CD and Book Reviews - my/maSCENA

Nathaniel Watson, baryton

CD Review: Winterreise (Leaf music, 2022)

By Justin Bernard on 31 March 2022 Art Song, CD and Book Reviews

Winterreise Nathaniel Watson, baritone; Michael McMahon, piano Leaf music, 2022 Written in the year preceding his death, Winterreise is a monumental work in Franz Schubert’s oeuvre. The cycle of 24 lieder that sets into music a series of poems by Wilhelm Müller never ceases to be recorded, a recent addition being this one out on the Canadian label Leaf Music. What stands out in this version is the impeccable German diction of baritone Nathaniel Watson. His rapport with the songs seems so intimate that he makes you want to rediscover them again. The label’s attention to sound quality is also…

CD Review: Baritenor (Erato, 2022)

By Justin Bernard on 31 March 2022 CD and Book Reviews, Opera

Baritenor Michael Spyres, baritone-tenor; Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg; Marko Letonja, conductor. Erato, 2022 Tenor Michael Spyres is a name known to all opera buffs, his reputation hinging on a repertoire of light operatic fare. Critics rave about his performances of Italian arias by Donizetti and Bellini, but native French speakers give him high marks for his impeccable diction of lyrics in their own tongue. That said, the star vocalist has another ace in his deck. In his latest effort, entitled Baritenor and issued on the Erato label, he sticks to his usual range while dropping it a few steps into…

CD Review: lumena (Self-produced, 2022)

By Justin Bernard on 31 March 2022 CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary

lumena The Topaz Duo; Kaili Maimets, flute, Angela Schwarzkopf, harp. Self-produced, 2022 Having met each other for the first time as music undergrads, flutist Kaili Maimets and harpist Angela Schwarzkopf decided soon thereafter to perform as a duo. Yet, it took them more than 12 years of playing together to make their recording debut. By common accord they wanted to present completely new works, of which the Sonata for Flute and Harp op. 56 by Lowell Liebermann and lumena by Riho Esko Maimets (brother of the flutist) are featured alongside another sonata for flute and harp by Marjan Mozetich and…

CD Review: Underwater (Decca, 2022)

By Justin Bernard on 31 March 2022 CD and Book Reviews, Movie soundtrack music

Underwater Ludovico Einaudi, composer and pianist Decca, 2022 This is Ludovico Einaudi’s first original solo piano project in close to 20 years. Born in 1955, this notable Italian keyboardist and composer is best known for his film scores, but the pandemic allowed him to return to his instrument full time. He has now emerged from the lockdown with 12 new works, the title track Underwater being, in his words, a metaphor of sorts, or an expression of a very fluid environment untainted by external influences. Bearing this in mind, the music seems to have been conceived for undivided listening. The…

CD Review: Unreleased (Decca Classics, 2021)

By Justin Bernard on 31 March 2022 CD and Book Reviews, Opera

Unreleased Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano, Maxim Vengerov, violin; Basel’s Kammerorchester (Switzerland), Muhai Tang, conductor Decca Classics, 2021 No one in the music world circumvented the pandemic, not even its most celebrated icons. Cecilia Bartoli, for one, spent her time away from the scene to dig into her own archives, the outcome of her searches resulting in the issuing of Unreleased late last year. “Unreleased is the result of many hours spent at home over a period of several months,” she explained. “While the restrictions […] have sometimes been difficult to bear, they have also offered us the opportunity to pause, breathe…

CD Review: Amata Dalle Tenebre (Deutsche Grammophon, 2021)

By Justin Bernard on 31 March 2022 CD and Book Reviews, Opera

Amata Dalle Tenebre (Deluxe edition) Anna Netrebko, soprano; Orchestra of the Teatro della Scala; Riccardo Chailly, conductor. Deutsche Grammophon, 2021 For her first solo album in five years, Russian soprano Anna Netrebko has graced her long- awaited release (Amata Dalle Tenebre) with a visual component videotaped during the recording date that took place at Milan’s La Scala. Four video clips of as many arias are offered as part of the package. In these selections, the singer is not only seen performing, but donning the costumes for each role, these being Aida from Verdi’s eponymous opera, Lisa in Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame,…

CD Review: Baratin d’marins (Socan, 2022)

By Justin Bernard on 31 March 2022 CD and Book Reviews, Folk

Baratin d’marins Seán Dagher, conductor, arranger; Pierre-Alexandre Saint-Yves, Alexander Kehler, Amanda Keesmaat, Kate Bevan-Baker, Éric Breton, Jean-François Daignault, Claire Gignac. Socan, 2022 For its new album, La Nef has put together a repertoire of folksongs dedicated to seafarers. When one considers the numerous ship-related metaphors designating its past projects, it should not be that surprising to see yet another one appear in this offering. The Baratin d’marins, roughly translated as “seaman’s twaddle,” comprises a selection of songs dealing with the hardships of seamen from the north of France and Quebec who are confronted by the harshness of the elements and…

Blue Notes and Book Notes

By Marc Chénard on 30 March 2022 CD and Book Reviews, Scena Jazz

Steve Lacy (Unfinished) Guillaume Tarche, editor Lenka Lente Paris 2021, 556 p. Few musicians rival the late soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy (1934-2004) in terms of recorded output. Aside from the more than a couple of hundred records, his life story has been documented in book form (Steve Lacy, Conversations) and his music in a self-written treatise (Soundings). The copious 500-page tome herewith, published last year, is a celebratory work about the artist’s life and times as seen through the lenses of friends and associates, scholars and students, journalists and critics, not to forget his partner in life, singer Irene Aebi.…

Oktoecho: Transcestral (2021)

By Justin Bernard on 16 January 2022 CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary, Indigenous, Vocal, World Music

Katia Makdissi-Warren, musical and electronic arrangements; Joséphine Bacon, Innu poet; Nina Segalowitz, Inuit throat singer; Hélène Martel, vocals. The blending of styles and cultures is a topic that comes up a lot when we talk about world music. The approach of Katia Makdissi-Warren and the Oktoecho team, followed by a host of musicians, is somewhat different. Their Transcestral project is, rather, the meeting of two world cultures, Sufism, on the one hand, and that of the First Nations, on the other hand, which is put forward with the notable contribution of Western styles. Needless to say,…

Antoine Laporte

Gabriel Pierné: Feuillet d’album (2021)

By Justin Bernard on 24 December 2021 CD and Book Reviews, Piano, Romantic

Gabriel Pierné: Feuillet d’albumAntoine Laporte, pianoSelf-produced with the support of CALQ (2021) The unique repertoire of this double album is reason enough to recommend it. It plunges us into the little-known musical universe of Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937), a French composer contemporary of Claude Debussy and Gabriel Fauré. The title Feuillet d’album, which appears on the cover of the box set, is also taken from Pierné’s Fifteen Pieces for the Piano. We remain in awe of the composer’s inventiveness, moving from fluid writing to more square writing, from lyricism or an almost aquatic atmosphere to a funeral atmosphere. The last piece…

Browsing: CD and Book Reviews

CD Review: Winterreise (Leaf music, 2022)

CD Review: Baritenor (Erato, 2022)

CD Review: lumena (Self-produced, 2022)

CD Review: Underwater (Decca, 2022)

CD Review: Unreleased (Decca Classics, 2021)

CD Review: Amata Dalle Tenebre (Deutsche Grammophon, 2021)

CD Review: Baratin d’marins (Socan, 2022)

Blue Notes and Book Notes

Oktoecho: Transcestral (2021)

Gabriel Pierné: Feuillet d’album (2021)

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