“Weil and his [Tafelmusik] players convince us that Beethoven can sound as radical in the 21st century as he must have done in the 19th”- Gramophone Magazine. Tafelmusik is thrilled to present its recordings of the complete Beethoven symphonies, six CDs packaged in a striking box set. Recorded under the direction of conductor Bruno Weil over a twelve-year period, Tafelmusik’s cycle marks the first time a North American orchestra has recorded all nine Beethoven symphonies on period instruments. Recorded in Toronto at Koerner Hall and George Weston Recital Hall between 2004 and 2016, these performances chart Tafelmusik’s evolution as it expanded its repertoire to explore the music of classical and early romantic composers. The set contains recordings originally made for the Analekta label, including the JUNO Award-winning Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6, and the JUNO Award-nominated Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8. Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and the JUNO Award-nominated Symphony No. 9 were recorded live in concert on the Tafelmusik Media label. Under the direction of Bruno Weil, Tafelmusik first performed a Beethoven symphony (No. 2) in Toronto in 1993. Maestro Weil also directed the orchestra in international performances of Beethoven symphonies at the Klang und Raum Festival in Irsee, Germany, during its 19-year tenure there as orchestra-in-residence. Much admired by the international music press, Tafelmusik’s Beethoven interpretations have been praised for their “transparency of articulation and balance … remarkable precision, vitality and tonal focus. Beethoven benefits mightily from the silken strings, woodsy winds, clarion brasses and pinpoint timpani” (Gramophone Magazine). “We approach the Beethoven concerts and recording as if they were the very first performances, as though the music had been composed yesterday. There’s no sense of routine with Tafelmusik musicians and everybody’s playing with a full heart and a full soul and spirit. That is the secret to a great performance,” - Bruno Weil. “Although the Beethoven symphonies are familiar to many music lovers, few have had the privilege to experience them as Tafelmusik and Bruno Weil have over the past many years. Our journey with Bruno exploring these great works has been a profound and intensely personal one.” - Jeanne Lamon, Music Director Emerita

Tafelmusik’s stunning multimedia concert Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House is now available as an audio soundtrack and video that was filmed before a live audience at the Aga Khan Museum’s auditorium in Toronto. Inspired by the colourful, opulent world of 18th-century Saxon and Syrian coffee houses, Tales of Two Cities is performed entirely from memory by Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, ensemble Trio Arabica — Maryem Tollar, voice and qanun; Demetri Petsalakis, oud; and Naghmeh Farahmand, percussion — with narrator Alon Nashman. Described as an “enterprising concept … [that] blends elements that are entertaining, educational, musically rewarding and visually arresting” (Huffington Post Canada), Tales of Two Cities received rapturous critical acclaim at its May 2016 Toronto premiere and was named Best Concert of 2016 by the Spanish classical music magazine Codalario.com. Film extras include subtitles in Arabic, a video on the restoration of the Dresden Damascus Room, behind-the-scenes footage from rehearsals, and a nine-camera split screen video of the orchestra performing Bach’s Sinfonia after BWV 248 in a new arrangement by Tafelmusik.

A landmark Tafelmusik recording, Vivaldi con amore is the orchestra’s first with Music Director Elisa Citterio. This all-Vivaldi album showcases Citterio and members of the orchestra in concertos for violin, oboe, bassoon, and lute, underlining the level of virtuosity across the ensemble. Elisa Citterio is featured as violin soloist in Vivaldi’s love-themed concertos “L'amoroso” and “L'amato bene,” while Tafelmusik’s remarkable musicians—Cristina Zacharias, Patricia Ahern, Geneviève Gilardeau, and Julia Wedman, violins; John Abberger and Marco Cera, oboes; Dominic Teresi, bassoon, and Lucas Harris, lute, are featured as soloists in the vibrant concertos that complete the program, which opens with the Sinfonia from Vivaldi’s opera Ottone in villa. “In the collective imagination Vivaldi truly represents ‘l’italianità,’ or the Italian character. His music describes and evokes landscapes, states of mind, and characters in a very direct way. Vivaldi’s music speaks unambiguously to people’s hearts.” —Elisa Citterio

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REVIEW:

Citterio’s affinity for Vivaldi has become very clear in her short time with Tafelmusik. Her splendid playing always delights. Yet it is in her invitational style of leadership that she brings the orchestra to perform with precision, joy and sparkling musicality.

– Toronto Concert Reviews

THE GALILEO PROJECT • Jeanne Lamon, dir; Tafelmusik Baroque O (period instruments) • TAFELMUSIK 1001 (DVD: 86: 47; CD: 56:54)


Music of BACH, GALILEI, HANDEL, LULLY, MARINI, MERULA, MONTEVERDI, PURCELL, RAMEAU, TELEMANN, VIVALDI, WEISS, ZELENKA


In my review of Amarillis’s performances of J. C. Bach’s music elsewhere in this issue, I am quite hard on them for not only a lack of inspiration but an outright lack of involvement in anything they are playing. That is definitely something that cannot be said of Canada’s brilliant early-music group Tafelmusik. Everything it plays not only sounds enthusiastic but as if it were freshly written.


Thus it was an unalloyed pleasure to put the CD from this set on first to hear the group’s musical approach before watching the same works performed on the DVD. Just listen to the exquisitely shaded readings of the Marini Passacaglia or the Zelenka Adagio, then turn to the unbelievably enthusiastic readings of music by Lully and Rameau, the uplifting version of the Bach BWV 29 Sinfonia, or the way they bang the tambourine and bounce their way through the “Moresca” from Monteverdi’s Orfeo. This is a group that really knows how to play, and convey its enthusiasm for the music to the listener.


The Galileo Project came about via the intervention of Canadian astronomer John Percy, who also happened to be an enthusiastic fan of the group. When the U.N. announced its Year of Astronomy in 2009 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first use of the telescope, Percy arranged for Tafelmusik to get funding for this concert, which was first presented at the Banff Center.


The reason for the time discrepancy (a half hour) between the DVD and CD versions of the concert is the scripted text, delivered here by noted Scottish-Canadian actor Shaun Smyth. Written by Tafelmusik member Alison Mackay (she’s the redhead who plays bass for the band), it includes descriptions of the heavens, the legend of Phaeton, stories about Galileo and readings from his books, stories about Newton and Kepler, and through it all is woven music evocative of the spirit of what is being talked about. Smyth’s delivery is enthusiastic, and he sets a good tone for the program. In the background, a projector shows telescope photos of the heavens and illustrations of the scientists while the orchestra continually moves around in a circle (at least, the ambulatory ones, not the cello or bass players). One of the purposes for this movement, it turns out, is that on various pieces different members of the group play lead. This is a pretty scary group in which every single violinist or wind player is capable of being a soloist on any given number, but that’s just how good Tafelmusik is.


The bonus features of the DVD are what I can best describe as classical-music videos of Tafelmusik playing Rameau’s “Entrance of Jupiter,” Handel’s Allegro, and Lully’s Chaconne from Phaeton. These have remarkable video graphics designed by Electric Square. In the first (combining the Rameau and Handel), the orchestra plays amid a giant pop-up book with pop-up buildings in a town square; as the music progresses and more instruments are heard, the musicians themselves pop up from the ground. It’s extremely clever. In the second video (the Lully Chaconne from Phaeton ), they’re playing in the midst of a giant astrolabe/gyroscope, floating in space, which is highly effective.


If you are a fan of Tafelmusik or many of the works played here, this set is highly recommended, but if you’re also a fan of astronomy, the combination of the music, visuals, and spoken text is an unalloyed joy.


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

Tafelmusik presents Beethoven's landmark Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" - an heroic and monumental symphony originally dedicated to Napoleon - and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 "Italian." with historical performances Maestro Weil and his players may yet convince you that "Beethoven can sound as radical in 21st century as he must have in the 19th" (Gramophone).

There are several multi-disc sets featuring Purcell’s complete Ayres for the Theatre, but remarkably few that offer a generous selection on a single disc. Here we have extended suites from Dioclesian, King Arthur, The Fairy Queen, and The Indian Queen. These collections of brief dances and interludes, with most individual numbers lasting less than two minutes, are unfailingly fresh and entertaining, and they are played here with exceptional enthusiasm and verve. The suite from The Fairy Queen is particularly extensive and wide-ranging in its musical material. This release seemed to get somewhat lost in the shuffle when originally released on Sony, appearing and dropping out of sight almost quicker than the shortest number included on the disc itself (33 seconds, if you want to be exact). So it’s great to see it salvaged from the musical wreck that is now Sony/BMG, and reissued on the orchestra’s own label. This initiative deserves success, just as this disc deserves a place in your collection.

— David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Tafelmusik's Music Director since 1981, violinist Jeanne Lamon has been loved by audiences and praised by critics internationally for her virtuosity and brilliant leadership. Including beloved works such as “Summer” from The Four Seasons, the Bach Concerto in D minor for two violins, and a diverse selection of baroque repertoire, this Special Limited Edition CD was selected from 20 years of Ms. Lamon's performances to be released in this special commemorative edition on the Tafelmusik Media label.

The return of these Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra releases, refugees from Sony Classical’s former “Vivarte” imprint, are very welcome reminders of the high level of musicianship and technical mastery period-instrument performers had achieved by around 1990. This was a group that celebrated the sound of its instruments and whose soloists played with relish and a virtuoso flair that never gave a hint that a Baroque cello or violin was any less worthy than their modern counterparts. Just listen to Anner Bylsma’s dynamic and commanding solos, and take note of the wonderful interplay between Bylsma and violinist Jeanne Lamon in the Allegro molto third movement of the B-flat major concerto. As for style, the allegros are as crisp and lively as can be, the violins pleasingly bright, the inner parts rich and vibrant. And notice the affecting use of vibrato in the Largo of the G major concerto for 2 violins and 2 cellos: it’s some of the loveliest Vivaldi playing you’ll ever hear. And the sound quality is equal to that of the performances. Highly recommended.

-- David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

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This collection of concertos for various combinations of stringed instruments is drawn from recordings made by Tafelmusik in 1990, when it was collaborating with Baroque cellist extraordinaire Anner Bylsma. This rerelease is part of the new Tafelmusik label, which, as I noted in the last issue, is a trend that seems to have become more common as the major labels (all save for Naxos) are in a state of flux. As noted, this allows a more direct control over their legacy, as well as providing a marketing niche that both promotes the continued existence of the ensemble and keeps the recordings from going out of print. It is a good trend to see occurring, and hopefully it will come with continued success.


For this set, all of the works have been available on numerous other recordings, all the way from the Academy of Ancient Music to Ton Koopman to Itzhak Perlman; such a list would be exhausting to recall here. Tafelmusik’s renditions, however, have the same benefit as their other recordings of precision, fire, and musicality that bring the works to life. Cellist Bylsma uses blazing fingerwork and technical virtuosity in the tortuous solo lines that makes one sit up and take notice. There is no caution here, but rather the sort of brilliant display that brings these somewhat formulaic works to life. When joined in the B?-Major double concerto by leader Jeanne Lamon, the combination is electric, and even when two others are added to the quadruple concerto, the energy is still maintained. In the quadruple violin concerto, the four soloists are so well coordinated and blended that one is almost convinced that this was one person playing all parts and then having it spliced together. The phrasing complements the score perfectly, with fine and detailed nuances, whether the entire group is performing the ensemble concerti grossi, or supporting the various soloists.


In short, this is the way that Vivaldi ought to be played, in my opinion, and now more than two decades later, it has stood the test of time from when it was released by Sony. There may be other interpretations of these works out there that are equally fine, but for me this will remain one of the standards. If you haven’t yet added it to your collection of Vivaldi’s concertos, this is your opportunity to renew an acquaintance with the excellence that marks Tafelmusik as a premiere Baroque music ensemble.


FANFARE: Bertil van Boer

RAMEAU Dardanus: Suite. Le Temple de la gloire: Suite • Jeanne Lamon, cond; Tafelmusik Baroque O (period instruments) • TAFELMUSIK 1012 (67:12)

This arrived as a companion to Tafelmusik’s recording of Handel’s Royal Fireworks Music, which, with any luck, will be found reviewed elsewhere in this issue. Like that CD, this one is not new either; it was recorded in 2001 and originally released by CBC Records. Unlike the Handel disc, however, which was reviewed by Bernard Jacobson in Fanfare 21:5 when it initially appeared on Sony Classical, this Rameau CD does not appear to have been previously reviewed here.

As you can see from the headnote, this is not Rameau’s opera Dardanus, but an extended suite of 16 orchestral numbers taken from it. For a review of the complete opera, see entries by Brian Robins in 24:1 and Barry Brenesal in 31:5. Fortunately for me, since the recording at hand offers only the score’s overture and a generous helping of its set dances, I don’t have to deal with the labyrinthine twists and turns of Dardanus’s unwieldy plot or the infighting and even physical brawling that ensued between factions loyal to Rameau and those supporting Lully. From what I’ve read, things got pretty down and dirty, worse even, perhaps, than the infamous onstage slapping, hair-pulling, and nasty name-calling disturbance of the dueling divas that arose between sopranos Cuzzoni and Faustina during a performance of Bononcini’s Astinatte at London’s Haymarket Theatre in 1726.

One would be well advised to forego fluid intake before a performance of Dardanus, for as its critics complained, the opera was so stuffed with notes that for three hours there wasn’t time enough to sneeze. If it’s true, as the movie Amadeus has it, that the Emperor Joseph II thought there were too many notes in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, he’d have been carried out unconscious and wet from a performance of Rameau’s Dardanus.

The good news is that the suite recorded here lasts a mere 37 minutes and is a treat of pure terpsichorean delight. Ballet still played a central role in French Baroque opera when Dardanus came into being in 1739, and based on the evidence of these dance movements, Rameau invested a good deal of effort into capturing the musical essence of their steps. Lamon and Tafelmusik do likewise in performances that pirouette and plié with stylish elegance and flair.

No doubt exhausted by the trials and tribulations surrounding Dardanus, Rameau swore off opera for the next four years, concentrating on revisions and other projects. But in 1745 he received a number of commissions, among which was one for a short, one-act opera-ballet for the court’s entertainment. For the occasion, Rameau offered Le Temple de la gloire, a work on which he’d collaborated with Voltaire. It’s a tale of three kings, each seeking access to the Temple of Glory. The first two are turned away, but the third, obviously intended to personify Louis XV, is granted entrance. The story also doubles as a thinly disguised allegory on the relationship between the King and his mistress, Madame de Pompadour. It seems not to have occurred to the well-meaning Rameau that Louis’s wife, Queen Marie, and her children would be there. Oops. As one writer put it, “Rameau’s intended tribute was received with little enthusiasm.”

Rameau was one of music’s greatest—perhaps the greatest—master of the dance, and the two suites offered on this CD will keep your feet tapping for more than an hour. I continue to marvel at the robustness of Tafelmusik’s playing, noted in my review of the ensemble’s Handel album. This is a recording for those who hate period instruments (or think they do), because Tafelmusik’s mastery of them is of such consummate technical and artistic skill that you may well believe you’re listening to modern instruments. This whole disc is a joy from beginning to end.

FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra presents a magical journey to the meeting places of baroque art and music - visit five European homes where exquisite works by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Marais are played against a backdrop of gorgeous paintings by Vermeer, Canaletto and Watteau. Beautifully filmed in Toronto, at the Handel House in London UK, and in the gondolas, historic buildings and cafes of Venice, Italy. This is a totally memorized performance by the virtuoso players of Tafelmusik. The DVD includes a bonus track interview with Handel House Director Sarah Baldwell. A CD soundtrack is included.

HAYDN Symphonies Nos. 82–87 , “Paris” • Bruno Weil, cond; Tafelmusik Baroque O • TAFELMUSIK TMK1013CD2 (2 CDs: 144:09)


This set, recorded in 1994, is a reissue of two Sony CDs reviewed by John Wiser in Fanfare 19:2. For these “Paris” Symphonies, the period-instrument group Tafelmusik has a suitably large string section: 8/7/5/4/2. Bruno Weil chooses generally rapid tempos, the playing is crisp and clean, the sounds sweet—this Toronto-based ensemble plays at a relatively high pitch for period-practice performers. In the notes to this set, H. C. Robbins Landon describes the first movement, Vivace assai, of Symphony No. 82 as “an enormously powerful affair, with thundering fanfares” and says that “The finale (Vivace) returns to the power of the first movement; the development section, in particular, generates an enormous forward drive, and its coda is a brilliant conclusion to this highly masculine symphony.” Weil generates as much power as this medium-sized ensemble can muster, but nowhere near that of Leonard Bernstein’s New York Philharmonic, which uses only a few more strings ( Fanfare 33:2) and was once praised by Landon himself as one of “the great Haydn recordings of all time.” In the finale, some details of the fugal section are obscured by Weil’s hectic tempo. His is a fine performance nevertheless, on a par with that of Sigiswald Kuijken’s Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, whose string complement is only two less than Weil’s, and whose recordings of the “Paris” Symphonies have long been accepted as the standard period-practice set. Kuijken’s slower tempos (8:26 in that Vivace assai, to Weil’s 7: 20, both with full repeats) allow Haydn’s full power to emerge, but the playing is not as crisp as that by either Weil or Bernstein’s forces. Kuijken’s tempos are too slow for my taste; neither he nor Weill takes the Minuet da capo repeat, and only Weill takes the finale’s second repeat.


This being a reissue, there’s no space for detailed examination of all six performances, but the comparisons made above generally apply to the following five symphonies as well, except that Weil’s tempos are no longer exceptionally fast, and he doesn’t always take finale second repeats. If those performances seem less distinctive, it may be only that the other five symphonies, as fine as they are, are less dramatic and exciting than “The Bear.” Sony’s recorded sound is bright and clean, with fine detail, richer and clearer than that given Kuijken. There is much to like in both period-instrument sets, and Bernstein has been joined by another superb modern-instrument set, Kristjan Järvi leading the Lower Austria Tonkünstler Orchestra on Preiser ( Fanfare 33:4), brilliantly recorded in Vienna’s golden Musikverein. So Haydn’s “Paris” Symphonies are very well covered for all tastes.


FANFARE: James H. North

REVIEW:

Thankfully, as presented here by the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, this is no one-to-a-part, minimalist realization. I should probably have mentioned well before getting this far into the review that this recording, originally released on Sony Classical, was made at a time, 1997, when period-instrument ensembles still had more than four or five players on their payrolls. Thus, the performance here includes 11 violins, three violas, three cellos, two double basses, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, timpani, and harpsichord continuo. So, for all intents and purposes, the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra sounds like a modern-instrument ensemble, which, from my perspective, is a good thing.

This is a wonderful disc, and not just for Handel lovers. The music is invigorating, splendidly performed, and exceptionally well recorded. I recommend it to everyone.

— Fanfare

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir present an intimate and stirring performance of the highlights of the baroque masterpiece Handel’s Messiah. This CD recording of the full score on period instruments features a stellar cast of soloists. Tafelmusik presents this baroque masterpiece with the spirit and vitality of Handel’s own 18th-century productions. “Superhuman”, “spot-on”, “crisp” and “inspired” are just a few of the words critics have used to describe Tafelmusik’s Messiah. A perennial favourite with audiences and critics alike, Tafelmusik’s Messiah has garnered glowing reviews year after year. “I cannot remember a Messiah presentation as uniformly ‘spot-on’ as this year’s by Ivars Taurins’ Tafelmusik Chamber Choir and Baroque Orchestra.” - The Globe and Mail

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra celebrates the genius of J.S. Bach with Best of German Baroque: J.S. Bach. This compilation includes tracks newly recorded in 2015, as well as music from the genre-defying, multi-media concert programs The Galileo Project and House of Dreams, recorded for Tafelmusik Media in 2009 and 2012. The album features instrumental versions of Sheep May Safely Graze and How Brightly Shines the Morning Star specially arranged by Alison Mackay. Also featured is Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 in G Major, and movements from the Sonata for 2 violins in G Major (after BWV 1039), and from the Concerto for 2 violins in D Minor with soloists Jeanne Lamon and Aisslinn Nosky. Best of German Baroque: J.S. Bach showcases the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir and soloists Ann Monoyios, soprano, and Colin Ainsworth, tenor, in selections from Bach's Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191, originally released on CBC Records in 2007 in celebration of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir's 25th anniversary season. Choir director Ivars Taurins helps the ensemble capture both with energetic thrusts and tight ensemble, while soloists Ann Monoyios and Colin Ainsworth are in sync in the duet on Gloria patri. - Gramophone Magazine

REVIEW:

Beethoven on period instruments is no longer as remarkable as it was even in the not-so-distant past. Several complete sets of the symphonies and individual recordings are readily available.

It helps that these are live recordings, dating from May and September 2013, with very realistic, vibrant sound. We can’t hear the audience, but we can hear its effect on the musicians. These truly are performances, conceived and played along a broad, long line, and not cobbled together from a short take here and a short take there. Excitement and (apparent) spontaneity are the order of the day, and even if these works are within our collective DNA.

— Fanfare