected and well-known artists in the Canadian music scene: flautist Suzanne Shulman and harpist Erica Goodman. 

The recording takes its evocative title from a work written especially for these two musicians. More about that anon.

 

Throughout the recital, Suzanne Shulman and Erica Goodman play with skill and care, and with a flair which is their special trait as musicians.

The first work on the disc is the Casilda-Fantaisie, by Franz Doppler and Antonio Zamora. Unknown or little-known works like this play a sizable role in the repertoire of many solo musicians beyond the ubiquitous piano and string instruments. This Fantaisie, like so many of its kind, presents a virtuoso elaboration on the themes of an opera by other hands, and is designed as a showpiece for its creators who were (no surprise) respectively the principal flautist and harpist of the Court Opera Orchestra in Vienna in the second half of the 1800s.

The opera itself is completely unknown today but on the evidence of this paraphrase it must have been a tuneful work indeed. Shulman and Goodman make an excellent case for the piece, in all its technical elaboration, tossing off scales, runs, and arpeggios with aplomb and making the whole actually sound musical -- which isn't always easy with nineteenth-century opera paraphrases. A delightful curtain-raiser for the entire concert.

The second work, Narthex, was written in 1971 by French composer and harpist Bernard Andrès. The term refers to the area inside the door of a church, the lobby, so to speak, before you enter the church sanctuary proper. Andrès had visited some of the sombre old Romanesque churches in Brittany before writing the piece. Although the music begins in a quasi-Ravel mode, the harmony soon ventures farther afield. A central section shifts dramatically to some most unusual sound effects created by the musicians by doing things which their instruments are traditionally not supposed to do. I couldn't help wondering if these passages were directly inspired by some particularly frightful gargoyles.

 

The flute then enters with a slow, mournful tune low in the instrument's range, a particular highlight of Shulman's performance in this work. The piece continues in an improvisatory style which is very much of our time. A return to a more rapid tempo features more melodic writing for the flute while Goodman returns to some very rapid sound-effect passages on the harp. The final flute figures evoke birdsong.

The centrepiece is the world premiere recording of David Occhipinti's Net of Gems, composed in 2020 specifically for Shulman and Goodman. Although plainly a contemporary work, this piece is much more lyrical in style overall than Narthex. Particularly fascinating are the passages in which Shulman and Goodman are both playing arpeggios at top speed, but not the same ones and not always moving in the same direction. The music here evokes the sparkle of gems, rapidly moving and turning in the sunlight.

This was the one place in the recording where I wished there was a video equivalent. Although I'm no expert, I have a strong sense that Goodman's feet must have been flying up and down on the harp's pedals to accommodate what sounded like key changes in every bar. The work then ends with slow rising and falling passages in the two instruments.

The longest work on the programme is the Fantaisie, Op. 124 (originally for violin and harp) by Camille Saint-Saëns. The violin part is adapted for the flute by Hideo Kamioka, with further adaptation by Suzanne Shulman.

A slow introduction leads into a first main section of lyrical melody on the flute with rippling figures and glissandi in the harp -- a melody which eventually takes on a dance-like character, and certainly dances in the hands of Shulman and Goodman. The heartbeat of the work comes in a slow and stately passacaglia, with the harp presenting the four-bar bass line and the flute elaborating the melodic texture. After a handful of variations, the harp also takes it in turn to elaborate and supplement the bare bass figure. It's a fascinating style and texture to find in a chamber work which doesn't use the piano. The music then moves into a more melodic final section which brings the piece to an end in moderate tempo. Like so much of Saint-Saëns' music, this Fantaisie doesn't tread new ground but still manages to present some intriguingly original effects. 

 

The final piece, a shorter "encore" if you like, is the Gnossienne # 5 by Erik Satie, which the artists play from the original piano text. Satie's piece lies very well for the two instruments, and gives Shulman and Goodman a chance to build longer lines and phrases than can be found in much of this program. This cool, gentle music sets a quiet end to a truly unique recital.

 

Anyone who enjoys the light, liquid tones of the flute and harp in partnership need not hesitate as this recording will provide great pleasure to the hearer.

 

The compact disc, and the digital download, can both be ordered from the Bandcamp site at this link:

 

 

A Net of Gems 

 

 

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir 2021-2022 # 2: The Meaning of Christmas

As the second live-performance program since the lifting of pandemic restrictions, the annual Festival of Carols from the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir shared music of rejoicing, music that has highlighted Christmas celebrations for centuries, and modern contributions to the Christmas festival.

 

At the same time, the Choir honoured its more recent tradition of challenging us, demanding that we rethink these annual festivities, and look deeper into the meaning and significance of the traditional story of Christ's birth.

 

Within the restrictions of an 80-minute programme with no intermission, the Choir's Music Director, Jean-Sébastien Vallée, presented a diverse repertoire more than capable of achieving all of these ends. The only "casualty" was the necessary elimination of the traditional Christmas-carol singalong portion of the evening (but see below).

Right there is a good place to consider the significance of the event. Carol singing has spread to multiple regions of the world, and multiple languages, and the music of carols has grown into a rich blend, embracing the gamut from sophisticated art music to simple folk-song. Always, though, the tradition of mass song, of music in which all can join and raise their voices, has been at the heart of carols.

It is just this tradition of mass song and celebration which was one of the most-missed absentees during the Christmas season last year. The mere fact that this year's concert similarly has had to set it aside says much about the need, at Christmas, for us to renew our consideration for the needs and well-being of others, especially of those less fortunate than ourselves. This theme emerged out of several of the selections on the programme.

The greatest delight of the evening was a complete performance of the ravishingly beautiful Lauda per la Natività del Signore by Ottorino Respighi. Knowing Respighi's reputation as a master colourist of the orchestra, one might expect a majestic and powerful musical experience. But the Lauda is a polar opposite to the composer's massive tone poems, using only a piano and a sextet of wind instruments -- two flutes, oboe, English horn, and two bassoons -- to support the choir and three soloists. The result has a lyrical flow, delicacy, restraint, and lightness of touch that place it in a world all its own. And it definitely deserves much wider circulation!

 

The soloists drawn from the choir made a fine contribution, and I think were far better suited to the work than star soloists would have been. Right from the opening phrase, soprano Lesley Emma Bouza portrayed the angel with a voice that floated freely up and down through Respighi's dance-like 6/8 rhythmic patterns. Tenor Nicholas Nicolaidis as the shepherd brought a forthright strength to his contribution. The maternal warmth of Rebecca Claborn's mezzo-soprano voice proved ideal for the Virgin. Whether as shepherds, or as angels praising God, the choir captured the essential quality of power married with restraint, the voices soaring through the beautiful vocal lines. 

The all-important wind parts, whose role is to set and sustain the pastoral quality of the piece, were handled with poise and charm by the gifted musicians of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra (TSYO).

 

The Lauda was led with an ideal flexibility of tempo by conductor Simon Rivard, the Associate Conductor of the Choir and Conductor of the TSYO.

 

This jewel in the Christmas crown was set amidst a diverse assortment of other works, all conducted by the Choir's Music Director Jean-Sébastien Vallée. Some of these pieces were performed unaccompanied, some with organ, piano, and/or brass and percussion support. Some pieces were sung by the full choir, some by the 20-voice professional core group. Each one played a role in building on the picture of Christmas as it was, as we would like to remember it, and as it could be if we have the will to make our world a better, more humane place.

A few of my favourites among these numerous selections would certainly have to include Zoltán Kodály's tonally fluid setting of the ancient plainsong Veni Emmanuel. Also high in my list of favourites comes the lyrically beautiful but emotionally challenging Christus natus est by Rosephanye Powell, set to a poem by Countee Cullen which draws a comparison between the poverty of the stable and the poverty of the world in which we live, and Richard Causton's thorny but gripping The Flight. The poem here, by George Szirtes, draws the comparison even more pointedly and painfully. The choir's performance of this work, with its challenging cross-rhythms and interjections, was both acute and on target.

Among the other arrangements of more traditional Christmas song, I was entranced by the free flow of sound between the different sections of the choir in Andrew Balfour's lovely arrangement of I Wonder As I Wander, an old favourite which developed unexpected aptness when performed in close proximity to the works of Powell and Causton.

On the other hand, the jazzy cross-rhythms and percussion riffs in Paul Halley's arrangement of Il est né le divin enfant ended up muddying the music and concealing the traditional tune as often as supporting it. This piece might perhaps have been better served with a smaller group of singers in a much less resonant acoustic (Yorkminster Park Baptist Church is nothing if not resonant!). This piece, incidentally, comes across much more clearly in the livestream recording, thanks to the use of multiple microphones across the widespread space used by the musicians.

Also in a class of its own was Hyo-Won Woo's setting of the ancient Latin poem O Magnum Mysterium, a piece which married modern harmonies with austere lyricism to create an overall air of mystery entirely in accordance with the text.

 

Organist Matthew Larkin followed the Lauda per la Natività del Signore with an imaginative organ improvisation that led us from Respighi's sound world via a powerful climax to the well-loved O Come All Ye Faithful, the next work on the programme.

 

The concert wound up with a splendid Festival First Noel, arranged by Dan Forest. Here, the full choir, organ, brass, and percussion united in the grandest sound of the evening. And the audience were also invited to join in -- but since health regulations wouldn't permit of singing along, we were invited by Jean-Sébastien Vallée to hum along! Hum along we did, and I'm sure I'm not the only person whose eyes may have gotten a little wet at this proof of our refusal to let the pandemic grind us down!

This wonderful Christmas concert was also live-streamed. For those who may have missed it, the live stream recording (and the complete concert programme, with sung texts and notes) can still be accessed via the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir's website until December 26, and I would urge one and all to take full advantage!

 

Festival of Carols 2021