Author Archive for shiragilbert – Page 14

Pianist Louise Bessette a Double ‘Prix Opus’ Winner, Wins Raves for UK Recitals

Posted by shiragilbert on
 February 6, 2013
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Pianist Louise Bessette, hailed internationally as one of the pre-eminent interpreters of the music of our time, is this year’s winner of two prestigious prizes from Le Conseil québécois de la musique. At the January 27 ceremony, Bessette was declared the winner of two Prix Opus for “Concert of the Year – Montreal” as well as “Concert of the Year – Modern and Contemporary,” both for her extraordinary 30-year Career Celebration of last March, presented by Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ). The multi-faceted three-part concert included four world premieres written for the occasion, along with music by her signature composer, Olivier Messiaen.

The same day as the Montreal Prix Opus ceremony, Bessette gave the first of two recitals in the UK, at Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, with a program featuring music by Sir Arnold Bax, Faure and Brahms, as well as Ernesto Lecuona’s thrilling Suite Andalucia. “Bessette’s performance had all of what we quickly came to recognise as the hallmarks of her playing,” said Music and Vision, “precision, clarity and a beguiling range of colour.” Three days later, at her all-Spanish program at The Church of St. John the Evangelist in Oxford, “[Bessette] played two outstanding tangos by Isaac Albeniz … just wonderful,” said Oxford’s Daily Info, adding “We ended the concert with a collective sigh of pleasure.”

And, new from ATMA Classique is a striking new recording with Quatuor Molinari featuring music by the stylistically-varied and intense Russian composer Alfred Schnittke. Bessette joins the string quartet for Schnittke’s 1988 Piano Quartet, based on Mahler’s chamber music sketches, and the 5-movement, Requiem-like Piano Quintet (1972-76).

Recent concerts have taken Bessette to Toronto, Ottawa, Monterrey’s Festival Internacional de Música Contemporánea (Mexico), as well as San Francisco with her chamber ensemble ARTefact. The ensemble includes cellist Yegor Dyachkov, Simon Aldrich, clarinet and has just welcomed a new member: violinist Carissa Klopoushak. In the coming months, Bessette performs a tribute to composer Gilles Tremblay with Toronto’s New Music Concerts, and her all-Spanish recital program at Théâtre de la Ville’s Festival Classica.

Photo credit: François Gélinas/CQM

*  *  *  *  *

Saluée dans le monde entier comme l’une des interprètes par excellente de la musique de notre temps, la pianiste Louise Bessettea reçu cette année de deux prestigieux prix du Conseil québécois de la musique. Lors de la cérémonie des Prix Opus du 27 janvier, l’excellence de Mme Bessette a été saluée dans les catégories « Concert de l’année – Montréal »  et « Concert de l’année – Musiques moderne, contemporaine », les deux pour son concert extraordinaire soulignant ses 30 ans de carrière, présenté
par la Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) le 31 mars 2012. Le concert en trois segments comprenait quatre premières mondiales, écrites pour l’occasion, ainsi que la musique d’un compositeur auquel on l’a beaucoup associée, Olivier Messiaen.

Le jour même de la cérémonie des Prix Opus, Bessette se produisait en solo et donnait le premier de deux récitals au Royaume-Uni, au Royal Concert Hall de Nottingham, dans des œuvres de Sir Arnold Bax, Fauré et Brahms, ainsi que la passionnante Suite Andalucia d’Ernesto Lecuona. « L’interprétation de Louise Bessette possédait toutes les caractéristiques que nous avons rapidement appris à associer à son jeu », a déclaré Music and Vision, « précision, clarté et une gamme séduisante de couleurs ». Trois
jours plus tard, à l’église St. John the Evangelist à Oxford, elle donnait un programme de musique espagnole : « [Louise Bessette] a joué deux remarquables tangos d’Isaac Albéniz … tout simplement merveilleux, » a déclaré Daily Info d’Oxford, ajoutant : « Le concert s’est terminé sur un soupir collectif de plaisir. »

De plus, Louise Bessette vient de lancer un nouveau disque avec le Quatuor Molinari sous étiquette ATMA Classique, comprenant la musique l’intense et protéiforme compositeur russe Alfred Schnittke. Mme Bessette se joint au quatuor dans le Quatuor avec piano (1988), basé sur des esquisses de musique de chambre de Mahler, et le Quintette avec piano,  en cinq mouvements, proche d’un requiem (1972-1976).

On a pu l’entendre récemment notamment à Toronto, Ottawa, au Festival Internacional de Musica Contemporánea du Monterrey (Mexique), ainsi qu’à San Francisco avec son ensemble de musique de chambre ARTefact, dont font partie le violoncelliste Yegor Dyachkov, le clarinettiste Simon Aldrich et depuis tout récemment la violinist Carissa Klopoushak. Au cours des prochains mois, Mme Bessette offrira un hommage au compositeur Gilles Tremblay dans la série New Music Concerts de Toronto et reprendra son récital de musique espagnole au Théâtre de la Ville à Longueuil.

 

                 

 

Di Sheyne Milnerin: Schubert’s cycle of love forlorn retold in Yiddish song

Posted by shiragilbert on
 January 12, 2013
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“As heart-rending as the Schubert cycle … this is a fascinating issue …”

– Musicweb-International.com

Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin receives a brilliant homage and reinvention with Di Sheyne Milnerin, an originally-devised cycle of twenty songs from the Yiddish repertoire forged into a narrative cycle. Bass-baritone Mark Glanville and pianist Alexander Knapp (also arranger and composer) perform a wonderful variety of Yiddish songs, including arrangements of many well-loved traditional melodies. As in Schubert’s original, Di Sheyne Milnerin follows a compelling dramatic trajectory, telling a heart-wrenching tale of unrequited love. The recording follows the success of the duo’s widely-performed, Holocaust-focused program and recording, A Yiddish Winterreise. The Nimbus Records release is available now from Allegro Classical.

At once a celebration of Yiddishkayt and a reflection of the rich symbiosis that once existed between the German and Jewish cultures — one of the intangible victims of the Holocaust, to which both Glanville and Knapp are inextricably linked through the loss of members of their families — Di Sheyne Milnerin includes compositions by a number of celebrated Jewish composers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Mark Warschawsky’s “Dem milners trern” (The miller’s tears) begins the cycle, which also features the traditional “Tsvey taybelekh” (Two doves), sung in the style of a cantorial recitative, and the nostalgic “Vu iz dos gesele” (Where is the little street) describing the descent from high expectation to despair. One song from the original cycle is retained in a direct translation: Schubert’s “Am Feirabend,” here “Nokh der Arbet.” Pianist Alexander Knapp contributed eight original arrangements to the recording as well as one new composition, “Himen” (Anthem), a tribute to the great Yiddish poet Abraham Sutzkever, who died in 2010.  The cycle concludes with “Di zun vet aruntergeyn” (The sun is setting) by Ben Yomen, which pays homage to Schubert’s “Ständchen.”

British bass-baritone Mark Glanville has appeared with Opera North (King of Clubs, Love for Three Oranges; King, Aida; Nourabad, Pearl Fishers), and Scottish Opera (Commendatore, Don Giovanni) as well as in roles with Lisbon Opera, New Israeli Opera and Opera Omaha. As a concert singer he has performed with Lord Menuhin, Daniele Gatti, Pascal Tortelier, Sir David Willcocks and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski.  Glanville is also a widely-published journalist and author specializing in opera, classical singing, Jewish literature and history. His memoir, The Goldberg Variations, was shortlisted for the Wingate Prize for Jewish Literature An expert on Jewish music, pianist, writer, composer and arranger Alexander Knapp has presented his music and scholarly writing around the world. Di Sheyne Milnerin will be performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in November 2013.

 

TONIGHT: Pianist and “Bachstar” Evan Shinners To Perform at White House Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

Posted by shiragilbert on
 December 6, 2012
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The wildly talented and irreverent classical pianist Evan Shinners will perform at tonight’s White House Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, on Thursday, December 6.

Shinners will open the proceedings at 4:30pm with his original Bach-ian medley of holiday tunes including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Carol of the Bells and Silent Night.

Shinners joins a starry line-up of artists for the ceremony, which is hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, including James Taylor, American Idol Season 11 winner Phillip Phillips and other great performers.

The ceremony will be live-streamed and broadcast on public television throughout the month of December.

The 2010 Juilliard graduate made waves in the Classical music world with his brilliant debut recording @bach, a compilation of two live, unedited performances recorded at Juilliard and Rockefeller University. Bursting with raw musicality and ebullient energy, Shinners connects with today’s audiences in a way that has seldom been seen for a classical artist. “This is one hell of a debut, not only for the quality, but the ambition and attitude,” said The Big City, with The Huffington Post calling the recording “Essential … one of the brattiest Bach recordings to come along since Glenn Gould himself.”

Shinners latest foray into the music of Bach is Evan Plays Seven, a fresh traversal of Bach’s 7 early Toccatas. The new recording will be available on iTunes on December 12, 2012.

Originally from Denver, Colorado, Evan began playing piano at age 9 and gave his orchestral debut with the Utah Symphony at age 12. He completed his undergrad and masters degrees at Juilliard in the studio of Jerome Lowenthal, also participating in Juilliard’s Scholastic Distinction program, where he wrote his thesis on James Joyce.  In the past few seasons, Evan has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Jordan Hall (Boston), and at the Kimmel Center (Philadelphia), along with tours of Ireland, Germany, parts of Asia and Canada. When he is not playing Bach, Evan can be found writing poetry and a novel, or playing rock in Brooklyn warehouses with his Julliard colleagues.  Last year Shinners was seen and heard by over 10,000 Museum of Modern Art attendees during his residency in the Performance Exhibition Series at MoMA: Stop, Repair, Prepare: Variations on Ode to Joy for a
Prepared Piano. The New York Times declared: “Evan Shinners attacked the score with a bravura that might have pleased Liszt.”


 

Renowned Dutch Cello Virtuoso Pieter Wispelwey Brings New Insight to Bach Suites

Posted by shiragilbert on
 November 26, 2012
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Acclaimed around the world for his performances of the Bach Cello Suites—works which he has already recorded twice and has performed in recital nearly a thousand times—Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey releases a mature and insightful new recording in celebration of his 50th birthday. Among the first of a generation of performers who are equally at ease on the modern or the period cello, Wispelwey employs a 1710 Rombouts cello, tuned down a whole tone, with a Baroque bow. Accompanying the double CD set is a bonus hour-long DVD feature. Shot in the historical ambiance of Wadham and Magdalen College, Oxford, the film showcases Wispelwey in musical and scholarly interaction with acclaimed Bach researchers Laurence Dreyfus and John Butt. The recording on the Evil Penguin Records (EPR-Classic) label is available from Allegro Classical on November 13.

Pieter Wispelwey’s truly original interpretations and phenomenal technical mastery have won the hearts of critics and public alike in repertoire ranging from Bach to Elliott Carter. In The New Yorker, Alex Ross called his playing “physical first and intellectual second … whether singing, dancing, raging or ruminating, it mimics the contours of human gesture and speech.” And, following his performance of the complete Beethoven cello sonatas at Alice Tully Hall, Anthony Tommasini said in The New York Times: “Mr Wispelwey’s playing was full of vivid contrasts. One moment he shaped plaintive lyrical lines with almost no vibrato; the next he dug into the strings, producing gritty sounds, incisive attacks and blurry outbursts of energy. Yet every gesture seemed driven by musical insight.”

Born in Haarlem, Netherlands, Pieter Wispelwey’s career spans five continents and he has appeared as soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras. A charismatic recitalist, recent highlights include Amsterdam’s Robeco Series and appearances at the Lanaudière (Quebec), Wroclaw, Edinburgh, Schleswig-Holstein and Stresa Festivals. Wispelwey’s discography, on Channel Classics and ONYX, includes over twenty recordings, six of which attracted major international awards.

 

“Impeccable” Appassionata Chamber Orchestra Releases a New Recording of String Serenades Featuring Spectacular HD Sound

Posted by shiragilbert on
 November 8, 2012
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Described by La Presse as “impeccable in every respect,” Montreal’s exciting young chamber orchestra Appassionata presents a radiant new recording, Sérénades tchèques (Czech serenades) featuring music for string orchestra by Josef Suk and Antonin Dvořák, under the direction of its Music Director Daniel Myssyk. Praised by Radio-Canada for its “fluidity, drama and conviction,” the recording also boasts spectacular gleaming sound, due to a unique X2HD recording process by the Montreal label Fidelio. The sound on the new recording is described by Fanfare as “simply astounding … the disc opens on a soundstage of such breadth, depth, clarity, and transparency that all sense of speakers, amplifiers, and other electronics between you and the orchestra quite literally disappears. You are there.”

Following their critically-acclaimed debut recording Idyla—a 2010 Opus Prize finalist for best album—featuring music by Janáček, Appassionata and Myssyk plunge back into the Czech Romantic repertoire. Josef Suk’s joyful Serenade for Strings in E flat major, Op.6 is imbued with grace and finesse, followed by the sheer exuberance of Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings in E major, Op.22 and that composer’s intimate and haunting Nocturne for Strings in B major, Op.40.  “Working and reworking these serenades, we came to believe that it is truly possible to evoke the spirit of these composers,” says Myssyk, “In our recording sessions for these great dramatic works we created a feeling of osmosis similar to that of actors who spend weeks in rehearsal before the premiere.”

Founded in 2000 by Daniel Myssyk, Appassionata, comprised of twenty musicians, presents fifteen concerts per season in Quebec and on tour, and is frequently broadcast on Radio-Canada’s Espace Musique. The orchestra’s first American tour was in January 2012. Specializing in music from the Classical period, Appassionata also produces the highly praised youth series “Musique, Maestro!”, directed at elementary school students in disadvantaged areas. This season, Appassionata celebrates the music of Haydn with a series of three concerts featuring the composer’s “Morning”, “Noon” and “Evening” Symphonies.

Appassionata’s Artistic Director, Daniel Myssyk is also Assistant Professor and Director of Orchestral Activities at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. Recent engagements include his debut with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and the All-Virginia State Symphony and his first appearance with the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal in February 2012.  Myssyk has studied conducting with great masters including David Zinman, Larry Rachleff and, most recently, Sir Roger Norrington in Vienna.

Listen here:  www.appassionata.ca/en/discographie/

Violinist Michael Guttman In Recital with Pianist Stephan Sylvestre in Toronto & Montreal

Posted by shiragilbert on
 October 24, 2012
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“A violinist with an incredible wealth of tone colors, with an exquisitely creamy sound … rich-toned and impassioned …” – The New York Times

Whether on the stages of Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan, or with his own Pietrosanta in Concerto festival in Tuscany, Belgian violinist Michael Guttman dazzles critics and audiences alike with his “incredible wealth of tone colors” (The New York Times) and has been praised by the Jerusalem Post as “the Chagall of violinists.” Guttman performs at Toronto‘s Gallery 345 on Monday, November 12 at 8pm and returns to Montreal’s Chapelle historique du Bon Pasteur on Thursday, November 15 at 8pm following last season’s sold-out performance at that venue, with pianist Stephan Sylvestre and featuring music by Beethoven, Brahms, Fauré and Arvo Pärt. The recital follows Mr. Guttman’s performance with the Regina Symphony on November 10.

Delving deeply into the character of each work, Guttman brings a mission to the concert hall: to take chances, tell a story and plumb the music’s emotional depth. For this concert, his first collaboration with Sylvestre, the program includes Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Brahms’ moody and dramatic Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Gabriel Fauré’s moving Sonata No. 1 in A major and Fratres by Arvo Pärt, a powerfully hypnotic and meditative work.

With current engagements spanning the globe, Michael Guttman, who has just returned from concerts in Poland, appears in the coming weeks as soloist and conductor with the Thessaloniki Orchestra in Greece and the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, and performs at the Hong Kong International Chamber Music Festival. Guttman recently gave the US premiere of Philip Glass’ double concerto for violin and cello with the Dallas Symphony, a work he premiered in Asia last fall and will bring to his hometown Brussels Philharmonic next year. Additional recent appearances include the Gstaad Festival, La Fenice in Venice, Salle Pleyel in Paris, and Claudio Abbado’s Ferrara Musica. Mr. Guttman is the principal guest conductor of the Brussels Chamber Orchestra, leader of the Arriaga String Quartet and the Michael Festival Guttman Tango Quartet.

Among the most sought-after Canadian pianists of the new generation, Stephan Sylvestre is “gifted with essential sense of tonal magic, masterly brilliant virtuosity and monumentality,” says the Czech Republic’s Flovo Cultury, while Montreal’s La Presse remarks that “his natural talent reminds one of the great Artur Rubinstein.” Sylvestre’s numerous performances have included
Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, the St-Petersburg Conservatory, and major venues and festivals across Canada.

Sparking Soprano Christiane Karg Sings Arias by Mozart, Gluck and Grétry

Posted by shiragilbert on
 October 9, 2012
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“The finest singing of the evening came from Christiane Karg … her exquisite soprano voice and level of interpretive sensitivity were outstanding”

– Opera News (at the Salzburg Festival)

The enchanting young German soprano Christiane Karg shines in Amoretti, a sparkling new recording which examines love in all its facets, from tenderness to passion to despair. Arias by Gluck —including “Amor” from Orphée et Eurydice, Karg’s much-talked about star turn at the Salzburg Festival— and by Mozart are heard alongside their lesser-known French contemporary, André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry, including three world premiere recordings. Reviewing the new recording in The Sunday Times, Hugh Canning calls Karg “a light soprano who can sing the most demanding high notes and coloratura … [she] has impressed at Glyndebourne and in Salzburg.” Christiane Karg was also heard at this summer’s Mostly Mozart Festival where James R. Oestreich of The New York Times described how the soprano “reveled in the coloratura and sang beautifully throughout.” The Berlin Classics release is available from Allegro Classical on October 9.

Conductor Jonathan Cohen and his vibrant London-based Arcangelo ensemble join Karg for this delightful program of arias, all of which were composed during a period of just 10 years, despite the diversity of styles. Three operas from Mozart’s youth are featured, including the aria “Amoretti” from his La finta semplice. Gluck is heard in both his well-known and lesser-known operas, including the world premiere recording of “In mezzo a un mar crudele” from Telemaco, ossia L’isola di Circe. Grétry, who has fallen into oblivion despite the fact that he wrote more than 60 operas, proves to be a real discovery with the lovely “Il va venir… Pardonne, o mon juge” from Sylvain and “Au bien supreme” from Lucile, both heard here on CD for the first time.

Christiane Karg’s previous release for Berlin Classics, a Lieder recording entitled Verwandlung, received an ECHO Klassik award in 2010.

Hong Kong Sinfonietta Makes Montreal Debut October 8th

Posted by shiragilbert on
 September 21, 2012
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“The Sinfonietta, whose members’ average age is under 30, has been a platform for young Chinese soloists and composers since its inception in the early 1990s … under its photogenic female music director Yip Wing-sie, a one-time protégé of Seiji Ozawa [who has] near-celebrity media status in Hong Kong…” – THE FINANCIAL TIMES (London)

Acclaimed for their “sweeping grandeur” (Time Out Hong Kong), “range of sonorous colours” (The Financial Times), and innovative programming, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, with Music Director and Conductor Yip Wing-sie, makes its Montreal debut, appearing for one night only on Monday, October 8 at Maison Symphonique. The culmination of the ensemble’s first North American tour, following performances in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and New York, the concert features dazzling young violinist Tianwa Yang in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 and Loo Sze-wang, sheng, (3,000-year old Chinese mouth organ) in a new work by Chan Hing-yan, alongside Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite.

Founded in 1990, Hong Kong Sinfonietta has become one of the most well-respected orchestras in Asia, performing over 100 performances a year and including musicians from ten different nationalities. Together with its dynamic music director Yip Wing-sie, who has blazed the trail for many young musicians in Hong Kong, the orchestra has brought quality orchestral music closer to the community, while making its mark internationally on tours to France, Italy, South America and Eastern Europe, with regular appearances in Tokyo’s La Folle Journée festival. Most recently the orchestra was featured at France’s prestigious Festival international de Piano La Roque d’Anthéron. Hong Kong Sinfonietta has collaborated with an illustrious array of musicians and groups including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Christopher Hogwood, Lang Lang, and the Kirov, Bolshoi, Stuttgart, and English National Ballets. Alongside its extensive classical repertoire, the orchestra boasts a rich Chinese orchestral repertoire that few in the world can rival.

Rising young violinist Tianwa Yang is soloist for Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor. The former child prodigy has performed with major orchestras throughout Europe, Asia and the US:. “Yang found a way to make the obstacle course Prokofiev lays out for the soloist sound easy,” said The Washington Post, praising her “rapid-fire pizzicatos” and “infectious brio.”

The concert will also include the premiere of a dramatic new work by Chan Hing-yan (b. 1963) for sheng, (Chinese “mouth organ”) and orchestra. ’Twas the Thawing Wind features Loo Sze–wang, recognized as the foremost sheng player of his generation.

BOX OFFICE:   Place des Arts   www.PdA.qc.ca   514.842.2112

Vivaldi and Forma Antiqva meet Uri Caine in The Four Seasons Sonnets

Posted by shiragilbert on
 August 27, 2012
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Forma Antiqva

Forma Antiqva

“… every flower, every bird, every snowflake breathes … subtle and fierce.” – Radio NDR

VIVALDI | THE FOUR SEASONS

&  THE FOUR SEASONS SONNETS

Renowned for his creative and ambitious music projects, sound artist and producer Stefan Winter surprises and enthralls with a daring new version of The Four Seasons. Vivaldi’s masterpiece, performed by the Spanish Baroque ensemble Forma Antiqva directed by Aarón Zapico and featuring violinist Aitor Hevia, is interspersed with stunning new settings of Vivaldi’s sonnets, “Le Quattro Stagioni,” by Theo Bleckmann and Uri Caine. Dutch painter and installation artist Marcel van Eeden, contributes eight new drawings, creating a dramatic synthesis of the arts.

Aarón Zapico and Forma Antiqva’s approach to Vivaldi’s creation is thrilling, sensual, and haunting, as the ensemble embodies in turn the roles of a blooming meadow, a violent thunderstorm and the blazing sun. Aitor Hevia plays the leading role, mimicking a bird, a deer, and an icy winter wind. Guiding the ensemble in this rich interpretation, Stefan Winter took the approach of a film director: “The musicians melt into a new and personal style to be able to perform as actors,” says Winter, who describes the project as an audio-film (cinema for closed eyes), “Forma Antiqva blast the dust away and turns Baroque music into living colors.”

Further enhancing Vivaldi’s work are The Four Seasons Sonnets, world premiere settings of Vivaldi’s own poems in a modern English translation by Timothy Kotowich.  Theo Bleckmann is the singer, using electronic effects such as samples and loops, while Caine performs on piano and keyboards, creating sound waves and rhythmic patterns. The sonnets themselves are full of charm, sensuality and emotion, fear, life and death.

Founded by Aarón Zapico in 1999, the Baroque music ensemble Forma Antiqva is hailed as “the visible forerunner of the new generation of Early Music in Spain.” Joined by his brothers Pablo and Daniel, the variable-sized ensemble performs frequently at festivals across Spain and has toured to Bolivia, Brazil, Australia, Greece, China and Japan.

Spanish violinist Aitor Hevia has performed in Spain and beyond, working with conductors such Carlo Maria Giulini, Sir Colin Davis, Bernard Haitink and Vladimir Ashkenazy. In 2003 he founded Cuarteto Quiroga, now established as one of the most dynamic string quartets of its
generation.

Theo Bleckmann, “a vocalist of inventive instinct and assiduous musicality” (The New York Times), and Uri Caine, “exemplary compositions and virtuoso playing” (BBC), have previously collaborated on new interpretations of the music of Robert Schumann for Winter & Winter. The duo revisits George Gershwin for the label next year.

 

 

From the Titanic to the Speakeasy: Patricia Hammond and her Ragtime Parlour Band in Toronto!

Posted by shiragilbert on
 May 11, 2012
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“Our listeners are queueing up, writing in and tripping over themselves, desperate to hear Patricia again.”

– BBC Radio 3

Possessing a beautifully warm mezzo soprano voice and a passion for the charm and allure of nostalgic music, Patricia Hammond is spearheading a revival of the great songs of the last century – from Victorian and Edwardian “parlour” songs to early jazz. Originally from BC’s Sunshine Coast and now based in London (UK) where she is known as the “Canadian Nightingale,” Hammond makes her Toronto debut in From the Titanic to the Speakeasy at Hugh’s Room on Tuesday, June 19th at 8:30pm.

Growing up in a house that contained thousands of 78-RPM records, Patricia’s early obsession with old sheet music – the only “antiques” she could afford to buy – began at the age of nine. While she trained as a classical singer and went on to perform with numerous opera companies and symphonies under the baton of esteemed conductors like Ivan Fischer and Sir Simon Rattle, she never let go of her early passion for this delightful and sentimental music. Songs like the entrancing “Yours”, the spirited “Let Him Go, Let Him Tarry,” and “The Honeysuckle and the Bee,” which is only demure on the surface, are also featured on her new recording Our Lovely Day. Veteran broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson calls the recording: “a music-box of vintage treasures, beautifully sung by a remarkable woman.”

Featured frequently on BBC Radio and television, Patricia was the only contemporary artist included on Sony’s 2010 compilation Down Memory Lane, alongside Dame Vera Lynn and Mario Lanza. Patricia performs frequently around London with groups including the Piccadilly Dance Orchestra, the RMS Lusitania Ragtime Orchestra, and Albert Ball’s Flying Aces band.

Patricia Hammond has also made it a personal mission to bring these songs directly to the people who remember them, spending endless hours singing to the elderly in hospitals and nursing homes. Here, the effect of her music has been poignant and life-changing, an experience she chronicled in a touching personal essay, “Awakenings” for The London Telegraph and reprinted in The Week.  Her story so moved Damian Jones, producer of “The Iron Lady,” that he optioned the rights for a film, which is now in the works.

www.patriciahammond.com

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