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Although there is an electronic aspect on one of the tracks of Christina Petrowska Quilico’s latest CD Blaze featuring piano music of Alice Ping Yee Ho (Centrediscs CMCCD 31323cmccanada.org/product category/recordings/Centrediscs), the rest are purely acoustic. Ho tells us “The eight works in this collection have short, descrip tive titles, with inspiration drawn from abstract paintings, … Read more
Nuages is another outstanding Canadian cello and piano disc, showcasing Noemie Raymond-Friset and Michel-Alexandre Broekaert respectively, collectively known as Duo Cavatine (KNS Classical KNS A/121 duocavatine.com). The title for this debut disc, which translates as clouds, comes from its centrepiece, producer David Jaeger’s Constable’s Clouds for solo cello. I spoke in my February column about … Read more
This recording of the Viola Music of David Jaeger features violist Elizabeth Reid and pianist Alison Bruce Cerutti, both prodigious artists on their instruments. The disc features spirited, occasionally restless performances that thrillingly capture the adrenalin rush of a live concert albeit the fact that it is a wonderfully produced studio recording. Needless to say, … Read more
Redshift Records While he’s not unknown outside Canada, within its borders David Jaeger (b. 1947) is revered as a pivotal figure in the history and development of Canadian contemporary music. Many a listener versed in that scene knows him as the radio music producer for the CBC’s fondly remembered contemporary music program Two New Hours, which … Read more
Blaze is a record of (mostly) solo piano music by Alice Ping Yee Ho played by Christina Petrowska Quilico. There are eight pieces on the disk adding up to just over an hour of music. It’s quite varied. There are pieces like the title track which are colourful and intricate with others like “Shade” being … Read more
Sticking with the violin family, but moving away from the fiddle tradition, the next disc features music for solo viola by longtime CBC producer and frequent contributor to The WholeNote, David Jaeger. In the spirit of full disclosure I will say that I have had a lengthy professional relationship with Jaeger over the years as … Read more
This recording – Vintage Americana [NV6384] is a welcome follow-up to Retro Americana [NV6361] – also by Christina Petrowska Quilico, who has the requisite gamut of colours, to say nothing of the technical panache to do justice to the diabolical, rhythmically challenging repertoire on the album. Ms Petrowska Quilico is a pianist wholly devoted to art in so many more … Read more
Of late, the topic of mentoring has been on my mind. Your Dictionary defines a mentor as “someone who guides another to greater success,” but one of my favourite quotes on this topic comes from flutist and composer, Robert Aitken: “You can only teach a person two things: how to listen, and how to teach … Read more
It would be a travesty if the celebratory and de rigueur noise of multiculturalism should drown out the voice of homegrown Canadiana in poetry and song. But worry no more, for here is an outstanding recording by a breathtaking artist that celebrates just that. Christina Raphaëlle Haldane’s recording of contemporary Canadian compositions …let me explain – a collection … Read more
The consequences of a pandemic are, as we have all experienced, incredibly far- reaching. The near complete closing down of life as we had known it has had such a sweeping effect on us all, we barely have any tangible evidence of what we might otherwise have accomplished in the spring of 2020. And of … Read more