Volume 8 Issue 7 - April 2003

now and then, entertaining - always.
Scarlatti was a remarkable composer
for the keyboard. You would think
that after the first 2 or 3 hundred
sonatas, there would be a limit to
what a composer could do that was
not a re-hash. It's like dim-sum for
the harpsichprd. An incredible
variety and even wlien you've tried
them all , there are other cooks who
can make it the same, but different.
Luc Beausejour is a great cook,
well, interpreter, when it comes to
Scarlatti. He even has a kind of
tongue-in-cheek grin with the Sonatas
that are "serious". The raucous ones
bounce along without a care in the
world. What happy music! The wonderful
keyboard technique is transparent.
Yup, some bf these are a
real workout, but they just fly from
his fingers . ·Beausejour gets great
sounds out of the Wm. P. Ross harpsichord,
after Boffo, 1574. Rather an
early design for Scarlatti, but quite
successful for these sonatas.
You would think that all this
excitement would wear one out -
nope. I hope that Luc goes on to
record many more (maybe all 555!).
He's certainly the man for it.
Actus Tragicus
Theatre of Early Music
Daniel Taylor
Atma ACD2 2288
Den Ciul
This handsome disc features the brilliant
Canadian counter-tenor Daniel
Taylor's bold experiment called the
"Theatre of Early Music". The
group has some high ideals, including
"bringing back the sacredness"
to the "creative" process of making
music. The irtstrumentalists hail
from Montreal and the singers are
soprano Suzie LeBlanc, Taylor, tenor
Ian Honeyman and the renowned
English bass Stephen Varcoe.
With the Bach and Telemann
cantatas recorded here an interesting
question arises: does one need a
conductor/leader to - if not explicitly
conduct - at least synthesize and
streamline the excellent musical
ideas from all involved? I don't have
a definite answer; but it's clear.from
these recordings that while Taylor is
the founder of the Theatre of Early
Music, he's encouraging ·au of the
musicians to expres's their own ideas
and responses to the music. This
works most of the time, but with the
Actus Tragicus (BWV 106), one gets
the sense from the outset that the
performances are too self-indulgent.
The tempo of the opening Sonatina is
really too slow, though I readily admit
that the harmonies and sonorities of
the gambas and recorders are heartbreakingly
beautiful. All of the
vocalists sing beautifully, but it's only
Varcoe who seems to bring a
refreshing forward-motion to his
singing. He knows where and when
to relax to great effect, but most of
the time he keeps things moving and
takes the listener's breath away with
his remarkable phrasing.
I can't get enough of Daniel
Taylor's singing - it's an absolute
marvel - but I think he needs to take
better control of this group. The raw
material he has access to is extraordinary
and the potential for memorable,
profound music making is
clearly there. Long live the Theatre
of Early Music.
The juggernaut that is the Marsalis
family of New Orleans seems to
dominate the 'official' jazz scene
these days. Consider trumpeter Wynton's
considerable activities with the
Lincoln Center in New York and
Ken Burns' Jazz on PBS; saxophonist
Branford's performances and productions;
and the younger Delfeayo,
a trombonist and producer. The
youngest is the drummer Jason,
thought of by the other family members
as probably the best of the lot.
The paterfamilias is pianist Ellis
Marsalis, until recently teaching at
University of New Orleans, and always
gigging. It was his retirement
from that school that caused the clan
to reassemble in the home town in
the summer of 200 l for a concert
taped for PBS, a DVD and this CD
release. The bassist was Roland
Guerin, and there are guest appearances
by Harry Connick, Jr. and
trombonist Lucien Barbarin, heard
on the traditional Saint James Infirmary.
(Connick also sits in at the piano
with Ellis on another frack.)
This release offers a nice wide
range of easy-to-hear jazz, mostly
in a middle-of-the-road contemporary
style, with features for each of
the players. Ellis himself sparkles on
The Surrey With The Fringe On Top
Larry Beckwith (featuring some tasty' drum work by
Editor's Note: Taylor's earlier disc Jason), '.11:1d, contributes four original
of Bach Cantatas with the Theatre of comp~s1t 10~:
Early Music has been nominated for ,. Whil~ this I~ no~ the most ~hallen~a
JUNO award. See "Discs of the mg Il'.us1c you II listen to this ye.ar, 1t
Month "for full details.
certamly bea:s repeated hearmgs,
and offers a mce range of styles and
groupings, giving the earlier jazz
A Jazz Celebration.
sounds of Saint James and Struttin'
The Marsalis Family
With Some Barbecue the on-stage
Rounder Records/Marsalis Music respect the music deserves.
1166133022
Ted O'Reilly
WORTH REPEATING
Beethoven: Symphony No.5;
Schubert: Symphony No.8;
Wagner: Die Meistersinger:
selections; Debussy: Prelude a
l'apres-midi d'un faune
Leopold Stokowski; London Philharmonic/London
Symphony
EMI Classic Archive DVD-V
72434 928439-5
One of the first recordings I owned
was the Schubert "Unfinished" with
Leopold Stokowski ·and the
Philadelphia Orchestra, recorded in
April 1927 and a staple in the Victor
catalogue for 20 years. No one could
have known that 42 years later he
would be conducting the same work
for a medium not yet invented,
television.
The London Philharmonic concert
was filmed at a public concert in the
Fairfield Hall, Croydon on 8 September
1969. It came as no real
surprise to hear two dynamic
performances and to see baton-less
Stokowski carving the music out of
the air, often outlining or shaping
rather than simply beating time and
cuing in instruments. ·His
mannerisms were unique and the
gestures often quite extravagant but
he got exactly what he wanted and
we can now see how it was done.
The video image is superb and the
colour true.
The two London Symphony pieces
date from a concert of 14 June 1972
in London's Royal Festival Hall. The
Wagner is suitably noble and the
Debussy, always a Stokowski showpiece,
shows that he had not lost his
touch. As a "tasty bonus". the DVD
314 Churchill Ave
Toronto, Ontario
M2R 1 E7 Canada
Tel: (1) 416-224-1956
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www.mikrokosmos.com
We buy your classical LP collection
(classical, such as Beethoven. Mozart. Stockhausen)
we travel anywhere for good collection
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