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Tchaikovsky: The Queen Of Spades (Ballet Version) / Lacombe, Orchestre Des Grands Ballets Canadiens De Montreal
The balletic action unfolds in seven sections. Part 1 (18:37), the longest, sets the mood with the Countess’s aria, “Je crains de lui parler de nuit,” a melody Tchaikovsky borrowed from Grétry for period flavor. Motives associated with Gherman’s troubled character then lead to events occurring in the Private Gaming Club, with the music of Tomsky and his comrades entertaining themselves with the mysterious legend of the “Three Cards,” as the scene concludes with the return of the Grétry melody. Without having seen the ballet, the impression is clearly conveyed that the Old Countess is the drama’s principal character.
Part 2 is misleadingly called “A Park in Leningrad” (for reasons known to its creators, the ballet represents the Soviet era of 1938). This is a lyric episode embracing Pauline’s aria and her duet with Lisa, reasonably true to Tchaikovsky’s music, with a discreet accordion part added to the orchestration. The lengthy part 3 (“Soirée au ballet”) combines the opera’s Mozartian pastoral music and the love themes from the Lisa/Gherman scene. The combination may sound incongruous on paper, but it is no doubt effective choreographically, culminating with an exciting “Pas de deux.” Part 4 (“At the Countess’s Home”) is a skillfully condensed free musical elaboration of the turbulent scene involving, again, the Grétry aria, Gherman breaking the solitude of the frightened Countess, her sudden death, and Lisa’s shocked reaction.
Part 5, called “The Funeral,” opens with Gherman in the barracks, with trumpet sounds in the distance. The ghost of the Countess makes her appearance and reveals the secret of the “Three Cards.” Part 6 (“At the Bridge”) nicely condenses Lisa’s desperate third-act aria with the subsequent intense duet with Gherman and Lisa’s suicide. The concluding part 7 takes us back to the Private Gaming Club, with its busy Prokofiev-style gambling atmosphere. We hear expressions of Gherman’s despair, interwoven reflections of the love music, suggestions of the tragic end, as the “Grétry motive” provides a pianissimo underpainting to Gherman’s dying moments.
Lovers of this opera should know that Prince Yeletsky does not appear in this ballet—nor is he present in the Pushkin novel. Accordingly, there is no reference here of the Prince’s gorgeous aria, which, however justified, is a pity. Still, the ballet is put together with great skill and is undeniably pleasing to the eye and ear. The musical presentation is fine, but the recorded sound, with its lack of depth and immediacy, is somewhat colorless.
FANFARE: George Jellinek
Noel Pianissimo
BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6
Schubert: The Testament
Brahms: The Three Violin Sonatas
BACH, J.S.: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
CANTUS ANGELICUS: Gregorian Chants
QUILICO, Louis: Mr. Rigoletto - My Life in Music
Bach: Toccata Adagio And Fugue, Etc Vol 2 / Bernard Lagacé
Includes work(s) for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach. Soloist: Bernard Lagacé.
Strauss: Lieder
Jazz for Christmas (Jazz Pour Noel) -Trio Lorraine Desmarais
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 4 - Scriabin: Promethee
The Bounds of Our Dreams / Shelley, Lefevre, Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra
The musicians on this album are some of the best in Canada. Pianist Alain Lefèvre, Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, and its conductor Alexander Shelley and composer Walter Boudreau have come together for the world premiere recording of Boudreau’s masterful Concerto de l’asile, a tribute to the playwright and poet Claude Gauvreau (1925-1971). A musical summit that will mark the history of contemporary music! In addition to this concerto, you will hear the classic Shéhérazade, Op. 35 by Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov. The orchestra and its conductor unfold an epic tableau from One Thousand and One Nights as they conjure to life the brilliant and cunning Scheherazade who emerges victorious in her resistance against the evil Shahriar. Splendid!
V3: THE COMPLETE SONATAS
VIOLIN SONATAS NOS. 1, 2, 3, 5
Beethoven, L. van: Piano Trios Nos. 2 and 7, "Archduke"
Bach, J.S.: Keyboard Concertos Bwv 1052, 1056 / Sonata No. 2
Cantus Mariales: Gregorian Chant
Anthology / Luc Beasejour
WINTERREISE
Constantinople & Francoise Atlan: Premiers Songes
Montreal Guitare Trio: Danzas
Adagio - A Consideration Of A Serious Matter / Ensemble Caprice
Under the artistic direction of Matthias Maute, Ensemble Caprice is renowned for its innovative interpretations of baroque music. Centered around Bach’s aria Ich habe genug, this recording of adagios presents choral and orchestral pieces, mostly well-known to the general public, all having one element in common: they are all meditations on the fundamental questions of life and death. Throughout history composers have attempted to express the seemingly endless pain of human suffering through music. All performed on baroque instruments, the examples contained on this recording are among some of the most powerful explorations of this emotional space.
