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As the week winds down and starts turning towards Monday morning again (no! no! sorry, yes it does) it's time for This Week In The (Music) Blogosphere.
There's been the expected sniping over Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy, a fair bit of traffic about the Robert LePage visual treatment of Faust at the Met, and much to do about a former star of Dynasty who is going to be on Coronation Street. (Whoops, sorry, wrong blog.) But here are a few less obvious music stories/issues covered in the past week:
Apartment Therapy finds a cache of photos from the archives of LIFE mag that look inside the homes of parents and grandparents of musicians like Frank Zappa and Grace Slick. They're pretty great, as you'll see if you click on that last link.
Christie's held its first auction of punk memorabilia, and Monitor Mix plays devil's advocate by asking, "After all what is it about the marriage of Christie's and Punk that is so threatening?"
Why do we have an affinity for some instruments more than others? Not sure that this question is answerable, but one can always ask.
In Jurgen Gothe's case, it's the harp that's stolen his heart, and today on Farrago With Jurgen Gothe (Sunday 5:00 p.m. 5:30 NT) you can hear all manner of harp music, from artists like Lori Pappajohn, Alan Stivel, Edmonton's Terry McDade, and Gayle Tapper from St. John's, among others.
But while the harp is certainly used in many styles of music, it's probably safe to say it's not typically the jokiest of instruments. Of course, there is one famous exception -- although as this video shows, sometimes what starts as a gag ends in real beauty.
That's something else, eh? And an indication that Harpo's impact as a musician should not be underestimated. As Jonathan Richman said in his song, When Harpo Played His Harp:
"When Harpo played his harp, it was a dream, it was -- well if someone else can do it, how come nobody does?"
But here's a thing I've sometimes wondered about, not being a harpist. How the heck do people travel with the things?
Today on Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT) you can hear the CBC Radio Orchestra and conductor Alain Trudel marking the end of 70 years of broadcasts with a farewell performance from UBC's Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
The orchestra celebrates its long-standing commitment to Canadian composition with new commissions by four young Canadian composers: Kati Agocs, John Stetch, Samy Moussa and Owen Pallett. As well, the orchestra revisits the 1980, CBC-commissioned masterpiece by Claude Vivier, Lonely Child, with soprano Nathalie Paulin. (Note: Vivier is the subject of the documentary broadcast today on Inside The Music Sunday Edition 12:00 p.m., 12:30 NT as well. You can read more about the Vivier documentary here.) And the concert concludes with Beethoven's 7th.
If your response to the idea that animals react to music is "in a pig's ear," think again. A new book called Through A Dog's Ear is all about how music can be used to help anxious dogs. (Today on In Tune 5:00 p.m., 5:30 NT, Katherine covers this story, among others.)
Having once been a horsey girl I've seen first hand the way music works in barns -- the horses used to whicker softly while bossa nova was played, and also seemed fond of Schubert's Trout Quintet. And everyone's heard stories of how music makes cows keener to produce milk. (Not sure which kind of music, that's another book, possibly called In One Ear And Out The Udder. Sorry, I promise to stop now.)
At a glance the premise behind Through A Dog's Ear is that it is classical music in particular that has this effect. But a closer look reveals that it is more than just any old classical music, it's "Psycho-acoustically designed classical compositions clinically demonstrated to calm dogs, and in many cases, reduce anxiety."
Saturday Afternoon At The Opera starts at noon o'clock today (1:00 AT, 1:30 NT), the early start to happily accommodate the return of the The Metropolitan Opera to the airwaves, with a new production of La Damnation de Faust, by Hector Berlioz.
Now, it's true that everyone's talking about the incredible visuals by (Canadian) director Robert LePage, but as the NYTimes points out (Between Hell And Heaven, A World Of Morphing Imagery): "...fascination with the video wizardry should not obscure the big news of the production: the magnificent performance James Levine drew from the orchestra and the robust singing of the Met’s remarkable chorus..."
Speaking of those visuals though, if you click on that last link you will see what all the chatter is about -- and it will lead you to video clips as well.
The production stars, among others, another Canadian, John Relyea. That same article says Relyea is "a vocally commanding Méphistophélès, mixing stentorian power with wily, seductive lyricism." Nice. The opera also stars tenor Marcello Giordani as Faust, and soprano Susan Graham as the object of his passion, Marguerite.
Please continue reading for the rest of the cast and character details, and the plot synopsis.
It's a big day for SATO and opera lovers -- the Met season resumes with a new production of the dramatic legend La Damnation De Faust by Hector Berlioz.
Much buzz about this production with celebrated director Robert LePage, who interwove video projection with the live performance. But also because of the music, which is conducted by The Met's Music Director, James Levine, and stars tenor Marcello Giordani as Faust and soprano Susan Graham as Marguerite.
Stay tuned to the Radio 2 Blog for more on the opera a little later Saturday morning, but for now, here's the nutshell version: In Berlioz's romantic treatment of the legend, Faust's thirst is not so much for knowledge, but for deep feelings. Enter Méphistophélès, the Devil, in the form of Canadian baritone John Relyea, who baits his trap with a promise of love. When things start to unravel, Faust realizes that the price of Marguerite's salvation may be his own damnation. Fun stuff.
Please continue reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights.
This weekend a documentary about composer Claude Vivier will be broadcast on Inside The Music (Sunday Edition 12:00 p.m., 12:30 NT). When the documentary was previously broadcast some listeners/blog readers asked if it would be again -- so I'm pleased to say you can hear it this Sunday. It got a very positive response the first time around, here are a couple of examples of that response:
"Thanks so much for this wonderful radio hommage to Claude Vivier. His music is still as fresh today as it was at the time it was created. It has withstood time very well."
"What a visionary. I liked Hele's approach of walking with the listener as you discovered him with us, letting us in his circle and theory. Thank you for introducing me to this remarkable mastermind."
The Hele in question is CBC documentarist Hele Montagna, who delved into Claude Vivier's life in her documentary, In Search of Claude Vivier.
Timely, as 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of Claude Vivier’s birth, and the 25th of his death in Paris. Vivier's personal, imaginative sound-world has captivated musicians and audiences around the world, and his short, intense life continues to affect his friends and colleagues -- as you will hear in this doc.
Tonight Buffy Sainte-Marie is honoured with the "Lifetime Contribution to Aboriginal Music Award" at the 2008 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. Ms. Sainte-Marie’s career spans more than four decades as a musician, visual artist and social activist. She's a remarkable woman, and it is wonderful to see her honoured in this way.
So today the weekly Radio 2 Video Fest also celebrates Buffy Sainte-Marie, with three quite different "features."
Recalling The 1960s...Universal Soldier:
With Pete Seeger, Performing Get Along Home, Cindy Cindy (Really):
(One viewer's response: "One of the weirdest, and most haunting things I've ever heard...")
This week's edition of "What Tom Got Wrong" is a mea culpa to Gordon Lightfoot fans across the country...today Tom will play the correct version of Steel Rail Blues. (Speaking of, if ever you wanted a nice defense of why it makes sense to switch back "from rubber to rail," you should read Quirks & Quarks' Bob McDonald's view on the subject.)
But here's the story. A savvy listener named Michael Smith sent in a comment saying that the version of Lightfoot's Steel Rail Blues played on the show was not from the 1966 eponymous album, but from the seventies compilation, Gord's Gold. And he was right.
So today Tom makes amends, in the final hour of the show. You have to admire a man who can admit to such an egregious error. I'm sure it won't happen again -- but other mistakes will! Thankfully, since Friday's would not be complete without What Tom Got Wrong on Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.).
Alanis Morissette performed on the debut of Rosie O'Donnell's new TV show last night. Cannot comment on it, as I was otherwise occupied with choral singing, something Ms. Morissette would be brilliant at. But probably she's too busy.
However, there is an opportunity tonight to hear her on the Radio 2 airwaves, as Canada Live (8 p.m.) broadcasts a concert Alanis (she does go by the uni-name) recorded in Ottawa at Thanksgiving in front of what the Can. Live team describes as "an enthusiastic crowd of friends, family and diehard fans." She sings a cross section of songs from her whole catalogue, although right now she's touring in support of her latest, Flavors of Entanglement.
But here's an interesting quote from an interview she did recently on the tour -- perhaps not so flattering a view of being Canadian, but certainly an apt summation of that transition she made from dance music kid to intense music adult, something people still sometimes puzzle over.
"Q: How did you morph from 'the Debbie Gibson of Canada' to the fierce voice on 'Jagged Little Pill'?
A: Well, I went from 15 years old to 20, and for women and young girls, that's a pretty pivotal turning point. Every woman at some point in her life has that turning point where they no longer sublimate what they're feeling, and as a Canadian I was definitely a passive-aggressive creature, and it served me well in my art. So I bottled it all up inside and later it exploded and came out in lyrics and music and movement. "
Breaking News! The winner of this year's The X Factor is "reportedly" going to record Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah to release as the show's annual Christmas single. (Maybe this post should have begun: "Breaking Rumours!")
But the significance of this is that in the past few years The X Factor's single has gone to the top of the UK charts. The X Factor, should you not be familiar with it, is American/Canadian Idol with better accents. (And not all of them belong to Nigel Lythgoe or Simon Cowell.)
But the choice of Hallelujah, if true, is not without controversy. Apparently one of the contestants, the lovely Diana, is considered a shoo-in to win, and the song was chosen because it "suits her vocals." At least, so says NME ("A source told the paper: 'Tempers are running high. They feel it is just the latest in a series of stunts that have left them wondering if the competition has already been won.'") Egad! A reality TV show rigged? Never.
But one thing to come out of the X Factor gossip that really is worth paying attention to is a brief but interesting chronology of the history of Hallelujah covers. (A topic that has come up recently on the Radio 2 Blog in a post called Lenny Mania.)
Coming up today on Radio 2, music! More specifically, music and talk via an interview with the ever interesting Hawksley Workman who joins Rich Terfry on Drive. Here's just a little bit of what you can hear...note: Girls On Crutches is the name of a song...
To hear the rest of the interview, (and the music!) tune into Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.). Should you be curious to know more about Hawksley Workman, you may also want to read yesterday's more extensive post on the songwriter, which is right here.
But Hawksley W. is not the only noteworthy musician to be on the Radio 2 airwaves today -- Alanis Morissette can also be heard in concert this evening, on Canada Live (8 p.m.). More on that a little later, but for now, that's your early bird notice.
Before you do anything else, just scroll down and look at those radios. Mmm...nothing like the look of a radio -- old or new -- to satisfy those among us who love the things.
OK, I'm assuming you scrolled back up and are reading this again. And you've probably already guessed, today's Tech Q post is about radios new, so new that we're not even sure what to call them yet!
Peter Cook, Radio 2's Resident Geek explains:
"This week I'd like to give a brief overview of an emerging product category, one for which we haven't even settled on a name yet. Internet Radio? Wi-Fi Radio? Audio Streamer? Network Radio? Wireless Network Music Player?
I'm going to call it an Internet Radio for now since this is the aspect of the device we're most interested in here.
With an Internet Radio you can listen to any of the thousands of internet radio stations from all over the world for free. You do not need a computer to operate an Internet Radio, just access to a broadband internet connection.
Most of these boxes can also play back the music you have stored on your computer and most of them come with alarms you can set to wake you up . . . or to tune you in to your favourite programme.
Today I'll simply list some of the products I'm aware of and give you some links to follow so you can do some research. All of these devices connect to your wireless hub and have either built in speakers or an audio output to connect to your stereo.
Roku carry the SoundBridge and SoundBridge Radio. The latter includes an AM/FM radio. You can compare the two products here although I note that the SoundBridge is out of stock until Jan 2009. Here are reviews from the technology-oriented cnet and the audiophile journal Stereophile. My (admittedly fly-by) impression is that Roku is spending more energy developing network-based video devices lately.
Tivoli makes some really great sounding little radios and they have just introduced their Networks Radio. Tivoli point to a number of reviews from their site. A bit pricey and 1.0.
"For me, it’s important to bring humanity back into my job, because it really doesn’t exist. To do the rock ’n’ roll game well, you’re subjected to constant humiliation. The making and playing of music is the one dignified element." 2006, Jam!Showbiz
"As a musician, you never stop learning. But there’s something to be said about the naïveté and pure lusty inspiration of earlier records." 2008, Mondo Magazine
"I think that playing an instrument, especially like drums, it's so physical that the outlet ends up being a very passionate outlet, similar to sex... It does feel like that with drumming or with singing too, cause it's so much about your body and about making sound, you're the instrument, it's very sensual, it's very euphoric." 2001, Only Angels Have Wings
We could go on, Mr. Workman typically has interesting things to say in interviews. One such interview can be heard tomorrow on the Radio 2 airwaves (Thursday November 27th), on Rich Terfry's Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.). As always with Rich's interviews there is also in-studio music performed as well, so Workman fans or Workman curious, tune in during the third hour of the programme.
Workman has been touring with music from his deliciously named Los Manlicious. (He does excel at delicious titles, including an early recording, 2001's Last Night We Were The Delicious Wolves, which is probably why the deliciousness of manliciousness came up).
Montreal has been called "Brazil north" for the strength of its small but excellent Brazilian music community. One of the most recent performers to "make waves" (please, if you have a cliché substitute for that feel free to write in) on the scene is Brazilian-born Bia, who sings in French, Portuguese and Spanish. After a number of recordings she's finally released one in the English market, 2008's Nocturno.
One reviewer described it as "filled with angelic, sensual vocals over trickling acoustic guitars over bossa nova and samba beats." Not easy to be both angelic and sensual, but if you hear her you'll probably see what the reviewer meant. And, actually, you have an opportunity to do just that this evening, with a concert from the Théâtre de la Ville in Longueuil, Quebec, recorded by Radio 2, and broadcast on Canada Live (8 p.m.)
Oh no, it can't be that time already! While looking for something to do with David Byrne I came across the first indication of end-of-year listmania that always seizes the media. I thought at least they'd have the decency to wait to be seized until a little closer to the end of the year, but no.
That said, I must admit I really like the approach of Bob Duskis of Six Degrees Records, from their blog, Global Noize. Rather than the usual Top Ten Albums blah blah blah he's mixed it up, and his list is a fine example of a more creative (and entertaining) approach -- there is more to life than the Top Ten Albums blah blah blah, after all.
Categories like "Best Ethiopian Dub Electronica Record By A Former Member Of Transglobal Underground" and "Best Swedish Vampire Film" are a lot more fun.
Also, I should point out that Six Degrees have started gathering lists from people like Shelia Chandra, and Canada's own Bob Blumer...likely more will come in as they go. Of course, should you feel inspired you can contribute your own to the Radio 2 Blog as well.
Which brings me to this small piece of business -- the blog is now being moderated by a fleet of highly trained moderators working around the clock, and to send in your comments you do need to sign up first. This will take you under a minute. I know, I timed it. :47 seconds. Am still waiting for someone to better my record.
It's probably one of the most recognizable pieces of music from pop culture of the past few decades -- and for some, hard not to think, "creepy" when you hear it. (The inevitable Exorcist connection.) Not for others, like Calgary pianist Marcel Bergmann. He arranged Tubular Bellsfor four pianos -- you can hear that music in concert this evening on The Signal (10 p.m.).
Here's how Bergmann, who first listened to Tubular Bells as a teen, sees the piece:
"When I started working on the arrangement for 4 keyboard instruments, I naturally needed to take a much closer, analytical look at this music. During the process of deciphering the various, simultaneous layers which make up the fabric of Tubular Bells, I realized how much of the opening pattern can be found throughout the whole first part –it often reappears quasi 'in disguise, altered in terms of register, meter or tonality. It serves as a kind of connecting element, which links the various ideas together and creates a bigger overall context and structure."
Mike Oldfield was also a teen when he wrote Tubular Bells -- he was only nineteen. Nineteen! Now he's in his mid-fifties, and still dealing with the consequences of that 1973 hit.
Now, one of the controversies already about this contest is that Tom has taken as the dividing line between east and western Canada the CFL designation, which would put Winnipeg in the east! Yesterday I railed against this, and was gratified to read this response from listener/Blog Reader Michael Viens:
"As a child of my father who was born in Saskatchewan and my mother who was born in Winnipeg, I was somewhat relieved to read in the blog above that you actually have broken from the CFL delineation and included Winnipeg.
After all, if you're not going to include all of Manitoba, I would think that you would at least defer to the geographical center of Canada: N 49° 46.054 W 096° 48.583 which is east of Winnipeg."
And then Mr. Viens goes on to point out a number of the fine Canadian songwriters to come from the west. Still, at time of writing, East was winning. But there are four days left in this week, last I counted, so you have plenty of time to register your opinion, here or here.
Note: Do not be alarmed if you are asked to sign up before commenting! CBC blogs are all gradually moving to a new system, and it literally takes less than one minute to sign up and add your comments...
Actually, the change is to how you comment to the Radio 2 Blog, as the blog moves to an outside moderation system today. It's the same system used by much of the CBC website already. And in fact within a matter of months, all of the website -- blogs, stories, anyplace where you can comment -- will also switch over to this system.
The only change for you is that you have to sign up (just once!) to make a comment. The sign up thing is not a big deal at all. It takes literally under a minute. (I just tried it -- :47 seconds, actually. Though if you dither over creating the perfect Password or User Name, it might go as high as :90.)
Here's an example in action. Say you wanted to comment on the arts news story: 'Controversial' George Harrison Interview Comes To Light. If you click on that link, not only can you read about how George may have said blunt things about drink and drugs (there's a shocker), you can also scroll down and see what the new comment system looks like. [UPDATE: The commenting system is now in place on the Radio 2 Blog, so actually you can just "continue reading" to the bottom of this post and see it in action, since there are a number of comments up.]
There are a couple of reasons that this new system will be advantageous for you:
Putting aside who won the Grey Cup last night, the question that Tom Allen asks this week on Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.) remains the same:
Where do the best songs in this country come from, east or west?
Of course, Tom doesn't put aside the Grey Cup:
"If you're anywhere East of the Perimeter in Winnipeg's West End," says Tom, "Your fullback is Cookie Rankin and Leonard Cohen is your tight end. If you're anywhere West of Headingley, MB, when you roll out to pass, Sarah Mclachlan is mowing down defenders for you, and when you unleash the Hail Mary, it's to Doc Walker, or to Spirit of the West. "
Nice. But for those of us who don't know our tight ends from a...well, you can fill in the blank...we'd best stick to the music alone.
Canada traditionally has a considerable amount of geographical musical diversity. East coast Celtic. French traditions in Quebec. And, um, then there's the west. (OK, so you see which side the Radio 2 Blogger is coming down on.)
But what's with this CFL designation of Winnipeg being in the east? That's just crazy. Burton Cummings, Neil Young, The Weakerthans, eastern musicians? No no no. So for west, we will break with the silly CFL marker -- the west begins with Winnipeg. Have you ever heard anyone say "Winnipeg is the gateway to the east?" No, you have not.
But don't think too much about Winnipeg and its great music scene, let alone one of those other burgs like Calgary or Vancouver.
Here's a little quiz to try and sway you help you make up your mind.
Michael Ondaatje's, novel about Buddy Bolden, Coming Through Slaughter, is one of the all time great jazz novels. It's also just one example of how music and musicians influence writers. And tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) broadcasts a concert that's all about that intersection of words and music. (Actually, it's called Words And Music so we'll give it the caps it deserves.) It features Ondaatje reading from his last novel Divisadero -- set to music by composer Robert Carli.
It's presented by the Art of Time Ensemble (as part of its tenth anniversary celebration) and also includes Justin Rutledge performing music he wrote inspired by author Guy Vanderhaeghe, and a scene from the Dora Award-winning rock 'n' roll musical Fire.
Here it is, a Sunday evening in late November, hopefully you managed to enjoy some of the daylight hours today. One evening last week while waiting for a bus a woman walked by and said, apropos of nothing, "I got up and went to work and it was dark, now I'm coming home and it's dark." Then she laughed with astonishing good cheer and continued on her way.
But that's why weekends and days off were created. Also so that one can have time to waste spend in a leisurely fashion, such as reading blogs.
This week's blogbits come from a range of blogs, and cover a range of subject matter, starting with an update on how Guitar Hero may help amputees...
They always say you shouldn't go grocery shopping when you're hungry; possibly the same should apply to listening to today's edition of Farrago With Jurgen Gothe (Sunday 5:00 p.m. 5:30 NT) since the theme is good things to eat -- Jurgen calls the show Foodie Tunes. (Like Looney, but different.)
Of course there are a lot of songs out there about food, as a quick scan through All Mixed Up -- Songs About Food will show you. Some minor revelations there too -- did not know that Jimmy Buffett sang a song called I Wish Lunch Could Last Forever. What a thought. (Strangers In Your Soup is another compelling title.)
So today Jurgen samples, noshes, and otherwise gets into some good grub, Food-Music wise, with songs like Hampton Avenue's Shoofly Pie And Apple Pan Dowdy (what is "pan dowdy," anyway?), James Gordon's Donut Life, Tourtiere from La Bottine Souriante etc. etc. It's not all baked goods and comfort food though, Jurgen also plays Nancy White's classic protest song Stickers On Fruit.
Like every sort of music under the sun, Food Music is not an easily defined genre -- in fact just as jazz has many sub-genres (swing, bebop etc.) Food Mu. has any number of offshoots. For instance:
Quebec is in the spotlight (at least the audio equivalent) this weekend on Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT) with music from performers who took part in a recent concert by the Orchestre National de France, celebrating the 400th anniversary of Quebec City.
You can hear contralto Marie Nicole Lemieux with some songs of Duparc, and pianist Alain Lefevre performing a piano concerto by André Mathieu, conducted by Jean-Philippe Tremblay.
And the extraordinary Polish contralto Ewa Podles is heard in a recital for the Musical Club of Quebec, performing songs of Tchaikovksy and Rachmaninoff, while (on the non-Quebec front) Calgary-born soprano Erin Wall performs songs by Richard Strauss with the Calgary Phil., directed by Joseph Flummerfelt.
All that...and the proverbial more as host Bill Richardson chats with Daniel Kessler, author of a new biography of the pioneering American conductor Sarah Caldwell. (The founder of the Opera Company of Boston and first woman to conduct at the Met.)
The author explores what "one person of genius, imagination and can passion can accomplish single-handedly." Oh well, if all it takes is genius...
Please continue reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Remixes are as common as, well, remixes in popular music. Safe to say less so with classical music. But Yo Yo Ma, as Katherine explores on In Tune (Saturday 5:00 p.m., 5:30 NT), is inviting people to remix his latest. (Although it must be said, while remixes tend to imply beats and electronics, that's not necessarily what this is all about -- but it is an opportunity to "virtually collaborate" with the great cellist.)
The album, which came out mid-October, is called Songs of Joy & Peace, and it already has a cast of performers you might not expect, including James Taylor, Alison Krauss, Diana Krall and Chris Botti, as well as one you might -- Renée Fleming.
Yo Yo Ma is not actually suggesting that people take a crack at remixing the entire recording, but he has offered up one piece -- he's recorded the traditional Dona Nobis Pacem ("Give Us Peace") and is inviting come who will to write counter-melodies, a set of variations, or presumably some fresh arrangement using his cello on the melody. You can submit your own remix, and hear some of the remixes people have already sent in here.
It's also a contest -- the winner gets to record with Yo-Yo Ma in a one-on-one collaboration! So get remixing! You have until December 31st.
If you are getting warmed up (and given the temperatures across the country of late, you will want to be warming up by the radio!) for Saturday Afternoon At The Opera ( Saturday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT) here is what's in store:
A Puccini double header with his final uncompleted masterpiece, Turandot, and comic opera Gianni Schicchi. The latter tells a typical family tale: various relatives of a dearly departed gather to shed a tear – and grab their share of an inheritance. (It's up to Gianni Schicchi to juggle their expectations and ensure a dowry for his own daughter.)
As for Turandot, here's the nutshell version: Turandot, a femme fatale, finds herself out-riddled by an unknown prince who seeks her hand…not to mention her heart.
Please do click on the Continue Reading etc. at the bottom of this post to see full the synopsis for both operas, as well as cast and character details.
Oh, and a reminder, as well as the operas themselves, you can hear host Bill Richardson in conversation with film maker Tony Palmer about Puccini, and various opera sages drop by to weigh in with their take on Puccini.
It's the second Puccini Double Bill weekend, and fittingly so, given that 2008 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Puccini. This week on SATO you can hear the comic opera Gianni Schicchi, and his final uncompleted masterpiece, Turandot.
In addition to the operas, host Bill Richardson speaks to film maker Tony Palmer about Puccini, and various luminaries of the opera world weigh in on Puccini's popularity and achievements.
More to come about the opera later Saturday morning on the Radio 2 Blog, so stay tuned.
If you count yourself as a fan of music documentaries you'll want to know that this weekend there are two very good documentaries broadcast on Inside The Music.
First, Jamaican Echoes: A History of Dub Music., dub being the instrumental counterpart of reggae, earmarked by its unmistakable echoey reverby sound, although the music today can take many shapes.
Lauren Speers, a.k.a. DJ Chocolate, looks back at the history of dub from late sixties Jamaica, to how the music evolved in Britain, the United States, Canada and elsewhere. The documentary was co-produced by David Dacks, whose 2007 feature article for Exclaim magazine called Dub Voyage provided the basis for the program.
There's a lot of territory covered, as dub is the basis for much contemporary dance music and is also at the heart of remix culture. Like reggae, it's truly international. If you tune in you'll hear interviews with some real pioneers of the music including Adrian Sherwood, Bill Laswell, Twilight Circus, Clifton Joseph and Leroy Sibbles.
The other day I was listening to the exquisite Robert Plant/Alison Krauss recording, Raising Sand, remembering how taken aback people were when it first came out. To some they seemed unlikely duet partners -- bluegrass fiddler with the voice of an angel Krauss and well, you know, Led Zepplin.
So one thought thought to another and lo, it's the Unlikely Duet Partners Edition of the weekly Radio 2 Video Fest as a result.
It's A Man's World, just not one JB and Luciano usually shared:
Country singer Tammy Wynette, and decidedly not country -- The KLF:
Unlikely on paper only -- Alison Krauss & Robert Plant:
A traditional measure of when a radio programme has impact is is when someone listening says they had to pull over, or stay in a parking lot, or miss their bus -- because what they heard was so riveting/moving/hilarious/bizarre that they couldn't move 'til it was over.
Such was the case with last week's edition of What Tom Got Wrong, a new weekly Friday feature on Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.) Last week, what Tom got wrong was not putting the wrong emphasis on a word like kilometer (KiloMETRE? kilOMetre? Can never remember), something that really gets up some people's noses. No, it was about a racier mistake. Here's what Anna Ringstrom, a listener/Blog reader had to say:
"Firstly, I'd like to comment on last Friday's 'What Tom Got Wrong,' especially the piece regarding Tom mistakenly using the word 'testicle' instead of 'tentacle,' while talking about the octopus. One of the funniest segments of radio banter I have heard in a long, long while. It goes in the category of 'radio so funny you have to pull the car over to clear the tears from your eyes lest you cause a traffic accident."
Today, Part Two of this edition of What Tom Got Wrong, when Quirks & Quarks' Bob MacDonald drops by to answer the octopus question. (As in, um, do they have em, or not?)
This weekend, Deep Roots host Tom Power will be one of the presenters at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. You'd think Canadian folk music awards must have been around forever, given how long people have been singing I's The B'y or (somewhat more recently) carrying on (at full volume) about being "a broken man on a Halifax pier."
But no, the fact is awards for folk music in this country only started three years ago. And it seems 2005 must have been the moment for Canadian folk getting tired of being chopped liver -- that's also the year that the Mariposa Hall Of Fame was created. Last night two significant Canadians were inducted -- the late Estelle Klein and Ken Whiteley.
Estelle Klein was with the festival for years as as an organizer and "driving force," and is said to have created the idea of "workshops" -- forever changing the nature of music festivals across North America. And Ken Whiteley has been connected to Mariposa since the 1960s as a performer, a member of the Board, and as an Artistic Director. Good to see both acknowledged.
And then there are the aforementioned Canadian Folk Music Awards, taking place this Sunday in St. John's -- their mission to "celebrate and promote Canadian Folk Music in all its forms." Tom Power will play some of the nominees on his popular weekly folk show, Deep Roots (Saturday 11:00 a.m., 12:00 AT, 12:30 NT).
So what does all this add up to? I think there's a wind stirring, no not a mighty one, just a healthy wind of change whereby "folk" may no longer be the "f" word. Who knows, maybe one day people will even go so far as to drop "roots" and "singer songwriter" and go with just plain folk. Any bets?
"Instead of talking about it Bill, I'll just play it for you...". Pinchas Zukerman picks up his violin, smiles at CBC host Bill Richardson, and shows him exactly how Beethoven influenced Brahms in his Symphony No. 1 In C Major Opus 68 (hint: Ode To Joy). But Zukerman doesn't stop there, then he gets into the nitty gritty of how it should played, with comparisons of various approaches to the music:
"The feeling we have as instrumentalists is to play the exact opposite of what he wrote, because it feels so good, but it really cheapens the music!" says Zukerman.
And thus launches the first of four podcasts featuring NAC Music Director and world famous violinist Pinchas Zukerman and CBC Radio 2 host Bill Richardson, talking and playing their way through Brahms symphonies. (Well, Bill hums once or twice.) It's a musician's eye look at Brahms, thoroughly engaging. To hear the podcasts, just go to CBC Radio 2's Brahms page.
Favourite Zukerman Quote: "When people see something great, for goodness sakes imitate it! I want to play like Jascha Heifetz one day, just for ten minutes, but I can't!" (Followed by quite a chuckle.)
Every city has its great halls, and in T.O. the one that has the most history, and consequently the greatest sense of special occasion rooted in tradition (admittedly blogger bias here) is "old lady" Massey Hall. It was built in the late 19th century and inaugurated in 1894 with a performance of Handel's Messiah. Throughout the years it's been home to great musicians of all styles of music. (As well as weddings, movies, boxing matches, beauty contests and chess tournaments!)
So it's a very big deal for Canadian performers who grew up hearing concerts at Massey to then tread the boards, as it were. And tonight you can hear one such concert on Canada Live (8 p.m.) with a broadcast of Ron Sexmith's Massey Hall show from October. One review of the show said: "Sexsmith showed why he should grace that hallowed stage for many years to come. " So that's tonight. But keep reading for today.
The reviews for CoDs are coming in from Europe now, how nice. For example:
"It's a fabulous pleasure to hear this great concert by the Gryphon trio. Since I'm living in Belgium, I do not have the opportunity to hear the north american concerts of my favourite trio! Thanks to CBC I have discovered more new (excellent) works (I knew already Silvestrov, Ka Nin Chan) . Heather Schmidt is a great talent that is very well served by the trio's interperetation. Contemporary music is real music with them! Keep going on broadcasting their music on the web. That's a treasure!"
That's a review of a concert by the Gryphon Trio you can hear tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) and also at Concerts On Demand (where that review came from).
The Signalites describe the music as "reflective, evocative, mystical," and as I listen now at COD, I totally agree (although I'd also add "intense" to that list). It features the work of Canadian composers Kelly-Marie Murphy, Ka Nin Chan among others, as well as Ukrainian composers Valentin Silvestrov and Bohdana Frolya.
Last week Peter Cook, Radio 2's Resident Geek, laid out some of the basics of connecting your computer to your "stereo" (can we still call it that?), so that you can listen to online music (fer instance Radio 2's Concerts On Demand, and Music Channels). Today, he moves onto the next level of this hookup -- the one would, if it were a person, say "look ma, no wires!"
Over to you, Peter.
"With the wonderful software available for organizing our music collections and with all the great audio available via the internet, computers have moved to the centre of our listening lives. So it makes sense to make the most of the sound quality available by connecting our computers to our listening systems. Last week I described a fairly low tech solution in which you run a wire from your computer to your stereo.
This week we're going to do it all without wires.
Most computers sold in the last few years come with a Wi-Fi wireless network card. With the right software and a bit more hardware you can send audio wirelessly from your computer to a receiver connected to your sound system . . . which might be in another room.
One example of such a system is Apple's AirTunes technology.
Software? On a computer running Windows or Mac operating systems you can use iTunes. Unix users might want to check out Raop-play.
Follow the links to see what each of those boxes can do. We'll just focus on their audio capabilities for the moment. Set up your AirportExpress (for example) close to your audio system and plug it in using either an analogue or digital cable.
Let's say you want to listen to one of CBC Radio2's new internet radio Music Channels using iTunes. Once you have AirTunes configured you'll notice a new speaker button in the bottom right-hand corner of iTunes.
A couple of visits from Canadian musicians on Radio 2 shows this Wednesday -- Alan Doyle and Sean McCann of Great Big Sea drop by to chat with Tom about the band's tour for their new CD, Fortune's Favour, in the third hour of Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.).
And you can hear live performance and interview with Serena Ryder on Drive. Serena sings a song she wrote that has been chosen as the song children from coast to coast to coast will sing on Music Monday this spring. (For more about that, please click here.) But she also addresses other matters, for instance her new recording:
For the rest of the interview, tune in today to Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) in the second hour of the show.
An exhibition dedicated to Serge Gainsbourg opened recently in Paris; an exhibition of Leonard Cohen's drawings opens in Vancouver next month; Dylan is everywhere, Gordon Lightfoot is feted as he turns 70, Joni Mitchell at 65...we seem to have reached the era when popular music icons, (both those who are still with us and those who are not), are venerated with fresh intensity.
But while Canadians' love for Cohen et al is a powerful thing, I'd venture to say it still doesn't hold a candle to the intensity of the French adoration for Gainsbourg. (Why that is is a subject for something much more in depth than a blog post, likely written in French.) But back to the exhibition. It's at the Cite De La Musique, a great music museum in the 19th arrondissement, in the north part of Paris. (It runs until March 2009, fyi.) It presents excerpts from films, movies, his own paintings, original manuscripts, stuff he owned or was inspired by (including Paul Klee's painting, Bad News From The Stars, which became the name of one of his recordings Mauvaises nouvelles des étoiles).
Speaking to The Independent, the curator of the exhibition, Frédéric Sanchez, described the decision to focus on Gainsbourg as "a consecration and an apotheosis" -- and that alone indicates the depth of the Gainsbourg worship.
Serena Ryder sings like she's felt a lot. So it came as no real surprise to read that many of the songs on her latest recording, Is It O.K., were written following the death of someone she loved. In fact the recording is dedicated to that friend, Bonnie O'Donnell. (You can read more about how her friend inspired her here.)
That Serena Ryder has such a bluesy, soulful voice sure helps convey all of that emotion. But when she comes into the Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) studio (broadcast Wednesday Nov. 19th in the second hour of the programme), one of the songs she'll be singing has a different kind of focus.
It's called Sing Sing, which is this year's song for Music Monday. Music Monday is a growing annual event that involves thousands of kids across the country (really, like a hundred or so thousand!) all performing concerts in public places on the first Monday in May. This year, they'll sing Serena's song, the same song you can hear her singing on Drive tomorrow. (WHOOPS! Update: Turns out Serena decided NOT to sing the song on Wednesday's Drive, but you can still hear her on the show singing some other material!)
You can hear an MP3 of the song here, and it's pretty easy to imagine kids singing it -- fun and infectious, not to mention lending itself nicely to being sung in a round. Not sure if the kids will wail with the same intensity that she does, towards the end of the song, but I'm pretty sure they'll love the message "don't you hold nothin' back..."
According to one review, witnesses at a performance of Mark Berube & the Patriotic Few heard "a cross between Tom Waits and Rufus Wainwright but with far more aggressive songwriting and performance style not seen since the likes of Bruce Springsteen."
Berube himself (in one interview) has described his music as "modern folk," so let's just stick with that. To hear some of that modern folk, you can tune into Canada Live (8 p.m.) Tuesday evening for a concert recorded this September in Montreal. The band was more the Patriotic Many, since in addition to the core members there were also strings and horns.
The occasion was a CD launch for Berube's latest, What The Boat Gave The River, his follow-up recording to last year's What The River Gave The Boat, a nice image, in both cases.
On the weekend a Radio 2 listener/blog reader wrote in about the Jeff Buckley cover of the Leonard Cohen song, Hallelujah. It's not a very long limb to go out on to say it's one of the best -- a wrenchingly beautiful version of a wrenchingly beautiful song.
In fact recently the BBC aired a documentary about the song itself, called The Fourth, The Fifth, The Minor Fall, frustratingly not available online. But what is available, is the December 2008 cover story in Mojo magazine, called The Incredible Resurrection Of Rock's Greatest Poet by journalist Sylvie Simmons, which "looks back over a life brimming with music, women, Zen and the devil with the man they once called Captain Mandrax."
And it's accompanied by a 15-track Cohen Covers CD, featuring Allison Crowe, Judy Collins, Dion, Linda Thompson, Katie Melua, Nick Cave, among others. Due to some poor consumer habits I've not yet procured magazine and disc, but have every intention of doing so before it's off the stands.
It's Gordon Lightfoot's 70th birthday today, and Tom Allen (and the Radio 2 Blog) celebrate by asking: What Should Gordon Lightfoot Be Writing About Today?
The question arose because so many of Lightfoot's best loved songs chart history in a powerful and memorable way. (Though many of his personal songs also seem to strike a universal chord.) Either way it's no surprise his songs are regularly covered. (Sometimes in unexpected places, eg. when Canadian Idol singers sang Canadian Railroad Trilogy.)
But what about new songs? There's so much great material these days -- the drama of the economy, politics on both side of the border, the sad tale of the runaway wallaby -- all great songwriting fodder.
So what do you think Gordon Lightfoot should write about? Send in your suggestion via Comments right here, on the Radio 2 Blog, or via the Radio 2 Morning Blog, and they will be forwarded to Mr. Lightfoot at the end of the week -- a kind of belated birthday present.
Some voices and the songs they sing seem to embody time and place in the growth of a nation. Maybe it's a timing thing, musical sensibility meeting up with social realities, and human need. Anyway, if that seems a little high falutin' for first thing on a Monday, this won't be:
Gordon Lightfoot (whose music did all of the above, a few decades ago) turns 70 today. And after some poor health, a few years ago, he's back -- heading out on tour in 2009.
Meanwhile, some chat around the Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.) office led to thinking about what Mr. Lightfoot might consider writing about in these very interesting times. Consequently, Tom Allen's question of the week is this: What do you think Gordon Lightfoot should be writing about today?
Tom and the Morning team will forward your responses to Mr. Lightfoot, in case he has a few minutes to pen some new tunes, maybe even before his tour, who knows! And stay tuned to The Radio 2 Blog -- more on Gordon Lightfoot a little later this Monday morning.
One of the best concerts I've been to in the past few years was by Marcel Khalife, pictured here. He plays the oud, which is most frequently likened to the lute. It's a wonderful sounding, expressive instrument. And as a not irrelevant aside, a concert by Khalife is on the Radio 2 website as a Concert On Demand.
But why the oud talk? This is why. Today Farrago With Jurgen Gothe (Sunday 5:00 p.m. 5:30 NT) celebrates the oud with a show called Oudistry.
It being Jurgen, the oud is heard in all manner of ways, from traditional, to, well less so.
And The Essential: Right Hand Basics, via Oud Cafe.
I particularly like their injunction: "To be able to control your instrument, you need to be able to control yourself." True of so much in life and oud.
If it's Sunday November 16th it must be Brahms day! Actually there is no law enforcing this, but it is true that today's edition of Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT) is devoted to the music of Brahms, and features four of Brahms' symphonies introduced by Pinchas Zukerman, the music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
So one sumptuous sitting for the symphonies, as well as a discussion of many of the musical themes that are woven through the works. But in addition to the music, Pinchas Zukerman will talk to host Bill Richardson about why the music of Brahms still has relevance today, about how Brahms' symphonies measure up to other titans of music, like Mozart and Beethoven, and also about the special friendships he's made in his lifetime devoted to sharing this music.
Pianist Les Dala will be in studio to do some musical illustration, and all passages for violin will be performed by Pinchas Zukerman himself.
Note: The NAC performances of Brahms are available online as well, at Concerts On Demand.
Further Note: Podcasts featuring Mr. Zukerman in conversation with SAIC host Bill Richardson, will also be available via CBC Radio 2's Brahms webpage.
Korea's Kim Yu-Na, a champion figure skater, has been landing her triple-lutz triple toe loops, sow cows, shoot the ducks and all those other fancy moves to a classical score, something Katherine will talk about more on today's edition of In Tune (Saturday 5:00 p.m., 5:30 NT).
Kim Yu-Na recently won Gold at the 2008 Skate America, skating Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Seans. (Incidentally, she trains in Toronto.) The choice of music is, as any skater or skating coach will tell you, a big deal. Skaters like Kim Yu-Na obsess about which music to use in a routine:
"I've tried several kinds of music and classical kind of fits me. I feel comfortable when the music is classical and I like to skate to it. I played a bit of piano when I was young, but no more. Now I listen mostly to Korean pop music. I can find it online," she told the the skating publication, Golden Skate.
So, for any skaters out there, or just the skate-music curious, here are a few thoughts:
Actually, it's a Puccini Double Header this weekend and next. This weekend opens with one of the biggies, Tosca. (Did you know that of his twelve operas Tosca, La Boheme, and Madama Butterfly consistently rank in the top five in terms of popular operas? Not sure who was doing the surveying, but apparently it is so.)
Anyway, next weekend it's Turandot and Gianni Schicchi, but this weekend it's Tosca, starring Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka as Tosca. The critics were wowed -- here's what one had to say:
"Our Tosca, Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka, was imperious and imposing, mercurial and gorgeous, impetuous and smitten. A Diva-in-Full. She has a creamy mid-range, a crystalline top, solid anchoring, she projects effortlessly, she's got power to burn. In a world in which the value of an extended ovation has seen continuous hyperinflation, the cheering she received for 'Vissi d'arte' was fully earned. Desperate lyricism defined." (OC Register, 19 May 2008)
But don't go anywhere after the first nine innings, because SATO also brings you Suor Angelica, a one act opera drawn from the trilogy composed as Il Trittico. The production features soprano Nicole Youl as Suor Angelica, with Andrea Licata leading the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra.
Please continue reading for more on the opera(s), including full cast details and the ever useful plot synopsis.
Today, it's one of the blockbusters, Tosca, the story of Cavaradossi the painter, who has revolutionary ideas – and friends. When he comes under the scrutiny of the evil Chief of the secret police, the beautiful singer Tosca becomes the bargaining chip in a bid for his freedom. Complications ensue.
Today's production stars Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka in a production of Los Angeles Opera with Sir Richard Armstrong conducting.
And the second part of today's double header is the convent story Suor Angelica, a one-act opera drawn from the trilogy composed as Il Trittico, in a production from the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. Stay tuned to the Radio 2 Blog for more about the opera, a little later Saturday morning.
This weekend you can hear the last episode in the fine series, Revolutions Per Minute: Indispensable Canadian Albums. It focuses on Broken Social Scene'sYou Forgot It In People, described on the band's own website as "a pop record designed to remind us that music has room to be recreated." And it goes on to say, "The album flows like a compilation of sounds for the wounded."
Yikes. But it is absolutely true that the ground-breaking album not only brought Broken Social Scene international acclaim, it also drew attention to their Arts & Crafts record label, which in turn drew attention to a collective of great musicians based in Toronto, a vibrant quasi-underground musical community -- people like Feist, Amy Millan and Emily Haines all came out of that (broken) scene. (Click here to see the current roster.)
In case you missed yesterday's Laonois post, you may be interested (perhaps even thrilled!) to know that you can hear Daniel Lanois today on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.). Lanois will be performing a couple of songs as well as chatting with Rich -- and just to whet your appetite, here's a clip of that conversation:
You can tune into the third hour of the programme to hear the rest.
And note: Today Tom wraps up the Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.) question of the week: "What Music Can You And Your Kids Agree On?" with music suggested by you. And you. (And probably you too.)
Whoo hoo! And other expressions of enthusiasm, since some of the documentaries broadcast on Inside The Music are now available as streams online.
The reason for the huzzahs is because on a regular basis queries come into the Radio 2 Blog that read like this:
"I read about the Daniel Lanois/Joni Mitchell [fill in the blank] documentary, and intended to listen, but got busy filing the tax receipts/raising families/watering the cat again and forgot. Can you help me?
Signed,
Absentminded, in Canada "
Now there is help, with the Inside The Music Audio Archives. It's just in its infancy, at the moment what's there is most of the series RPM: Indispensable Canadian Albums. (Featuring programmes about the seminal recordings of Joni Mitchell, Bruce Cockburn, The Band, and Daniel Lanois. This weekend's broadcast, about Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It In People, on air Saturday at 12:00 p.m., 1:00 AT, 1:30 NT, will be on the website next week.)
Heads up! Tomorrow on Drive you can hear an interview with Daniel Lanois, he of much producing fame (including a personal all-time favourite, EmmyLou Harris's Wrecking Ball). And before saying one more thing about Lanois -- here's a clip from the interview, Lanois talking about his philosophy of making "records."
For the record, heh, once again you can hear the entire interview (and Lanois performing his own music) tomorrow, Friday, in the third hour of Rich Terfry's Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.)
If you're someone who loves Lanois' production, whether it's with U2 or Bob Dylan, or Peter Gabriel or any of the other great artists he's worked with, here are some thoughts from the land of Lanois that reveal a little bit about his approach to producing:
The trend towards classical string ensembles playing music other than strictly classical does not appear to be on the wane. Proof, should you need it, can be heard if you are planning on pulling an all-nighter, Thursday to Friday morning. That's when Nightstream (1:00 a.m./1:30 NT) features Vitamin Strings covering Radiohead and Les Violons Du Roi playing tango.
(For more on the string thing plus a video of the Vitamin approach, please click on over here.)
And before getting to the strings, here's what the rest of the broadcast day looks like:
Here's a conundrum. What if most of the music you wanted to listen to was in your computer, or accessible through your computer, but the sound sucked? (To put it in the vernacular.) Today in the weekly Tech Q's? Column, Peter Cook, Radio 2's Resident Geek, gives some guidance as to how you might solve that problem. Over to you, Peter:
"Recently I was reminded by a reader (thanks Tony!) that I hadn't talked about one of the simplest ways to make the most of your online listening. While many people are perfectly happy listening to the sound from their computer, some listeners want to enjoy their online music on a great sounding audio system.
There are a number of ways to connect your computer to your audio system but today I'm going to start with a low-tech solution: we'll run a wire from your computer to your stereo. Please note that as you go out beyond about 10-15 meters the level of the signal will drop significantly so this solution won't work for all of you. We'll offer some other solutions in future editions of "Tech Q?"
Your computer
The audio output on your computer is almost certainly a 1/8th-inch connection. Check your computer’s manual if you aren’t sure but the connection will look like one of the following examples. You can click on the image to see a larger version.
As the days grow shorter the benefit is longer darker nights in which to stay home and listen to music. (Well, obviously that depends on your tendencies in winter, but it certainly is one option.) So it seems timely to announce that there are constant, yes constant updates to Concerts On Demand (or CoDs as we say, pronounced like the fish).
Here are just a few of the recent additions to CoD:
Shad At The Mod Club -- of whom one of you said "If hip-hop is dead Shad is giving it CPR."
Attention fans of great tenors -- today on Tempo (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.) Julie presents a concert featuring renowned singer Ben Heppner. Radio 2 recorded the concert at the Chan Centre at UBC, but it's a parlour song affair, with songs by Coward, Tosti and Romberg among others.
As you may know, Heppner is a UBC alumnus -- and when asked about his years on campus he said: "The beach, the mountains were a revelation for a kid from Dawson Creek, and the start of a love affair with Vancouver." (In other words, he had fun! But also managed to practice.)
And here are the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
It's not easy to approach Remembrance Day in any way, including musically. For many people there are so many emotions connected to the day, personal histories, and the realities of war.
Even posting J.P. Cormier's song Afghanistan (see last post) gave me slight pause. Would anyone be offended that it was not connected to World War I or World War II? Would the implicit politics of the song (though so very respectful to all concerned) disturb any viewer? For anyone programming music, or writing about it, there's always that question -- how can music best be used to reflect Remembrance Day, and respond to it?
It poses this question: "Remembrance Day presents a unique challenge to musicians -- how do you elicit emotions without being heavy handed?"
One response came from Paul Halley, conductor of the choir of St. George's Anglican Church in Halifax:
"The main thing is the music needs to be moving. It can’t be trite. It can’t be… simplistic. But you don’t want to get into the realm of being overblown."
One way to do this of course is to play (or listen to) the 20th century requiems that were written in response to war:
Who do you think of on Remembrance Day? In response to this question asked by Tom Allen, host of Radio 2 Morning , there have been many moving thoughts and comments, which you can read here.
And of course WWI and WWII are foremost in many minds -- this day is really focused on the men and women involved in those wars. But there are also current conflicts that people think about on this day, and in view of that you may be interested in this song simply called Afghanistan, written by J.P. Cormier after performing for the troops in Kandahar.
I believe a fan put together the montage. And apparently there has been a great deal of feedback about this song from service men and women and their families, as well as prior fans of J.P. Cormier. Rightfully so, that's one powerful song.
And just a reminder, this afternoon on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.), Rich will play songs about war and peace from Kevin Hearn, Dubmatix, Jakob Dylan, Sinead O'Connor, Corb Lund, Belle & Sebastian, Daniel Lanois and Kathleen Edwards.
Today is of course Remembrance Day. And while some of the Radio 2 shows will be acknowledging this musically, you may also be interested in the story Tom Allen tells in response to the question: Who Do You Think Of On Remembrance Day? (That link will take you to the story, as well as responses to that question from listeners/blog readers.)
And getting back to the musical response -- here is what two Radio 2 shows have in store on this November 11th:
On Tempo (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.) Julie presents Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 3 (A Pastoral Symphony), music which rose out of his experience of the battered landscape of the Western Front during the First World War.
And on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) Rich presents songs of war and peace from artists including Kevin Hearn, Dubmatix, Jakob Dylan, Sinead O'Connor, Corb Lund, Belle & Sebastian, Daniel Lanois and Kathleen Edwards.
Recently Rich Terfry on Drive mused about what a shortlist of the best Canadian guitar players might be like, and his off-the-cuff remark resulted in a hundred or so responses! On Friday, Rich played music from the shortlist on the show.
As a little accompaniment the Radio 2 Blog posted Who Are The Greatest Canadian Guitar Players? And in response to that a couple of you asked to see the entire list of great Canadian guitar players as suggested by Radio 2 listeners/blog readers.
Here's what we have so far -- though feel free to send in more suggestions to this post, because obviously this is only a partial list.
TOP TWELVE GUITARISTS AS PICKED BY DRIVE LISTENERS:
* in no particular order*
Alex Lifeson (Rush)
Jeff Healey
Luke Doucet
Robbie Robertson
Lenny Breau
Rik Emmett (Triumph)
Steve Dawson
Martin Tielli (Rheostatics)
Colin James
Colin Linden
Neil Young
Bruce Cockburn
You will most likely have heard by now that Miriam Makeba died following a concert yesterday in Italy. (To read more, here is the NYTimes obituary.)
The concert she'd sung at was in support of Roberto Saviano, an author who received death threats for writing about organized crime. Not a surprise, given her dedication to human rights -- her involvement in the anti-apartheid movement is legendary, and caused her three decades of exile from South Africa. (She did not return until invited by Mandela in 1990.)
And yet she always claimed to not be a political singer.
The Cairo-Toronto Collective is a musical meeting between some of Canada's best middle-eastern-jazz musicians and two artists who are stars in Cairo's music scene -- and you can hear them in concert Monday night on Canada Live (8 p.m.). The concert features a mix of traditional Arabic music and originals, and was recorded at Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.
The Egyptian stars in question are oud and violin master Alfred Gamil and oud player Mohamed Aly, and the Canadian contingent includes Maryem Tollar on vocals and qanun, and Ernie Tollar on flutes and sax.
One review of the performance said: "Marshall McLuhan famously stated The medium is the message,' and the soul stirring and hip-sway-inducing melodies of Maryem and Ernie Tollar's Cairo-Toronto Collective say it all!"
Note: On another subject entirely, Tom asks Radio 2 Morning listeners (and anyone else who cares to comment): What music do parents and kids agree on? (The Beatles? The Hip? Raffi? The entire discography of Frank Zappa?) Do tell.
Much of the life of someone writing a blog is spent reading a blog, or twenty. (Note the avoidance of the term "blogger," which always conjures up words like "plodgy" and "stodgy" and "blah.") Yes, reading other blogs is an occupational hazard, but with stoic (but not bloggish) determination I set about this task on a near-daily basis.
You, however, may be otherwise occupied, with revolutionary medical breakthroughs, raising triplets, thinking great thoughts, whatever the case may be, and therefore not facing this same reality. If this is the case, you may enjoy this new weekly weekend feature on The Radio 2 Blog: This Week In The Music Blogosphere, a summary of the previous week's finds. Here goes:
In what is admittedly a total coincidence there are two shows exploring men's voices today on Radio 2. Inside The Music (Sunday Edition 12:00 p.m., 12:30 NT) is running a documentary called Where Have All The Tenors Gone?
And Farrago With Jurgen Gothe (Sunday 5:00 p.m. 5:30 NT) is focusing on "big, rich, male voices," in a show Jurgen calls Vox Grandioso.
In the first instance, the question posed comes from the documentarist's experience with choirs. Taking Gabriel Faure’s wonderful Requiem, performed by choirs the world over, journalist/choir member Anne Mullens suggests that the opening of the beautiful Agnus Dei exposes the "Achilles Heel of the piece."
That's because it requires at least five or six really good tenors, and as anyone who sings in choirs knows, they tend to be as scarce as hen's teeth. Why? Where have all the tenors gone? This documentary explores that very question.
In the second instance Jurgen doesn't ask the question, he just goes straight to the basses and baritones, celebrating the "big, plummy manly" voices, because of course there are so many of them. He starts with Paul Robeson singing spirituals, then moves to Leon Bibb, with his son Eric, who happens to be Paul Robeson's godson.
There's also Thomas Quasthoff singing Gerswhin and Johnny Hartman with his version of The Very thought of You (shivers), and Ken Nordine.
Did you just say Ken who? Well, he has something of a cult following, but if you are not in that cult today Jurgen plans to induct you. And not to steal Jurgen's thunder, but here is a performance by Nordine, called Think A Thought. As interesting to watch as to listen to...
This Sunday on Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT) guest host Les Dala presents music performed by one of the biggest sensations of the classical piano world -- Lang Lang.
Today you can hear Lang Lang performing Schubert, Bartok and Debussy from his recent residency at Roy Thomson Hall (see Lang Lang Adopts Toronto), and also in conversation from his subsequent performances for the Vancouver Recital Society.
Les Dala is the Music Director and Conductor of the Prince George Symphony and the Chorus Director and Assistant Conductor with Vancouver Opera, so he brings a wealth of experience to the programme -- and curiosity about music -- today he also speaks with author John Ibbitson about The Landing, a new young adult fiction book about learning and loving to play music.
Les also takes a look at the newly released video game "Wii Music" in which you can conduct a virtual orchestra. (Fun, as long as they take your tempo.)
Also on SAIC, a concert featuring Mason Bates, the composer and DJ who recently collaborated with The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. KWS music director Edwin Outwater said that this kind of collaboration "...fills me with hope for the future of orchestral music. Now, more than ever before, our music is connected to other kinds of music and art."
Finally, you can hear Felix Mendelssohn's String Quartet No. 2 In A Minor, Op. 13 in a performance by Australia's TinAlley String Quartet, winners of the 9th Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2007.
This evening Canada Live (8 p.m.) has the blues, with live sets from "Ottawa Blues Night," recorded at the Rainbow Bistro, featuring Tony D, Tracy K, Robert Farrell and Maria Hawkins. Plus you can hear a bluesy CBC studio recording from Melissa McClelland & Julian Fauth.
Which brings me to some blues news. This week, the Toronto Blues Society announced the nominations for the 2009 Maple Blues Awards. The voting is underway -- to cast your ballot, go to Maple Blues until 11:59 pm (PT) December 6th, 2008, when the "polls" close. (The Gala Awards Ceremony will take place in Toronto at 8:30 pm on Monday, January 19th, 2009.)
It's nice to see that the award nominations are led by the late Jeff Healey, with a total of seven nominations. Also nice to see that this year's "Blues Booster Of The Year Award" goes to the "Professor of Rock n’ Roll," Rob Bowman for his outstanding contributions to the Canadian Blues industry.
You've probably heard Rob on CBC airwaves over the years, talking about various aspects of music (Bowman is a five-time Grammy Award nominee, and one-time winner -- in 1996 for Best Album Notes The Complete Stax/Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 3: 1972-1975). Congratulations Mr. Bowman. But as to the nominated artists -- that's up to fans -- so blues lovers, don't forget to vote at Maple Blues.
Please continue reading to see the full list of nominees:
Stage directions are sometimes prosaic, sometimes not. Take Wagner's directions for the final moments of Parsifal: "A ray of light: the Grail is fully radiant. A dove floats down from the dome above."
Of course, there is a lot that happens before that (poetic) moment as you will hear if you tune in today to Saturday Afternoon At The Opera ( Saturday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT). The production, with Christopher Ventris as Parsifal, comes from this year's Bayreuth Festival. Many reviews of the production, of course, including this five star review from The Guardian, which begins:
"Bayreuth's Wagner productions no longer set the standard as they once did. But Stefan Herheim's production of Parsifal, which opened this year's Bayreuth festival, redresses the balance at a stroke."
The nutshell version of the story, in case you are not familiar with Parsifal, is this:
Amfortas and his Knights must find a way to outwit the fallen knight Klingsor, and keep the lad Parsifal from clutches of the Sorceress Kundry. It's a battle of good vs. evil, dark vs. light and passion vs. abstinence, as the knights who draw their power from the Holy Grail battle the evil magician.
But for the blow by blow plot synopsis (as well as cast details) please continue reading:
Today on SATO, from the 2008 Bayreuth Festival, Wagner's Parsifal, a new production that opened this year's festival and stars Detlef Roth as Amfortas, Head of the Knights of the Grail, and Christopher Ventris as Parsifal.
Wagner described Parsifal not as an opera, but as "a festival play for the consecration of the stage," the stage in question the Bayreuth Festival Theatre. And as my SATO colleagues point out, "a ticket to a performance there is the 'Holy Grail' of the operatic world." They're not kidding -- the demand for tickets is so high that 450,000 tickets requests were received from 80 countries, for fewer than 50,000 seats for this production.
Stay tuned to the Radio 2 Blog for more about the opera/festival play later this morning...
Daniel Lanois is the featured artist this weekend with his great Acadie recording from 1989, in part four of Revolutions Per Minute: Indispensable Canadian Albums (Broadcast details at end of post.)
When you have a producer as talented and unique as Lanois (whether it's U2, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson or the Neville Brothers, that Lanois production is instantly recognizable) it's a marvel that that same person is as strong a musician in their own right -- creating something as good as Acadie! Lanois fans should also note -- there's currently a deluxe reissue available too.
Acadie was an album about finding and exploring Lanois' own roots – with songs like Jolie Louise and O Marie, influenced by his French-Canadian upbringing. But it spoke to a broad audience -- Rolling Stone said the songs were like "…aural movies, etched with razor-sharp guitars....like a filmmaker using light, Daniel Lanois maneuvers sound to serve atmosphere." Nice.
Clearly, many of us have a case of Joni. All week long, in response to Tom on Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.), people have been sending in their favourite Joni Mitchell songs, accompanied by stories and memories. They've been really wonderful to read. (You can see many of them here and here.)
The passion and eloquence of those comments has made my week -- Tom's too. And yesterday he also told me how much he appreciates having been reminded of so many great songs, and I quote:
"Not just Carey, A Case of You and Both Sides Now, but songs I'd forgotten about: For Free, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter and real find: Hejira. It's from the 1976 album with the late Jaco Pastorius playing a haunting fretless bass."
So thanks to everyone who responded, and thanks to Tom and the Morning show team. Note: the song most mentioned is being played in the final hour of this morning's show.
And as part of acknowledging Joni Mitchell today (her 65th birthday), the weekly Radio 2 Blog Video Fest presents three of her songs mentioned numerous times this week on the Radio 2 Blog. Not -- I should point out, that final hour song -- did not want to scoop Tom! But these three are all among that long list of her best:
River, Joni Mitchell With Herbie Hancock:
Coyote, Joni Mitchell With The Band:
A Case Of You, Joni Mitchell Solo:
(I know, the volume is very low on that. But so many people mentioned A Case Of You and I wanted to have some version of it to play.)
It's probably fair to say that Joni Mitchell has a few fans among Radio 2 listeners. (Massive understatement!)
Truly though, it has been wonderful reading about people's feelings and thoughts about Joni Mitchell's music on the Radio 2 Blog all week, in response to Tom (on Radio 2 Morning 6 a.m.-10 a.m.) asking for your favourite Mitchell song. (You can read everyone's comments here, and here.)
So we wish Joni Mitchell a happy 65th today, and thank Tom and the Morning crew for the celebration, which wraps up today.
Tom will feature a Joni Mitchell track each hour of the programme, and in the final hour he'll play the song most requested/talked about by Radio 2 Morning listeners. (And no, I won't give it away on the Blog! At least, not this morning, while the show is still on the air.)
Joni Mitchell's music will also be the subject of the weekly Radio 2 Blog Video Fest, posted right here around 8ish eastern time.
Earlier this week the news broke that Peruvian singer and Hollywood legend Yma Sumac died. Her stardom was based on a combination of things -- the costumes, her supposed and mysterious status as an Inca princess, the cultural attitudes of the day (the height of her fame being the 1950s).
But there was also that voice, with its extraordinary range said to be over four octaves. (Most of us are lucky to get three -- Mariah Carey and Minnie Riperton are other exceptions -- though of course there are inevitable debates over what is truly vocal range -- and what is the so-called whistle range, or just plain squeaking.)
One day last week Rich Terfry, host of Drive, happened to muse out loud (how else would he muse on air, come to think of it) about what a top 10 greatest Canadian guitarists list would look like.
Drive listeners didn't hesitate to tell him -- the show has received over 100 emails featuring their top picks. And tomorrow, Friday November 7th, in the third hour of the show, the resulting top ten (or twelve, depending on time) will be played.
I'm guessing it might include Don Ross, Ed Bickert,Neil Young, any of the members of the African Guitar Summit, JP Cormier, Kevin Breit...oh there are so many, and who knows which ones the Drive listeners are throwing their weight behind. But you can hear for yourself between 5-6pm Friday.
Now as to that guitar. Specifically, the relationship between Canadians and guitar.
A quite extraordinary combination of musicians appear today, Thursday, on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) -- the throat singer Tanya Tagaq, and the indie group Apostle Of Hustle. They're on a mini-tour in Ontario, including a performance CBC Radio 2 will record Friday at the Glenn Gould Studio.
Today though, catch them on Drive -- and as a little sample of what you will hear, just press play.
Every Wednesday Peter Cook, Radio 2's Resident Geek, (and I mean that in the most positive way) explores technical issues relating to Radio 2's various offerings. (Was trying to avoid the word "platforms" but I guess "offerings" isn't much better.)
Anyway, whatever you call it there's no denying radio has come a long way since the days of wireless telegraphy. Some of the ways it has come are not even here yet! (If that makes sense.) But they are coming soon, and today Peter does a little forecasting, with a look at the future of internet radio, summed up by the one word: EVERYWHERE. Over to you, Peter.
"OK, it's not here yet for most of us. But it is coming. And the future is now for those who own an iPhone or other GSM-capable device. Last week I talked about CBC Radio 2's internet radio stations (aka, Music Channels) again and that prompted some feedback about access.
Coincidentally I'd been communicating with a couple of colleagues here at work about where things are headed. I pointed to an article in a trade magazine (Streaming Media) called The Future of Internet Radio. It's long and there's lots of insider talk that wouldn't be of much interest to most R2 listeners so let me highlight a couple of key quotes.
“Certainly anyone who understands how people listen to radio understands how important mobility is,” Kennedy says, pointing to stats that say roughly 80% of all listening takes place away from the laptop or desktop.
Analysts have speculated that the last terrestrial radio transmitter will be turned off by 2020 at the latest in the U.S. and by 2015 in the U.K.
“Looking out to 10 years, I see radio towers being converted into WiMAX towers, turning our world into a highly connected digital environment where we can access our favorite radio station through any device, anywhere in the world".
A year or so ago the indie trio Apostle Of Hustle (featuring Broken Social Scene guitarist Andrew Whiteman) paired up with innovative throat singer Tagaq -- and they're about to do it again, in a concert Radio 2 will record on Friday. (If you're in T.O. and want to see about getting tickets -- the concert is at the Glenn Gould Studio.)
But before that concert you can hear them Thursday November 6th with Rich Terfry on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) They dropped by the Drive studio the other day, and the interview and performance will be broadcast in the third hour of the show.
While at a mental glance you might not expect such disparate musicians to come together, they are all of a collaborative bent -- Tagaq with the likes of Bjork and the Kronos Quartet, the members of Apostle Of Hustle with Broken Social Scene, Feist, Peter, Bjorn & John among others.
Alas there is no video (yet! hopefully they will do one) of this collaboration between Tagaq and Apostle Of Hustle. But there is a quite wonderful video of the Kronos Quartet working with Tagaq -- posted below. It's part performance, part process, and having been at one of the concerts that followed, I can attest to some pretty marvelous results. (No dog sleds on stage mind you...)
Eccodek is not exactly a band, nor is it precisely an individual (although a talented man named Andrew McPherson who hails from Guelph, Ontario is responsible), it's more of what in these times gets called "a project."
But don't let that put you off. In the case of Eccodek, it's music that shifts dreamily (in a dub and electronica way) between music with roots in Mali, Turkey, Fiji, Nigeria, India, Canada and beyond.
Ghazal singer Kiran Ahluwalia, Turkish singer Meral Mert, Malians Mansa Sissoko and Jah Yousouff and classical Kirtan singer Onkar Singh are all involved with the latest Eccodek recording, and tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.) you can hear an Eccodek concert that Radio 2 recorded at the Vancouver international Jazz Festival.
Something tells me not too many Americans will need Woody Guthrie's Election Took Kit this election day. (It includes "Don't Come Back Til You Register To Vote" magnets and other such aide memoires.)
Also in case you missed it, and because Hank Williams Sr. has rightfully been posthumously making news of late, there's Hank Williams Jr's McCain-Palin Tradition song.
Jill Barber is a romantic. Just listen to the music on her new recording, Chances. If you go to her website, you can hear some tracks via a lovely (virtual) vintage radio. (She's got a teensy bit of Blossom Dearie going on in the title track, methinks. In a good way.)
Here's how she sees it: "I think music should be evocative...I think my songwriting tends to be very romantic, and I feel like romance is missing from a lot of modern music. You listen to those classic songs, and they’re just full of romance and lush, beautiful arrangements, and they’re unabashedly romantic."
She was speaking to the Chronicle Herald (see Barber's New Cuts) -- Halifax still likes to claim her for their own, though she's based in Vancouver now.
Ms. Barber, it should be pointed out, is Rich Terfry's guest this afternoon on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.).
First, don't forget that Tom Allen (on Radio 2 Morning 6 a.m.-10 a.m.) is taking suggestions for your favourite Joni Mitchell song -- click on Which Joni Mitchell Song Will Stay With You Always and share your thoughts!
That's all this week until Friday, when Tom will play the song that gets the most votes/responses.
And second, today on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) Rich's special guest is jazzy/country/indie singer songwriter Jill Barber.
For now though here's a clip from the interview, what we call in the biz a "teaser":
If you feel sufficiently teased, you can hear the rest of the interview this afternoon in the second hour of Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.)
It's Joni Mitchell's63rd 65th(!) birthday on Friday, and Tom Allen and the crew on Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.) celebrate with her music all week -- and by asking you for your favourite Joni Mitchell song.
That is a tough one, hmm...A Case Of You, Carey, maybe Little Green or her version of Pork Pie Hat....tough one is an understatement.
Tom, it should be noted, is big on Carey and California. (He also claims to have once had a dream that included the horns and funky bass of Dry Cleaner From DesMoines. We should all be so lucky.)
Feel free to try and gamely narrow it down to one Mitchell song -- will pass along any suggestions to Tom -- by Friday he's hoping to have a definitive best/most popular Mitchell choice to play on the show. Nervy, he is.
So in a tip of the hat to Tom's short list, here, from a 1970 live performance, is one of his top Mitchell songs. She's pretty (and strong) in pink, and takes no prisoners with her dulcimer playing.
p.s. As for the goat dance? Here's what Exploring Romania has to say about that: "The goat dance appears in the habit of the New Year's Eve as a symbol of fertility and fecundity, connecting the Romanian territory to the Greek antiquity and to the Oriental civilizations." 'Nuff said.
"Interprète masculin de l’année" somehow sounds so much more suave than "male singer of the year," but either way the honour came to Gregory Charles last night at the ADISQs. (Frequently referred to in English language media as Quebec's "equivalent to the Junos.")
If you are an anglophone who is pretty much unaware of the 30 year history of the ADISQs, rest assured if uncomfortably that you are not alone. A piece called Are We Tuned In, which ran in yesterday's Gazette before the big Sunday gala, put it this way:
Tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.) -- the band that names among its fans Peter Gabriel, Led Zeppelin & Prince Charles -- the Terem Quartet. They're a prodigiously talented and very funny Russian ensemble who play accordion, domras (lutes) and bass balalaika. Canada Live recorded them in a recent visit to Toronto, and you can hear that performance Monday night.
According to one calculation, jobs for string quartet players increased 896% between February 2007 and August 2008. Seems preposterous and it is. But it is probably safe to say the string quartet's popularity has not waned in the 21st century.
Tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) is starting a new feature -- String Quartet Sundays -- no, not an entire programme of string q's, but a regular part of the Sunday evening edition -- in this instance the string q in question is the Molinari Quartet.
One of the permutations of string quartets in popular culture is the phenom of Vitamin Records. They cover pop and rock music -- performed by string quartets. They started in 1999 with The String Quartet Tribute To Led Zeppelin, and since then have covered the likes of Ani DiFranco, Outkast, Tool and Kraftwerk -- among their 185 releases to date.
And it being Halloween weekend this provides me with a nifty segue to a Vitamin version of My Chemical Romance'sHelena.
Kind of an odd experience watching this, not a string player in sight of course, but interesting how the strings seem to drive the video regardless. (Here's where you can hear the original, btw.)
Want to read accordion-based fiction without having to write it? (Or read E. Annie Proulx?)
You need Accordion Short Fiction Stories.
Why the accordion questions?
Here's why:
There are some instruments that are more frequently made into figures of fun than others. And while it is true that the accordion does lend itself to being both a figure of fun and a conduit for musical fun, in equal truth it's one of the most versatile instruments around, capable of remarkably virtuosic music. This you can hear today on Farrago With Jurgen Gothe (Sunday 5:00 p.m. 5:30 NT), an edition of the show he calls Accordion Crimes.
Disclaimer: No accordions were used as weapons in the making of this programme. (Or thrown under any trucks, as is the case with E. Annie Proulx's accordion). No, Jurgen's title is a tip of the hat to the musical group, Accordion Crimes, who will be heard on today's show alongside of many other accordion players. (Including Brave Combo and Those Darn Accordions.)
And while we're on the subject, just to keep you accordion fans entertained, here's a video from my favourite Basque diatonic accordion player, Kepa Junkera , having some fun with sticks and horns. And do they swing!
Today it's The Russian Connection on Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT), musically speaking. You can hear Rachmaninoff's greatest chamber work, his Sonata In G minor,Opus 19, in a performance by cellist Amanda Forsyth and pianist Shoko Inoue.
Next it's music from Russian violinist Valery Sokolov, presented by the Vancouver Recital Society, (along with pianist David Fray) in Violin sonatas by Bach, Beethoven and Schumann.
And finally, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and conductor Alexander Mickelthwate welcome the Russian bass vocalist Nikita Storojev to perform highlights from Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov. (Also heard is Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1.)
For the rest of the (non-Russian themed) broadcast day highlights, please continue reading.
Or not? Here's the story (with thanks to Katherine Duncan, host of In Tune, Saturday 5:00 p.m., 5:30 NT, for the tip):
The car company Honda cut grooves (a.ka. a rumble strip) into a stretch of city road in Lancaster California, which is north of L.A. When driven over (at a certain speed, I think 55 mph) the grooves play the William Tell Overture. (Badly, it must be said.) Honda used the road (the video of the making of the road is more interesting than the musical results, by the way) in a commercial. But then it became an unlikely and controversial tourist attraction -- as this news story points out:
Of course wouldn't you know it -- the Honda Road is not the only example of "musical roads." The following video shows one in Japan which was designed specifically as a speed control device -- to hear the song you have to drive steadily, and slowly.
Given that as a musical experience it's, shall we say, less than satisfying, do you suppose it's possible someone might be tempted to speed just to get past the thing? However, in the name of innovative uses of music, more power to them. (Even if it's not quite in the groove.)
This week and next you can hear Wagner on SATO, today his earliest international success, Rienzi, and next week his late masterpiece, Parsifal.
The production today of Rienzi features tenor Stefan Vinke as Rienzi, soprano Marika Schönberg as his sister Irene and mezzo Elena Zhidkova plays the "trouser role" of Adriano Collona, the love interest of Irene whose own family loyalties are tested. The Leipzig Opera Chorus and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra are led by conductor Axel Kober. (Are you still stuck on "trouser role?" Just a woman in man's clothing, a woman playing a man's role is all.)
And a little b.g. on the opera: Written in 1842, it's in the tradition of the French Grand Opera, an attempt to outdo the musical excesses of Meyerbeer, Donizetti, Halévy and their contemporaries. It largely succeeded, there were around two hundred performances by the early 1900s. Apparently Wagner considered it something of an embarrassment though -- he wouldn't allow it to be performed at Bayreuth!
As for the story itself, Rienzi was based on the novel, Rienzi, The Last Of The Tribunes, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Set in ancient Rome, the papal notary, Cola Rienzi, exercises his political prowess to calm an ongoing feud. But as quickly as he is hailed a great leader, the people begin to resent his authority, and the nobles plot to bring him down. Tall poppy syndrome, ever at work.
For more on the cast, characters etc., please continue reading.
Opera fans take note -- this weekend on Saturday Afternoon At The Opera (Saturday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT) you can hear Wagner's first internationally successful opera, Rienzi, featuring tenor Stefan Vinke as Rienzi, in a production from The Leipzig Opera Chorus and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, led by by conductor Axel Kober.
Based on the novel Rienzi, The Last Of The Tribunes by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and set in ancient Rome, it's all feuds, power, and resentment. In other words: politics. (But with better singing.)
Stay tuned to the Radio 2 Blog for more on the opera later Saturday morning, for now, here are the rest of today's show highlights:
As the week winds down and starts turning towards Monday morning again (no! no! sorry, yes it does) it's time for This Week In The (Music) Blogosphere. 
Today on Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT) you can hear the CBC Radio Orchestra and conductor
If your response to the idea that animals react to music is "in a pig's ear," think again. A new book called 
This weekend a documentary about composer 
Breaking News! The winner of this year's The X Factor is "reportedly" going to record Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah to release as the show's annual Christmas single. (Maybe this post should have begun: "Breaking Rumours!") 
Before you do anything else, just scroll down and look at those radios. Mmm...nothing like the look of a radio -- old or new -- to satisfy those among us who love the things. 
Oh no, it can't be that time already! While looking for something to do with David Byrne I came across the first indication of end-of-year listmania that always seizes the media. I thought at least they'd have the decency to wait to be seized until a little closer to the end of the year, but no. .jpg)
Putting aside who won the Grey Cup last night, the question that Tom Allen asks this week on Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.) remains the same:
Remixes are as common as, well, remixes in popular music. Safe to say less so with classical music. But 
On the weekend a Radio 2 listener/blog reader wrote in about 
It's Gordon Lightfoot's 70th birthday today, and Tom Allen (and the Radio 2 Blog) celebrate by asking: What Should Gordon Lightfoot Be Writing About Today? 
Yes, Dear Reader, it is that time again. The second time it has been that time. Because last week a new weekly post was inaugurated on The Radio 2 Blog, called This Week In The (Music) Blogosphere, a blog's eye view of some of the stories covered in the past week.
Korea's 
It's not easy to approach Remembrance Day in any way, including musically. For many people there are so many emotions connected to the day, personal histories, and the realities of war.
This evening Canada Live (8 p.m.) has the blues, with live sets from "Ottawa Blues Night," recorded at the 
Something tells me not too many Americans will need 
"Interprète masculin de l’année" somehow sounds so much more suave than "male singer of the year," but either way the honour came to Gregory Charles last night at the 
Want to play the accordion but don't actually want to practice? 
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