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Forbidden City Tour
Songs of the Stable / Joudrey, Halifax Camerata Singers
Described by the Halifax Chronicle-Herald as "one of the most radiant a capella choir CDs of this or any previous Christmas," Halifax Camerata's recording 'Songs of the Stable' has continued to be a treasure among classical music fans since it's initial release more than 10 years ago. The album was recently featured on CBC's nationally broadcast choral concert program and features a collection of Christmas music by Canadian composers. The Halifax Camerata Singers is Atlantic Canada’s premier chamber choir. Founded in 1986 by Artistic Director Jeff Joudrey, the Nova Scotia ensemble has distinguished itself by performing exciting choral repertoire that covers all periods and styles, with special attention to Canadian music. The auditioned choir is known for its high performance standards, claiming national recognition and the Healy Willan Grand Prize in the 2010 National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs.
Canadian Hits: Unplugged
Haydn: Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 / deMaine, Suben, Moravian Philharmonic
Robert deMaine is an American virtuoso cellist who has been hailed by The New York Times as "an artist who makes one hang on every note.” He has distinguished himself as one of the finest and most versatile instrumentalists of his generation, performing to critical acclaim as soloist, recitalist, orchestral principal, recording artist and chamber musician. He is currently Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and is in demand around the world as a soloist, chamber musician and clinician. This recording is a collaboration with New York conductor Joel Eric Suben and the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra recorded at Reduta Conceret Hall in Olomuc, Czech Republic. It was in this spirit of personalized composition that Haydn wrote his Cello Concerto in C major, Hob. VIIb:1, for the Esterházy family. The piece was unknown to modern audiences until 1961, when a copy of the score was uncovered. Since that time, it has become a staple of the cello repertoire, championed by many of the world’s greatest cellists. Robert deMaine adds his name to that list with this lush recording. Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D major, Hob. VIIb:2 was written for the Esterházy orchestra’s principal cellist Antonín Kraft, who is said to have had a beautiful singing tone, expressive phrasing, and an explosive technique, especially in the cello’s upper register. All of this is realized once again in this fresh performance from Robert deMaine.
1747 / Infusion Baroque
Winners of the Grand Prize and Audience Prize at the 2014 Early Music America Baroque Performance Competition, Montreal based Infusion Baroque has produced a much anticipated debut album featuring five trio sonatas by CPE Bach. Infusion Baroque is in high demand among early music concert presenters throughout North America. They maintain a busy touring schedule, and plan to release many albums following the present release. Their performances have been described as “dynamic and alive” with a stage presence that is “poised and elegant.” Infusion Baroque is flutist Alexa Raine-Wright, violinist Sallynee Amawat, cellist Andrea Stewart, and harpsichordist Rona Nadler.
Nostos
Selected Works
Skye Consort & Emma Bjorling
Shore: Sea to Sea / New Brunwick Youth Orchestra
Rossini: 6 Sonate a Quattro / Bruno, Fewer, Silver, Quarrington
Sonate a Quattro are the brilliant compositions from Italian composer Gioachino Rossini, written during the summer of 1804 at the young age of 12. These works, at the time, were commonly performed by wind quartet and it wasn’t until 1954 when the original manuscripts were discovered in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. showing their original arrangement for string quartet. The world premiere recording of Rossini: 6 Sonate a Quattro features two of Canada’s most respected and beloved performers - Mark Fewer (violin), and Joel Quarrington (bass) - and two of North America’s rising stars - Yolanda Bruno (violin), and Julian Schwarz (cello) and produced by JUNO award-winning producer John D.S. Adams. These performances, from November 2017, were recorded in collaboration with the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance using the newly released (2014) Critical Edition published by the Fondazione Rossini Pesaro.
Resonance - Music for Marimba & Cello
Respighi & Puccini: String Quartets
Partners in Time, Pt. 2: Boundless Notes
Keeping Faith
Chinese Treasures
Handel: Messiah
Ensemble Caprice and Ensemble Vocal-Arts Québec, under the direction of Matthias Maute, present George Frideric Handel’s Messiah featuring Karina Gauvin. Although it is certainly not the first recording of The Messiah, it serves as an opening act to new beginnings; a breath of fresh air after the isolation and empty concert halls caused by the pandemic. These Messiah excerpts feature Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin, known especially for her interpretation of Baroque music, and the recipient of the prestigious award of “Soloist of the year” award by the Communauté internationale des radios publique de langue français. The recording also features the flute part from Mozart’s arrangement of The Messiah, honoring the two giants, Handel and Mozart, of the classical compositional world. Opening the album is composer Jaap Nico Hamburger’s Hope and Belief, which served as the title track for Ensemble Caprice and Ensemble Vocal-Arts Québec Mini Concerts Sante, and closes with Matthias Maute’s piece “O magnum mysterium,” which “attempts to grasp something of the elusive mystery of music.”
Lady of the Lake / Batt
This new release is the debut album of soprano Maureen Batt, and features a rare recording of Schubert’s “Op. 52 Lady of the Lake” song cycle and a newly commissioned work on the same epic Walter Scott poem by Nova Scotian composer Fiona Ryan. Sir Walter Scott’s Lady of the Lake is set during an uprising of the Highland clans against the Lowland Scots who are loyal to King James V. The story focuses on Ellen Douglas, a young woman who lives in exile with her father, an outlaw who has fallen out of favor with the royal court and fled to an island in Loch Katrine with his daughter. Today, the work is not that widely known but in the nineteenth century it was a bestselling book throughout Europe. It was translated into several languages, including German which Schubert used for his song texts. Fiona Ryan writes about her contributions to this album: “I draw upon Scottish (and Nova Scotian) folk music traditions in my songs. Some movements are very obviously influenced by Scottish folksongs…and others draw inspiration from rhythmic patterns, ornamentation, and droning sounds found in Scottish bagpipe music. In a way, this project is about bringing people and ideas together… Although this is a story of a different and dangerous time, it gives an affirmative answer to the eternal question of whether people who are enemies can eventually reconcile.”
Twelve Sacred Choral Concerti & Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
Juno nominated chamber choir Luminous Voices along with Spiritus Chamber Choir presents twelve works by Ukranian composer Artem Vedel (1767-1808). Considered one of Ukraine’s ‘Golden Three’ composers of the 18th century, these masterpieces of Ukrainian Classical Choral Music include twelve sacred choral concerti & Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Under the direction of Dr. Timothy Shantz and with support from the Ukrainian Music Society of Alberta, the works of Vedel continue to be associated with the boisterous wave of national rebirth, imbued with a connection and influence of national folklore.
Togni: Sea Dreams / Luminous Voices
Kreusser: 6 Quintettos, Op. 10 / Infusion Baroque
Infusion Baroque draws new audiences to early music through a truly captivating concert experience, deftly combining seasoned musicianship with theatrical elements. Described as “dynamic and alive” (Early Music America) with “polish, energy, and finely-honed style… merrily breaking established traditions” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), the four women of Infusion Baroque enthrall audiences across North America with their creative and interactive programming. Their debut album 1747: C.P.E. Bach was released in 2017 and reached #3 on iTunes Canada Classical chart. Infusion Baroque's second album is the debut recording of six rare quintets by Georg Anton Kreüsser. Joyful and elegant, these pieces for flute, violin, viola, cello, and basso continuo feature the instruments engaged in a lively musical conversation that are sure to delight and charm listeners.
Goddess of the Cello / Walevska
Savour the creative talent heard through these hand-picked selections of Christine Walevska, cellist extroadinaire, who continues to touch her audiences worldwide with her timeless, polished, eloquent, sensuous, engaging and dramatic musicality. Christine is known for her numerous recordings with Philips Records, and for her countless concertos worldwide. In 1975, she became the first American concert musician to perform in Cuba under the regime of Fidel Castro. Music Critic Antonio Hernandez wrote in the Brazilian newspaper O Globo that Christine was the “goddess of the cello,” a name which she is still called today. “She is still the only cellist who takes my breath away…” (Arthur Rubenstein) “She parallels on the cello the single persuasiveness of Fritz Kreisler on the violin…” (Patterson Greene, Los Angeles Music Critic)
Hamburger: Chamber Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 / Maute, Ensemble Caprice
Roots / Ventus Machina
Roots’ is Ventus Machina's second full length album. The track list includes eight arrangements by Ventus Machina's clarinetist James Kalyn, including Canadian folk hits by Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchel and Gordon Lightfoot; tunes by local bluegrass legend Ray Legere; and traditional songs that have been chosen by the members of Ventus Machina to represent their heritage and first musical influences. Guests on the album include bluegrass fiddler and mandolin player Ray Legere, clarinetist Andrew George and percussionist Joel Cormier. Formed in 2011, the New Brunswick-based woodwind quintet Ventus Machina quickly became a major player on Canada’s east coast classical music scene. Their flexible and dynamic style of performance—often presenting themed programs that at once engage, entertain, and educate—continues to attract and delight increasingly diverse audiences. Classically based and uncompromising in artistic quality, Ventus Machina makes regular excursions into other genres including jazz, opera, Latin and pop, challenging themselves and surprising their audiences.
Platti: Flute Sonatas, Op. 3
Lovers & Mourners - Variations & Sonatas from 1600s Germany / D.K. Bandy, Knox, Frey
Lovers and Mourners: Variations and Sonatas from 17th-century Germany, offers a comprehensive glimpse into the lives of virtuoso composer-performers Johann Jakob Walther, Heinrich Biber, and Johann Georg Pisendel. The Composers featured on Lovers and Mourners drew upon the “stylus phantasticus,” a 17th-century Italian idiom whose features were marked by jagged shifts of affect and intended to display the player’s technical command and expressive abilities.
Bandy nimbly guides the listener through a labyrinth of variation sets and themes, simultaneously reproducing faithful interpretations of the music while injecting his own unique touch. Lovers and Mourners boasts a brief, yet intense survey of one of the richest chapters in the history of the virtuoso composer-performer.
