This little tractor ran away to make music

I'm taking a break, returning Sept. 8.

I don't want to leave you empty-handed, though, so here are two very different examples of musical creativity.

I have to admit that I'm skeptical about the first one being entirely real, but it's fun even if it has been cooked slightly on someone's computer. The attached background said it is a 13,029-hour collaboration between music and engineering students (now, isn't that a stretch?) at the University of Iowa and that most of the parts came from the John Deere factory down the road. Thanks to my friend Iby Haidari for passing it along:

And this is non-traditional choral ensemble work at its best.

More than 3 million people have seen this video, so chances are you've watched it already. The group is Slovenia's Perpetuum Jazzile, known as the Gaudeamus Chamber Choir before Yugoslavia broke up and the Iron Curtain parted. As the name suggests, they went from being a classical choir to a jazz act. Director Tomaz Kozlevcar deserves the credit for this tight, engaging sound in this arrangement of Toto's "Africa:"

One minute of musical inspiration

I'm not sure what the Foundation for a Better Life is, exactly, but I like their message. My thanks to the newsletter from www.pianoworld.com for passing it on.

Here's a cute 1-minute TV commercial that says it all with music:

Anonymous Rx for the stressed-out brain

Although not licensed by any sane or credible oversight body, I'm here to write you a late-summer prescription for stress-relief.

As far as I can tell, this will not lead to nausea, dizzyness, drowsiness or sexual dysfunction. Nor will my prescription block or unexpectedly interact with your other medications -- including but not limited to Zinfandel, Grenache, Leffe and Kaipirinha.

What prompted this flurry of concern on my part is a New York Times article from earlier this week that mentioned a study that says stress rewires rats' brains. Since most of us have at some point called our daily grind a rat race, let's take heed.

Here's the part you need to know:

... the rats’ behavioral perturbations were reflected by a pair of complementary changes in their underlying neural circuitry. On the one hand, regions of the brain associated with executive decision-making and goal-directed behaviors had shriveled, while, conversely, brain sectors linked to habit formation had bloomed.

In other words, the rodents were now cognitively predisposed to keep doing the same things over and over, to run laps in the same dead-ended rat race rather than seek a pipeline to greener sewers. “Behaviors become habitual faster in stressed animals than in the controls, and worse, the stressed animals can’t shift back to goal-directed behaviors when that would be the better approach,” Dr. Sousa said. “I call this a vicious circle.”

In other words, stress closes us off from many of the things that make life worth living, including the wonder of discovery.

Whenever I'm totally stressed out, I usually find that sitting down at the piano for an hour or so will help iron out the kinks in my brain. I also have a favourite collection of discs that I might turn to.

I'm offering up a new album as a stress-relief aid: Anonymous, a compilation of 48 pieces of music from the Middle Ages through the end of the 17th century on two CDs freshly issued by Naxos. The name of the composer of each piece vanished long ago but, miraculously, the music survived.

Normally I don't pay much heed to compilation albums, but I randomly chose the first CD for a moment of midday reflection (i.e. a nap) a few days ago. I listened to both discs and found them captivating.

A program is made up of individual pieces as well as an overall arc, and whoever came up with this compilation has done a masterful job of layering and texturing and punctuating the rhythmic and tonal moods from first track to last.

Plainchant sits alongside troubadour songs in happy harmony.

Unfortunately, the artists here -- all fine performers, as far as I can hear -- are also anonymous, unless you want to squint at the reproduced CD covers from the original albums to see who is performing what. But that might induce stress, so just accept the music and the artists as they come up.

So, here are my dosage suggestions to help you de-stress before the summer is over:

Find 15 minutes of alone time. Drop any and all activities. Turn off all communication devices. Insert disc into your player and start with any track. Close your eyes, clear your head and focus on a voice, or instrument, or rhythm.

Repeat as needed, and extend listening time as you begin to feel positive results.

Here's the Oni Wytars Ensemble (one of the consorts featured on Naxos's compilation) performing "Reis Glorios," an instrumental piece by French troubadour Giraut de Bornelh (approx. 1138-1215):

Cineplex announces reserved seats for new Met opera season

Along with news of which operas from New York's Metropolitan Opera are coming to Canadian movie theatres on Saturday afternoons in the new season, Cineplex Entertainment announced that, for the first time, some theatres are going to offer reserved seating. This had been a major source of grumbling from opera fans, many of whom would stand in line for a couple of hours in order to get a prime seat.

Cineplex has also added more screens across the country, confirming yet again the appeal of seeing opera in high-definition video and audio, along with backstage interviews at intermission.

In a recent conversation, Toronto filmmaker Barbara Willis Sweete -- scheduled to direct two of the live broadasts in the 2009-10 season -- told me that, on a per capita basis, Canada is the world's most ardent supporter of the Met's opera broadcasts. Cineplex couldn't confirm that statement, claiming that they don't track attendance statistics.

Here's The Met: Live in HD season. With its endowment funds and revenues badly hit by the recession, the Met is being very conservative in its programming and the productions it has chosen for live transmission. All but the last two are a parade of golden oldies guaranteed to fill the seats. It's a stretegy that appears to be working, as the Met has already announced that it's first-day ticket sales a few days ago broke a record.

I've added a * to the Saturday-afternoon broadcasts I would expect to be particularly satisfying:

-Oct. 10: Puccini's Tosca, with Finnish powerhouse Karita Matilla in the title role. Marcelo Álvarez is Cavaradossi. James Levine conducts.

*Oct. 24: Verdi's Aida, with Lithuanian powerhouse Violeta Urmana in the title role (you can see her singing the role in my blog entry from five days ago). Reliable Johan Botha is Radames. I love dynamic conductor Daniele Gatti.

-Nov. 7: Puccini's Turandot. This is the bigger-is-more fabulous Franco Zeffirelli production. Marcello Giordani has the honour of singing "Nessun Dorma."

-Dec. 19: Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann. Diva Anna Netrebko sings Antonia. James Levine conducts.

*Jan. 9: Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier. If maestro Levine can rein in some of Renée Fleming's stylistic indulgences, this will be a treat. Mezzo Susan Graham is the Marschallin.

*Jan. 16: This one is hot. I mean HOT. This production of Bizet's Carmen features smouldering talents Elina Garanca and Roberto Alagna in a viscerally engaging production conceived by Richard Eyre.

*Feb. 6: Verdi's Simon Boccanegra. Toronto soprano Adrienne Pieczonka is there, but the big news is in tenor Placido Domingo singing the title role (written for a baritone) for the first time.

Mar. 27: French composer Ambroise Thomas's biggest hit was an opera on Hamlet, premiered in Paris, in 1868. But it was pretty much forgotten until a decade or so ago. Two of the opera world's finest singers -- Simon Keenlyside and Natalie Dessay (Ophelia) -- have been recruited for this new production.

May 1: Celebrate May Day with Renée Fleming flexing her seductive skills over a succession of sacrificial tenors in a new production of Rossini rarity Armida, which dates from 1817. (Fleming sang the vocally taxing title role at the Rossini Opera Festival 16 years ago.)

Toronto theatres with reserved seating are: the Scotiabank Theatre, SilverCity Eglinton, Coliseum Scarborough and SilverCity Fairview.

Cineplex has added its First Markham Place screens to the GTA Met list.

Cineplex is offering Metropolitan Opera Guild and Cineplex Entertainment's Scene rewards program members advance ticket sales on Friday (Aug. 21). (You have to pay to join the Met guild; Scene membership is free, but you have to endure promotional emails.)

Non-members have to wait to Sept. 4. There are various discounts if you buy tickets to several screenings.

If you're happy with audio only on your wireless set, these broadcasts are free on CBC Radio 2.

La fille du régiment this Saturday

Yes, you can get a man with a gun.

French soprano Natalie Dessay is a treat vocally and comically as the lead in last season's Met production of Gaetano Donizetti's La fille du régiment, while tenor Juan Diego Flórez tosses off high Cs with the ease of a veteran flamethrower in a repeat Cineplex summer broadcast -- at noon on Saturday. 

This is the best $9.95 you'll spend on opera this year, and anyone 13 and under gets in for free.

To whet your appetite for the new season a bit, here's Garanca singing the "Habanera" from Carmen at the Caracalla baths in Rome a couple of weeks ago:

Enterprising trio sets off on entrepreneurial trek

The Mosaico String Trio, which I mentioned in my article about music at Mount Pleasant Cemetery yesterday, provided an interesting little glimpse into the chances and coincidences of being a music student.

I spoke to violinist Javier Reyes, violist Polyana Castro and cellist Angharad Parkes after the outdoor recital. The three told me they had just graduated from the Royal Conservatory's Glenn Gould Professional School, so I asked what was next on their agenda.

"Moving to the Cayman Islands," replied Parkes.

I started to laugh, thinking this was the kind of non-sequitur silliness that makes 30 Rock so funny.

The three faces in front of me were smiling, but, clearly, this wasn't meant to be a joke.

(By the way, I've tried and repeated every way possible of putting my foot in my mouth over the years.)

The Mosaico really is going to the Cayman Islands on Aug. 29.

Already used to travelling the world, and faced with a shortage of work here, the three grads are taking a professional leap with a mixture of missionary zeal and entrepreneurial grit.

"We'll be teaching in schools there and, hopefully, setting up some sort of a concert series," Parkes explained. "Right now, there's nothing. So it's an opportunity."

Parkes said that a friend had gone to the Caymans for a concert, and had mentioned that there was a  blank musical canvas waiting for anyone adventurous enough to give it a splatter.

The British territory has a population smaller than Peterborough's (which is 75,000), and is said to have more registered businesses than inhabitants, thanks to being a tax haven. But it also has the highest standard of living in the Caribbean. So, between its wealth and the number of tourists that pass through every year, classical music should be able to have a chance.

All three trio members are from elsewhere. Parkes is originally from Manchester, the other two from Chile -- Reyes from Santiago, Castro from La Serena, nearly 500 km up the coast. The Chileans had to look outside their country for postgraduate musical education, because they said there is none in Chile.

Through the summer festival in Orford, Que., Reyes and Castro met Toronto violinist Mayumi Seiler and liked her so much that they wanted to follow her to the Royal Conservatory.

All three musicians, who came together as a trio at the Conservatory, have attended a number of summer music festivals -- including the Toronto Summer Music Festival, which wrapped up last week. They said it is as high quality, from a student's point-of-view, as any out there.

"Usually, a summer music festival is somewhere out in the country, far away rom everything, so it's a chance to clear your head," said Reyes. "But the Toronto festival is also very nice, and gave us a chance to work with some great musicians."

Castro smiled broadly as she recalled master classes with the Leipzig String Quartet.

Parkes' high point was master classes with veteran cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi. "He was just, well, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi! Absolutely amazing," Parkes enthused.

All three have only spent two years passing through Toronto. So I was curious about what they liked most about the city.

Parkes: "I absolutely love the TSO when Peter Oundjian is conducting." She comes from a city well known for its fine classical performers, including the Hallé Orchestra, so that is high praise.

Reyes and Castro: Music Toronto's chamber music series, which they both described as particularly fine.

Here is the Leipzig String Quartet playing the beautifully melancholy "Lento" movement from Antonin Dvorák's "American" Quartet (Op. 96), in a live concert in Japan two years ago:

Bernstein's messy Mass comes into focus

Yesterday was a very strange day for me.

I followed mass with a concert at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, after which I interviewed the three young graduates of the Royal Conservatory's Glenn Gould Professional School who performed as the Trio Mosaico.

Back in the car afterward, I had a voicemail from the news assignment editor telling me that I needed to drive to Rexdale to the scene of what turned out to be the city's 37th homicide of 2009. (Most writers at the Star have to work as a news reporter one weekend a year.)

I had never been to a crime scene before, so I have no idea if this was typical. But a man had been shot -- in broad daylight, across from a school playing field, in a mixed neighborhood usually filled with kids and teenagers -- and the immediate vicinity was as quiet as a North Toronto street on a long weekend.

The police were methodically, quietly going about their business where, somewhere very close by, several people's lives had been irrevocably changed for the worse.

I'd chosen Leonard Bernstein's Mass as the soundtrack for my 75 km round trip. A new Naxos recording by the Baltimore Symphony and its music director Marin Alsop (and a cast of hundreds more) had landed in my mailbox a few days ago, and I was eager to listen again to the big, theatrical work that had knocked my socks off when I was introduced to the original LP recording about 25 years ago.

Back then, having come from traditional church and musical backgrounds, I was shocked at how Bernstein interewaves the traditional text of the Roman Catholic mass with modern poetry, and mixes every conceivable genre into the music, so that jazz sidles up against chant and rock bumps and grinds alongside a traditional orchestra.

Forced to confront in a single day the colourful and, unfortunately, frequently tragic mess that is any big city today, Bernstein's messy Mass suddenly came into stark focus. Nearly 30 years after its premiere, this crazy-quilt of sacred and secular makes more sense than ever. We live in a time of stark contrasts as well as blurred boundaries, and this could be its soundtrack.

One of the papers this morning had a quote from British author and critic John Cowper Powys, who died in 1963: "The strongest of all psychic forces in the world is unsatisfied desire."

For me, these words helped pull together the underlying theme of Bernstein's Mass, as well as much of what seems to make so many people in the city anxious, angry, unhappy -- and dead.

In this video clip from the 15th scene, "Agnus Dei," (from a performance in Latvia two years ago, captured from the audience), the male chorus sings, among other words:

"We've got quarrels and qualms and such questions,

Give us answers, not psalms and suggestions,

Give us peace tht we don't keep on breaking,

Give us something or we'll just start taking!"

On-demand programming best thing about CBC Radio 2

I don't have as much time as I used to to listen to the radio during weekdays. But my few switches onto CBC's Radio 2 have been disappointing -- except for Rich Terfry's great afternoon show. It's not classical music, but he and his producers have great ears for creative invention (in it's various forms) which invariably leaves me smiling.

There are several new Internet-only channels associated with Radio 2, including an all-classical band as well as one devoted to Canadian composers.

Click on the button and you get CBC Player popping up immediately, along with the bare details of what's playing. It's like being on an airplane, except that, on the flight, you can find the program details inside the dog-eared, spit-smeared magazine in the seatback pocket. The CBC doesn't provide any kind of a programme list at all, as far as I could find. You just listen to what comes up next.

Catch pianist David Jalbert on demand

 

The best things going on CBC Radio 2's website are the concerts on demand. Right now, among a wide range of choices, there is a recital Quebecer David Jalbert gave at McGill University's Pollack Hall last April.

I've heard him live several times and am a big fan of his CDs of music by Gabriel Fauré and Dmitri Shostakovich. So far, I've always been touched by his scrupulous musicianship and fluid, elegant sound.

In the Montreal recital, he plays Haydn, Mendelssohn, Rachmanoniov and Philip Glass.

This is a great way to spend a couple of hours on a hazy summer Sunday.

CBC launches iPhone app

It's not as if you couldn't stream music and video on your iPhone already. And it's not as if the CBC is awash in rich programming these days. But if your patriotic heart still beats strong, let it be known that the formerly great Canadian broadcasting institution is making itself that much more open to mobile access with a free iPhone app.

It comes with a sleep timer. Is that really necessary for the CBC?

Of course, the app may be free. But you pay for the data use.

The details behind Cameron Carpenter's digital fireworks

I want to give you some quick resources for background information on the instruments I named in today's Star article about digital keyboards. At the bottom, you'll find a snippet of Cameron Carpenter's performance at this year's Stratford Summer Festival.

Cameron Carpenter's Organ

He was playing a hastily assembled, three-manual Classic Hauptwerk organ, which relies on audio samples from real organ pipes. The performer can switch from a wide range of actual historical instruments from North American and Europe.

The Classic Organ Works website has all the details.

Roland Digital Harpsichord

 

This odd little musical duck is worth checking out on that company's website. Among the highlights are being able to choose between a "French" or a "Flemish" sound, as well as from a variety of Baroque temperaments.

Yamaha Avant Grand

 

This may be the most technically interesting of the instruments I mentioned in the article, because it combines a facsimile of a real grand piano action with a digital instrument. Because the keys function as on a real grand, there appears to be adjustability in the key dip and other complex geometries and weights behind what pianists call "touch." This factor is the No. 1 reason serious pianists and teachers give for discouraging students from using digital keyboards as practice instruments; if a student can't feel the subtleties of what physical feeling, actions and reactions lead to a particular quality of tone on an instrument -- which is the case on the majority of digital keyboards -- they are not really learning the art of playing the piano.

Yamaha has a website devoted entirely to this new product.

There are dozens of other digital keyboards by the same and other manufacturers out there. The fact that didn't mention them doesn't mean that they aren't worthy of people's attention. It's just that these three have qualities that even confirmed haters of digital instruments might find interesting.

Cameron Carpenter's concert organ sound

I wasn't expecting much from the voice recorder app. on my iPhone, so I was surprised at the quality of audio I got when I placed it next to me on the pew at Knox Church in Stratford, for Cameron Carpenter's first recital on the digital organ, on July 31.

Of course, this clip doesn't have the dynamic range or clarity of a quality recording, but I think it's enough to give you a taste of the organ's sound -- as well as Carpenter's remarkable technique. I've spliced Franz Liszt's Mephisto Waltz down to 3-1/2 minutes:

Free outdoor screening of blockbuster Aida tonight

It looks like even the weather approves of Franco Zeffirelli's boffo 2006 La Scala production of Giuseppe Verdi's grand grand opera Aida.

Torontonians have a chance to see it for free in a cozy outdoor setting tonight, thanks to the Italian Consulate and Cultural Institute. The two have been collaborating on a summertime outdoor opera series for a while, but the weather the past two summers hasn't been favourable.

Given today's warm and dry forecast, perhaps someone has been saying prayers to St. Médard, the patron saint of rain. (The medieval French legend that grew up alongside this young missionary's story is that if it rains on June 8 -- the fête of St. Médard -- it will rain for the next 40 days. In case you hadn't already guessed, there was a bit of rain in Toronto on that day).

There's something charmingly nostalgic about the invitations to see opera in the garden of a large house. The invitation says that there will be a live recital of opera arias, followed by the screening.

The note adds: "Guests are invited to bring friends, family, blankets, and a picnic, and are encouraged to dress in their finest operatic picnic attire for an evening that promises to be full of culture and entertainment."

It conjures up images of smartly dressed couples pulling wicker baskets of pâté, cheese and jellies from the boot of a Jaguar, à la Glyndebourne. But this Toronto, so I'm expecting shorts, flipflops, Aquafina and poutine from the food vans in front of City Hall.

But this production of Aida really does deserve your finest. It's visually over-the-top and musically glorious, thanks to conductor Riccardo Chailly and Violeta Urmana as Aida. Roberto Alagna sang Radamès to many Aida-philes' consternation and later left the production in a huff (or was it a taxi?).

The consulate's official address is 132 Beverley St., but the entrance to the garden is on the Dundas St. side. The gates open at 7 p.m. and the live portion of the evening starts at 8. The opera itself will be shown right after dusk. Don't expect it to be over much before 11:15.

As a teaser, here is Urmana singing "Ritorna Vincitor" from Zeffirelli's show:

What's all this about 'tuning' Koerner Hall?

 

Photos: Richard Lautens, Toronto Star

As I reported in today's Star, yesterday marked the first time a musician set foot on the stage of Koerner Hall, the 1,140-seat auditorium that's part of the Royal Conservatory of Music's new Telus Centre on Bloor St.

The concert venue opens to the public on Sept. 25 with a pretty spectacular series of concerts. In the meantime, the construction workers need to finish up and clean up.

This week's closed-door concerts are command performances for the programmer, the architect and the acoustical engineering team. They're called "tuning concerts."

The label makes one assume that these people are going to play and listen, then make recommendations about what to change inside the hall to make it sound better (I'm using that adjective very loosely).

But after reading all the background information on the design and construction of Koerner Hall, I realised that, once the pieces are in place, there's very little one can do to change the way in which sound will behave inside the space.

Before entering the 97 per cent completed Koerner Hall for the first time, I asked the chief architect, Marianne McKenna, what could be done if we all suddenly discover that the space doesn't handle bass notes very well, for example.

She smiled. "There's nothing we can do," was her reply.

It's been up to the acoustical team to make sure during the design stage there would be no sonic foul-ups once ushers take the first paying tickets.

So what about these "tuning concerts," then?

"We talk about tuning the hall, but what we're really doing is tuning the musicians," was McKenna's reply. "It's all about them learning how to use the hall."

On first blush, that sounds pretty arrogant. But, in fact, that's what happens each and every time a musician or ensemble sits down to rehearse on an unfamiliar stage for the first time.

Toronto Symphony Orchestra music director Peter Oundjian described the shock of conducting the group's first rehearsal at Carnegie Hall last fall. He had to think quickly on how to re-balance the sound inside that grand, old building's fabulous acoustics.

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra had the opposite experience last season, when they performed Bach in Montreal's notoriously awful-sounding Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier with Kent Nagano.

Back at Koerner Hall, acoustician Bob Essert explained that the tuning concerts are there to observe how the musicians can "play the room as an extension of their instruments.

"You need to prepare the player as much as you need to prepare the room," he added.

Because the ensemble wanted to feel free to express its opinions to McKenna and Essert, Tafelmusik wouldn't allow anyone from the media to listen in to their tuning visit. Programming chief Mervon Mehta's unbidden smile spoke volumes, though.

I gather that the Baroque orchestra re-arranged itself several times on stage, to see how their sound would change if different instruments were placed in different locations. I was told by one observer that, at one point, the group arranged itself in a circle -- like it did when performing its extraordinary Galileo Project programme last season.

 

In a couple of weeks, the Royal Conservatory Orchestra will sit down on the stage for the first time (they were the reason the reason the subject of a new auditorium came up in the 1990s, in the first place). Early September will see the first full house, when all the construction workers and their spouses will be treated to classical, jazz and blues -- "each with an increasing amount of amplification," Mehta explained yesterday.

Those events will further push the acoustical envelope -- a much broader test that the piano-and-viola recital that Peter Tiefenbach (pictured above) and Steven Dann (both on faculty at the Conservatory) gave the dozen-or-so audience members yesterday.

But, as I wrote in today's paper, the music was so clear and vibrant that it's hard to imagine how anything could sound less than golden in this golden-hued room.