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Calling all sound explorers. Newfoundland's Sound Symposium is on the lookout for "musicians, artists from all disciplines, scientists and others who work in the world of SOUND to propose projects and performances for 2010 Sound Symposium."
Meanwhile, The Signal broadcasts some music tonight from a previous edition of the symposium -- Christina Petrowska Quilico performing music composed by Ann Southam.
The composition is called Soundstill: Ponds, Creeks And A Noisy River, inspired in part by the creeks and rivers of Newfoundland -- some of the movements named after specific bodies of water. It's not a first for 'water as inspiration for music,' but quite possibly it is a first for Commotion Creek, Fidget Creek, Fiddle Creek and Noisy Creek. (Newfoundland has the best place names.)
In 1798 when Haydn's Creation oratorio premiered, you had to be A Somebody (or rich) to get in -- admission by invite only. As the story goes, the regular folks jammed the streets, trying to hear a few notes.
Not today -- everyone can hear Sunday Afternoon In Concert's broadcast of a live performance of the work, coming from Massey Hall in Toronto, (at 3:00pm, 3:30 NT). Conductor Bruno Weill leads Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra And Chamber Choir in this great work, noting today's 200th anniversary of "Papa" Haydn's death.
Before the live performance, host Bill Richardson brings you more Haydn, including highlights from a marathon performance of Haydn's String Quartets in Montreal, featuring the Brentano Quartet.
If you've ever been to a Toronto Symphony Orchestra performance you know that Peter Oundjian, their music director, likes to chat with the audience about the music. It's refreshing, informative, and makes you feel like you're part of the experience.
That's one reason he was so excited to work with Eric Friesen on Peter And The Symphony -- it's a perfect opportunity for him to talk about his great musical love: the symphony. Today Inside The Music broadcasts part five of eleven episodes in this series, focusing on Symphony No. 4 by Anton Bruckner, nicknamed The Romantic.
As you'll hear today -- there's a lot more to The Romantic than the famous hunting scene of the third movement. And to Bruckner the man, a "country bumpkin," a pious Catholic, a "naive oddity," as Mr. Friesen describes him. And for all that -- a genius.
If you miss the radio broadcast you can also hear it streaming online at Peter And The Symphony. And if you are seized with a burning desire to follow along with the score -- or explore recordings of Bruckner's fourth -- a good starting point is the Bruckner Symphony Versions Discography.
Some pretty major musical anniversaries happening this weekend. You're probably thinking the Haydn 200th, and sure, that's big. But how about this: In Tune turns one today! That's why the Radio 2 Blog brought in a cake AND a panda.
Katherine celebrates a few other notable anniversaries on the show too. The Vienna Opera turns 140 and celebrates with a series of outdoor operas on the big screen. And the aforementioned Haydn 200th - Sunday marks 200 years since his death. He's still very much alive to string quartet players though, and Katherine talks to one of them -- Geoff Nuttall of the St Lawrence String Quartet -- about why he's so passionate about Haydn.
On the non-anniversary front...some other stories Katherine's following:
For the past two weeks fifteen women and thirteen men have gone voice to voice for over $150,000 in grants and engagements -- including a $30,000 first prize. Ms. Noah, a Canadian singer who will be singing in the Canadian Opera Company's upcoming production of Madama Butterfly, was the second place winner, Angela Meade, a soprano from the U.S. came in first.
Competitions in music are controversial -- but no one can deny the impact they can have on a career. And the MIMC has showcased some of the best singers in the world -- Marianne Fiset and Measha Brueggergosman are just two laureates who can attest to that.
Today SATO host Bill Richardson presents highlights from the various rounds of competition, and goes behind the scenes with conversations with competitors, jurors, audience members and Montreal's musical movers and shakers.
Espace Musique has some of the performances online too -- just watched/listened to Yannick-Muriel Noah singing a Kurt Weill piece -- beautiful!
You don't have to read his mind -- Gordon Lightfoot is quite forthcoming in his conversation with Jian Ghomeshi, broadcast today on Inside The Music. Aside from sharing some behind-the-scenes stories about his music, including songs like Early Morning Rain and The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald, Lightfoot also talks about matters of the heart -- specifically his, at seventy years of age.
Interviews still to come in the series: Bruce Cockburn, Leonard Cohen, and Diana Krall.
For the rest of the day's broadcast notes, please continue reading:
Serene, moving...and Haydn. Which is why the video of the week is the 2nd movement of Haydn's Cello Concerto In C, played by the late Mstislav Rostropovich in 1981 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Seiji Ozawa.
2009 is the "Haydn 200," the 200th anniversary of Haydn's death -- the exact date is this Sunday. Haydn fans, this is just one more reminder that on Sunday you can hear a special live-to-air broadcast of Haydn's Creation oratorio, on Sunday Afternoon In Concert.
Thanks to Newfoundland guitarist Duane Andrews for that -- Andrews was commissioned by CBC to write an arrangement of some of Haydn's music, and he chose the first movement of the String Quartet Opus 76 No. 2.
What would Papa Haydn say? Possibly he would be impressed by the use of mandolin and guitar, and certainly he would be struck by the Django Reinhardt approach. Not so typical back in the 18th century.
Andrews considers both Django Reinhardt and Haydn musical visionaries, and this arrangement is a nice tip of the hat to their musically adventurous spirits.
Note: For another 200th year celebration of Haydn (performed in slightly more traditional mode) tune in this weekend to Sunday Afternoon In Concert -- a live broadcast of The Creation oratorio performed by Tafelmusik.
From lowly choirboys, mighty composers grow. At least that was the case with Joseph Haydn. Today on Tempo hear all about Haydn in a special segment of the show called Haydn On The Couch. Broadcaster Robert Harris is on the couch too, to talk with host Julie Nesrallah about Haydn the boy, the man, and of course Haydn the musician.
It's in honour of the 200th anniversary of Haydn's death on May 31, 1809. Also part of the celebrations today, Gryphon Trio pianist Jamie Parker joins Julie to do a little show and tell about Haydn's piano music.
Note that on Sunday you can hear a LIVE performance of Haydn's Creation from Massey Hall in Toronto, on Sunday Afternoon In Concert. Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Choir perform the oratorio, considered by many to be Haydn's masterpiece.
And one last Haydn mention for now -- you may also want to have a look at the Haydnmania blog for all kinds of interesting Haydnalia -- like a new orchid named after Haydn, and an interpretation of the famous painting of Haydn that accompanies this post, among other things.
Those Wainwrights aren't alone -- Canadian jazz also has its musically acclaimed siblings, saxophonist Christine Jensen and her trumpet playing sister, Ingrid Jensen. Tonight, the sisters in jazz perform in a concert recording broadcast by The Signal, featuring the Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra.
The sisters Jensen grew up in Nanaimo (also home to Diana Krall and Phil Dwyer -- must be something in the bars out there). Ingrid studied at Berklee, and lives in NYC now; Christine went to McGill and continues to live in Montreal, where this concert was recorded.
They've performed (and recorded and toured) together before, something Ingrid has described as one of the most intimate experiences imaginable.
Concerts On Demand continues to be, casting modesty aside, a fabulous source of live music. Or, as Paul Wells put it in a recent Macleans piece, a "gorgeous repository of recent recordings of live performances by Canadian artists in every musical genre."
In case you haven't looked lately -- here are some of the latest additions:
A popular music journalist/PR gambit is to describe a musician in terms of other, perhaps more famous musicians. You know: so-and-so is like Leonard Cohen meets Doris Day, that kind of thing. Danny Michel, for example, tonight's headliner on Canada Live, has been described as "Tom Waits meets Cheap Trick."
Likely it's an indication of how his music can be on the pop side (not the Tom Waits part of the equation)...or not. And actually, sometimes both are found in one song -- try Feather Fur And Fin.
Tonight's show comes from Toronto's Mod Club, and one blogger (the intriguingly named It's Not The Band I Hate It's Their Fans) who was there said "As usual, the banter was witty and his stage presence was gold, but it was the music that spoke for itself."
“I remember a cool, crisp and brilliant morning, the shimmering sunlight playing through the red and golden leaves of a Canadian autumn. My father walked me to my first accordion lesson. We brought home a little Suzuki-sized accordion, an instruction book and my first assignment.
I played my very first note - a low C, second space, bass clef - in my mother’s kitchen. Here I discovered sound as sensation, and the accompanying sympathetic resonances of the accordion’s sound. So began my journey with the accordion as an artistic medium." --Joseph Petric.
Tonight Joseph Petric plays Brian Current's fiendishly difficult Concerto For Accordion And Orchestra on The Signal, recorded live with Symphony Nova Scotia.
If you've never listened to virtuosic accordion in new music this concert is a great introduction. In other words, get over the accordion jokes, already! Yes, sadly it's true that the accordion = ha ha perception lingers on. But the music of Petric and others continues to work against this stereotype.
Peter Cook, Radio 2's Resident Geek and Globetrotter, brings his excellent series on digital radio to a close today (for previous installments go to Tech Q? and scroll on down). What will Peter address next? Actually, we don't know. If you have some burning Tech Questions why not suggest them as possible future topics? Now let's turn to today's issue: Everything you ever wanted to know about DAB but...
We've pretty much come to the end of our introductory survey of digital radio technologies here at Tech Q. But last week we just got started on the oldest of digital radio technologies, DAB. Digital Audio Broadcasting (Eureka-147) not only has a good foothold in some countries but in others a newer version called DAB+ is being rolled out either for the first time or as part of a relaunch.
DAB Success?
I was visiting friends in London, England a couple of weeks ago. In their kitchen on the counter I saw a small DAB radio, the first one this Canuck had seen since a technology demo in a CBC van about 15 years ago.
You know that Kathleen Edwards song, I Make The Dough, You Get The Glory? They say it's about singer-songwriter Jim Bryson. (Which means Bryson is "cool and cred like Fogerty.") Tonight you can hear the cool and cred Bryson on Canada Live, performing solo at the Great Canadian Theatre Co., or the GCTC as Ottawans knowingly say.
Bryson's concert was part of an ongoing series called Acoustic Waves at that venue, and according to the Ottawa Folk Festival's blog, "twas another magical evening." (Bryson apparently made the audience feel like he was "a kind of sound scientist" letting them into his "sonic lab for a sneak peek.")
In case you're wondering what the heck he's got on his ears in this photo -- they're not some bizarre retro headphones for music, they're some sort of bizarre retro headphones for blocking out the sound of a lawnmower.
Jazz drummers with opera singers; classical violinists with DJ's, folk singers accompanied by trombone -- apparently anything is possible at the Record Of The Week Club. The "club" is in Winnipeg, and if they want you as a member, it's a club you'll want to join -- if you're an open-minded musician. Because once a week (from spring to fall) musicians who in the normal course of things might never cross paths, come together to create a new piece of music. And by the end of an evening, that new music is recorded, mixed, and online.
While no doubt some collaborations work out better than others, overall It's a nifty idea. The Signal thinks so too -- tonight they're playing one of them -- Weakerthans frontman John K. Samson with Inuit throat singer Nikki Komaksiutiksak and electronic artist Blunderspublik.
There's also an opportunity for you to participate in in an upcoming Club night, whether or not you are in Winnipeg.
By his own MySpace admission, Royal Wood sounds "as if a singer-singwriter like Ron Sexsmith was a bus and ran into a piano cabaret songwriter like Rufus Wainwright." But don't think about the bus part of that equation. Think about lovely songwriting, intensity, piano...and inevitably the word "romantic."
You've probably heard some of those romantic songs, like Juliet and A Mirror Without on Drive, because Royal Wood is a bit of a Drive favourite. Actually, the show claims to adore him! So they are pleased as punch to have Mr. Wood in studio today, to play some music at the piano, and chat with Rich about his latest recording, The Lost And Found EP.
Wood is someone who constantly thinks about music -- but also creativity:
"It's in the pod" might be the 21st century equivalent of "it's in the bag." At least, when what's in the pod(cast) is as fun as today's edition of the Canada Live Podcast. It's a concert recording from the Capitol Theatre in Moncton with Joel Plaskett.
You might know Plaskett best from the rockin' Joel Plaskett & The Emergency, but this is all-acoustic, featuring Plaskett performing with his dad, Bill Plaskett, and singers Rose Cousins and Anna Egge.
One listener at Concerts On Demand had this reaction: "Outstanding outstanding outstanding. We are all a little better off from experiencing the show. We all want to take Joel home and feed him a big meal."
Possibly nothing has changed music more in the past few decades than digital technology. Dating back to the MIDI (which stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, in case you've wondered but just never got around to googling), to current software programmes anyone can use to create music.
But the electronic music broadcast tonight on The Signal is no "hey ma look what I wrote" GarageBand tinkering. It's music from some extraordinary creative souls, like Ghislain Poirier, Martin Tetreault and Akufen.
Tonight's show is in honour of the tenth anniversary of Montreal's Mutek Festival of Digital Creativity and Electronic Music. The Signal will also be at this year's festival -- mark June 9th on your calendars, since highlights will be broadcast that evening. (The festival itself runs from May 27th to May 31st.)
It's the passing of the blog baton today -- thanks to Brianna Goldberg for doing a great job the past three weeks. (Insert applause here!)
Earlier today Brianna blogged about the harp and its longevity. Another stringed instrument with significant history is featured on Canada Live this evening -- the Chinese erhu. (How's that for a segue?!) The erhu has been in China for about a thousand years but it's believed to date back to the 10th century.
You'll hear erhu as part of Canada Live'sAsian Heritage Month celebrations, featuring performances by the Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble, and the eclectic pan-Asian ensemble, Tandava. And erhu isn't the only 'ancient instrument deserving greater recognition' on the broadcast.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-25-09 at 03:00 AM
The harp has been around pretty much as long as music has... And even though we have evidence of it popping up in all different cultures from across the world, we tend to have a very stereotyped view of the instrument.
Today, we shine a light on one of the most promising Canadian harpists pushing through that dusty old image of the harp. Join us today for the latest episode of Next! a series featuring the musicians making Canada's music future, when we get to hear from Trois Riviere's Valerie Milot.
Valerie is the first harpist in 100 years (100 years!) to win the prestigious Prix d'Europe, which she took in 2008. Described as colourful, powerful, and a challenge to all cliches about her instrument, Milot is breaking a brave new path for the reputation of the harp, and Canadian musicians, on the world stage.
Join us today on Tempo starting at 10 a.m. to hear from Valerie Milot... Next!
Also today on Radio 2: Li Robbins is blogging again! Welcome back, Li... and thanks so much to you readers for all your your comments these past few weeks.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-24-09 at 02:30 PM
Say what you want about musical charity endeavours. While some of them can seem so slapped-together that they result in little more than fodder for jokes... others can result in new innovations, new artistry, and new help for those who really need it.
Last fall, 16 Canadian jazz pianists participated in "Berceuses pour Philou": a charity CD to raise funds for the Centre de Répit PHILOU, which is a respite centre for severely handicapped children under the age of five in Montreal.
Tonight, Canada Live brings you to a benefit concert which takes the Philou project a few musical steps further, with duos, trios, and more.
Join us tonight to hear from amazing jazz pianists including Francois Bourassa [above], Lorraine Desmarais, Yves Léveillé, Min Rager, Isabelle Cyr, and Coral Egan.
It's Project Philou, tonight on Canada Live starting at 8 p.m.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-24-09 at 10:00 AM
It's the music of love-- and heads-- lost, in today's installment of Peter and the Symphony.
Join us this afternoon for the fourth of an eleven-part series exploring some of the greatest symphonies ever written with Toronto Symphony Orchestra music director Peter Oundjian and series host Eric Friesen. Today: Hector Berlioz'sSymphonie Fantastique.
In this personal perspective on works revealing the orchestra in all its power and glory, Peter has replaced his baton with a CD player for insightful and intimate conversations and off-the-cuff demonstrations on the piano and violin.
And just imagine the off-the-cuff demonstrations that could arise from the Symphonie Fantastique... A little chit-chat about how to artistically portray an opium addiction, or a dream about murdering one's lover?
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-24-09 at 03:00 AM
It's a "Mostly Mendelssohn" Sunday for May 24th on Sunday Afternoon in Concert as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of the most popular composers of all time. You'll hear the solid gold Mendelssohn favourites... but what's maybe more exciting is that we're also going to bring you some new Mendelssohn discoveries!
Prosseda found fragments of the concerto manuscript gathering dust in a British library and asked composer Marcello Bufalini to complete the piano part and create an appropriate orchestration. The results are heard here for the first time in North America.
Robert Prosseda talks to host Bill Richardson about the discovery and reclamation of this lost treasure...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-23-09 at 04:53 PM
The thing about going to murder mystery parties is that they're always so ridiculous that you're never *really* scared.
Well, if you go to this kind of murder mystery party, anyway.
Tonight, The Signal is having a bit of a murder mystery party of its own. And this one doesn't have a "how-to" list. It just has creepy, ethereal, musical storytelling that is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Speaking of which... warning: the Youtube is a little bit creepy!
But of course, warm-n-cuddly host Pat Carrabré will keep you feeling just the right mix of safe and intrigued.
Join us tonight starting at 10 p.m. when The Signal chases down the killer in a murder mystery with Montreal's Bill and Bob.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-23-09 at 10:33 AM
Something serendipitous in today's opera... Serendib is the ancient Persian name for the island nation of Sri Lanka, located south and east of the coast of India.
In 1505, a Portuguese fleet was exploring the coastline of India. An adverse windstorm blew up and the fleet commanded by Lourenço de Almeida into a port. Almeida received a friendly audience from the king of Kotte, Vira Parakrama Bahu, and was favourably impressed with the commercial and strategic opportunities there. He started the colonization of the island, and set up a roaring trade in tea, cinnamon, sugar, coffee, and rubber.
It was the art historian Horace Walpole who later coined the term Serendipity - meaning the accidental discovery of something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely.
The "Venerable Island" of Sri Lanka (aka Ceylon) is the setting of today's opera, Les pêcheurs des perles (The Pearl Fishers), by Georges Bizet. For thousands of years, most seawater pearls were retrieved by divers working in the Indian Ocean, in areas such as the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and in the Gulf of Mannar (between Sri Lanka and India).
And while getting a geography and history lesson - YOU the listener discover some fabulous Canadian vocal talent in this production of l'Opéra de Montréal. Seredipitous, I'd say!
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-23-09 at 03:00 AM
Talk about happy accidents.
If school teacher Julian Adderley hadn't *accidentally* brought his alto saxophone into New York's Cafe Bohemia jazz club that night in 1955 because he was worried that it might get stolen, then he might have been seen as just another bar patron.
And if band leader Oscar Pettiford's saxophone player hadn't been late for the gig, then that gobsmacked bar patron might not have been asked to sit in for him.
And if that gobsmacked patron didn't already have the musical chops to play with the band that night...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-22-09 at 05:33 PM
Tonight on Canada Live, it's a four-concert trip around the world... without leaving The Rock.
All from different age groups. All from different regions of the province. But put them together and you get a rollicking musical crowd. "A Crowd of Bold Sharemen," to be precise.
These fellows are the best and brightest of Newfoundland's folk music scene, each with an impressive careers behind them and the hunger for more harmonies, more gigs, and more shanties on the horizon.
Those years of experience and their sensitive Newfoundland hearts result in interesting, fun, and always emotionally moving music.
Seriously: try to get through one of their ballads without a tear coming to your eye.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-22-09 at 01:28 PM
Why? Why would anyone in our zero-attention-span age release a triple album?
With the oodles of press coverage his latest record, Three has received, it's a question songwriter and performer extraordinaire Joel Plaskett has been posed many a time.
With eachresponse, he seems to live up to his reputation of being the friendliest, nicest, most well-adjusted and gee golly nice musician you've ever seen. He had a lot of material. He saw some patterns with threes. But still, why???
It takes the interviewing touch of an old pal to really get to the bottom of Plaskett's prolific-ness. Which is exactly why you should join us this afternoon on Drive, when Rich Terfry and his buddy Joel met up for a chat and performance in our studio.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-22-09 at 03:00 AM
That old jokester, Beethoven...
Was the tormented musician about to scribble a new and dramatic sonata in this famous painting... or was he musing on the most hilarious reason for a chicken to cross the road? (To avoid being made into schnitzel. Obviously.)
Sure, the world may remember Beethoven as a very serious fellow. But join us today on Tempo to find out about the lighter side of Ludwig.
Today, Julie brings you Beethoven's second symphony, from Simon Rattle and the Vienna Philharmonic. A piece notable not only for being the longest symphony yet written in its era (clocking in at about 32 minutes)... but it was also the first ever to include a musical joke. Literally.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-21-09 at 01:20 PM
The lady is the real deal. Plucky, sultry, and as straight-shootin' as they come, singer/songwriter (and sometime member of the New Pornographers), Neko Case doesn't have the time of day for digital musical enhancements.
In an interview with Pitchfork from a couple of years ago--which I'm not linking to for explicit-language reasons, but is very entertaining if you take the time to look for it-- Case confessed that she stops taking an artist seriously when she hears "auto tune" in a recording.
Alicia Keys. Madonna. Shania Twain. None were spared from the authenticity-fueled wrath of Case.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-21-09 at 03:00 AM
Tonight on Tonic: Canadian jazz, aged to perfection.
Oliver Gannon may not be a super recognizable name... but take a look in most of the jazz albums coming out of Vancouver in the past 30 years or so and you'll start to notice a theme. Gannon has been the go-to session guitarist on the Left Coast since the 70's as well as being a founding member of Vancouver fusion outfit, Pacific Salt.
But until his 2002 live album recorded at the Cellar in Vancouver, he had been a sideman and nothing more.
Why had Gannon been holding out on fans, if his talents were so in demand? Was he worried about living up to expectations?
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-21-09 at 03:00 AM
When the floods raged in Manitoba this year, the story was at the top of every newscast and on the front page of every paper. Then, as the waters drained away, so did much of the reporting... and the thoughts of many Canadians who weren't waterlogged in Winnipeg.
And even though the actor and singer was not one of the Manitobans whose home was left with more than just memories of the water levels, it was Tom Jackson who spearheaded Rise Again 2009:The Red Cross Manitoba Flood Relief Concert.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-20-09 at 06:47 PM
It's kind of a back-handed compliment... but it's also the story of their band:
Sloan's 1994 album Twice Removed was named one of the "Best Albums You Didn't Hear" by Spin magazine. And while some folks might have worried about what that said about their image or their sound, Sloan just kept writing and gigging mercilessly.
We've been reviewing some of the digital radio broadcasting systems recently here on Tech Q. We started with a review of analogue radio AM/FM, then covered HD Radio and Satellite Radio. Today we'll talk about the granddaddy of digital radio systems: DAB.
DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting and is also known as Eureka 147 (as in European Union project number 147). The standard was under development in the 1980's (!) and launched in several countries during the 1990's.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-20-09 at 12:59 PM
Unless you run in musical circles (sounds like a fun band warm-up, no?), you'd be forgiven for not knowing about Daniel Lanois. He's one of those artists that's a musician's musician, a producer's producer...
And, though he's been so powerful and prolific behind the scenes, it's been the acts he works with that so often get the glory. You know, little bands like U2.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-20-09 at 03:00 AM
They call it "the devil's staccato." The notes so churlish yet lovely that they could only be the product of seductive evil. But for Polish violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski, they were just another tool of the trade.
Since he had the luxury of being inspired not just to write music, but to write specifically for himself, he had the luxury of compose in light of his own strengths... and his favourite challenges.
Want to write and play something with the devil's stacatto? Just engineer a new way of holding the bow to make it more possible.
Join us today as we hear Victoria's Nikki Chooi tackling music of the man who stared down the devil. Well, his staccato anyway. It's the latest episode of Next!-- a series on Canada's music future-- on Tempo.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-19-09 at 03:37 PM
It's not every day that a hard-slogging songwriter from a teensy town outside of Sarnia, Ontario gets praise from U2 frontman, Bono.
But never mind praise. Bono did much more than just plain old "recommend" the music of Emm Gryner. No, Bono listed her song "Almighty Love" as one of the six he wished he had written...
For their 2003 self-titled album, they recorded in an abandoned grain silo. Then, they hunkered down for their much-lauded previous album, Ongiara in London (Ontario's) antique gem, the Aeolian Hall. And now, for their newest record, Lost Channels they chose the Singer Castle -- as in, Singer sewing machines-- in the Thousand Islands near Kingston.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-19-09 at 03:00 AM
Imagine being important enough that your 70th birthday is held at the White House. And you're not even a past president.
Well, maybe it shouldn't be surprising: Duke Ellington could probably be considered the musical equivalent of a president. Or even more like royalty...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-18-09 at 04:54 PM
First steps. First words. They all get enough attention. But let's not forget about another pretty great first: First concerts!
Shari Ulrich, Tom Taylor and Barney Bentall had all been kicking around the Bluebird North song circles for a while. They all had their own ideas and their own sounds and their own decades of experience in the music community.
But, like chocolate and strawberries and... a third tasty topping (whipped cream, anyone?)... the three began to wonder if their individual ingredients might not be even more extraordinary if they were presented all together...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-18-09 at 11:20 AM
If you listen to Drive you'll know that host Rich Terfry has a bit of a thing for historical birthdays. Last week we jammed to tunes by Stevie Wonder, David Byrne, Brian Eno... all to send some Happy Birthday wishes their way.
Well then, you should know that we're pretty excited today to say a very Happy Birthday today to Queen Victoria! Yes, it's that mourning 19th century monarch that we have to thank for this statutory holiday.
But she's not the only lady that gets Birthday Shout-Outs from Mr. Terfry today: Hats off, too, to songstress Melissa McClelland-- who not only celebrates the big 3-0 today (woohoo!) but also helps us kick off a week-long series highlighting some of the very best of our live sessions at Drive!
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-18-09 at 03:02 AM
Victoria Day, you say? P'shaw. Here at Radio 2, May 18 is Handel-Palooza Day!
Tune in as host Julie Nesrallah today as Tempo marks the 250th anniversary of old George Frideric's death with five hours of the naturalized Brit's best loved music... and also some of the music he inspired others to write!
Joining Julie will be Montreal broadcaster Kelly Rice as they take a listen to a sampling of Handel celebration concerts from across the pond. A little thing we're calling Tempo Live: World Edition.
It's Messiahs and Water Music and so much more... on Handel-Palooza! Now THAT'S a cause for fireworks!
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-17-09 at 11:42 AM
We've been telling you all about a certain young jazz starlet who's been stealing the international scene and is gracing our airwaves tonight on Canada Live (and don't forget about the two ways to win!)...
But first, today on Sunday Afternoon in Concert we meet a lady who could be her Operatic doppleganger: an equally young, powerful, talented, sultry (I could go on...) vocalist who is taking the Classical world by storm.
Join us this afternoon for a concert with Simone Osborne as we feature highlights from the BC Scene program at Ottawa's National Arts Centre.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-17-09 at 03:02 AM
The third of an eleven-part series exploring some of the greatest symphonies ever written, with Toronto Symphony Orchestra music director Peter Oundjian and series host Eric Friesen. Today: Beethoven's 9th.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-17-09 at 03:00 AM
And that means it's the final day for you to enter for our double-whammy Sophie Milman give-aways...
Tonight, let Canada Live take you to the lovely Rose Theatre in Brampton, Ontario, where Sophie Milman performs tunes from her much-lauded new album, "Take Love Easy."
And, sure, you could just tune in tonight at 8 p.m. and enjoy the show. But with a few clicks and listens, you could win some Sophie swag for yourself, thanks to Canada Live and Tonic...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-16-09 at 04:37 PM
Tonight, on Canada Live: some really great guitar music on some really great guitars.
The Pelletier Trio is a family group from Saskatchewan who can pick and grin pretty much anything you like. Bluegrass, classic country, gospel, gypsy jazz, you name it: Freddie (the dad), Sheila (the mom) and Clinton (the son) play it all... on their antique "Sears and Roebuck" guitars.
In fact, Freddie Pelletier's six-string named "Gurdy" [pictured] is celebrating her 100th birthday this year! Which got us thinking...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-16-09 at 11:42 AM
Handel and Mendelssohn are both being fêted in 2009 (the 250th anniversary of Handel's death and the 200th of Mendelssohn's birth). We present one of Handel's most celebrated scores, the pastoral opera Acis and Galatea, but in a 19th century arrangement produced by Mendelssohn. Conductor Nicholas McGegan leads the world premiere recording from the Göttingen International Handel Festival, with tenor Christoph Prégardien as the tender shepherd, Acis, and Julia Kleiter as the water nymph, Galatea, who falls in love with him. Their happiness is thwarted by the jealousy of Polyphemus, the giant cyclops (sung by bass Wolf Matthias Friedrich) who is determined to have Galtea as his own.
Mendelssohn was 19 when he made the adaptation of Handel's score at the request of his composition teacher. Years earlier, an 11-year-old Felix created a dramatic Singspiel as a birthday gift for his father. Die Soldatenleibschhaft (The Soldier's Sweetheart) was subsequently staged in the 120-seat theatre of the family home, complete with orchestra, soloists and chorus. The "singing play" was a treasured score for the family, but it lay unpublished until his Bi-centennial celebrations.
Both works receive contemporary premieres in these recent productions from Germany.
So even before Sophie Milman's new album, "Take Love Easy" came out this month and immediately shot to number one on iTunes, we already knew she was a star.
But now that her new disc is garnering praise from, well, pretty much everybody who hears it... Sophie's talent and artistry have confirmed her jazzy fantastic-ness yet again. So don't you want a piece of it for your record collection?
In case you've missed it, Tonic and Canada Live are running contests right now to help you get into the Sophie Milman groove. See, tomorrow night (May 17 at 8 p.m.) Canada Live is presenting a Sophie Milman concert featuring tunes from "Take Love Easy." To celebrate our recording, and Sophie's new album, we have two ways for you to win...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-15-09 at 03:00 PM
It takes inspiration. It takes stamina. It takes a seriously solid set of pipes, and equally dextrous fingers. It takes, in a word, Gonzales.
The explosively creative and perpetually performing Canadian expat in Paris is a prolific and genre-defying pianist, singer and songwriter... But perhaps he's best known for his collaborations with Feist (which range from the beautiful to the... um... unique?)
Well tomorrow night, May 16, he's taking all that musical energy and directing it towards a very objective goal: performing for 27 hours straight. And you can hear all about it tomorrow on Radio 2 Morning with Molly Johnson.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-15-09 at 11:00 AM
As many of you in-the-loop blog commenters have noted, we've announced a few scheduling changes here at Radio 2.
Some of the news includes an earlier start in the day for Tempo, and a second (week)daily installment of Tom Allen-- with a new afternoon show called Shift. We'll have a new classical program for the weekends called This Is My Music... Saturday Night Blues is coming over to Radio 2... and there are a few other tweaks and additions here and there.
You can click here to find out more about the new lineup on both Radio One and Radio 2, rolling out on June 29.
Bach's lovely, ethereal, complex pieces were composed to help lull his night-owl patron to sleep: to engage the soul at its most vulnerable moment-- shifting between the bustle of waking life and the freedom of dreams.
[Gee, can you tell I'm partial to them for some *strange* reason...]
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-14-09 at 02:10 PM
According to our friends over at the weather centre, temperatures are showing that it's spring pretty much everywhere in Canada now. (Sorry, Iqualuit... you'll get there someday...) The grass is greenish, the birds are out. Shoveling is to some a distant memory, and to others (Yes, you, Victoria) it's just a joke.
So as long as the sun is shining, it's probably safe for us to take you back to the depths of winter for just a little while tonight, to acknowledge the frosty skill and snowy stick-to-it-iveness of one of Canada's best known troubadours. To do that while sipping iced tea and wearing a t-shirt instead of freezing your buns on the Rideau Canal is truly a sweet experience. And such is the beauty of Canada Live.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-14-09 at 10:02 AM
In today's installment of The Haydn Symphony Challenge on Tempo: a symphony chock full humour... and intrigue!
As you may know, Tempo has taken it upon itself to present all the symphonic works of "Papa" Haydn, the father of the symphony, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his death. Today we've reached the brief, delightful No. 25. A work so delightful that Mozart saw fit to steal it.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-14-09 at 03:11 AM
They call it, "The Grandfather Paradox." But really it should be called "The Problems With Murdering Your Grandfather Paradox." It's that logic game where you ponder on what would happen if you went back in time and killed your grandfather... meaning you never would have existed... and, therefore, couldn't have gone back in time to kill your grandfather. Ouch.
While the topic is a bit grim, it does bring up some interesting questions. Especially when we apply that concept to music...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-13-09 at 04:10 PM
On the weekend, we discussed the benefits (and inevitable drawbacks) of poor Henry Purcell's death by chocolate. Now today, on The Signal we are pleased to present to you: a cocoa tin. Sort of.
Dutch composer Mayke Nas describes herself as a "composer, searcher, slow-food cook, Bach fugure player." And she's brought all those interests to bear on a fascinating piece we'll hear tonight, called, "La Belle Chocolatière."
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-13-09 at 03:10 AM
Sergiu Popa has pretty much always known what to do with an accordion. Coming from a dynasty of Roma accordion players in Moldova, their stories, phrasing, and joy of the instrument have always been a well-supplied commodity for him as a youngster with a squeezebox on his knee... even as he eked out life in the poorest and smallest of countries in Eastern Europe.
But when Popa arrived in Montreal in 2002, things looked especially bleak: the twenty-two-year-old had only sixty dollars, a leaky bottle of cognac, and a priceless accordion to his name...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-13-09 at 03:00 AM
You don't get to play in four continents by the age of 21 if you're anything less than "flawless." But so far, that's been just the word to describe the impeccable young career of Vancouver pianist Avan Yu.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-12-09 at 04:25 PM
How many times have we Canadians gotten into the "identity" debate: the one where we nudge each other over whether we, you know, have one... or whether we just define ourselves in opposition to our neighbour to the south. Sure, some iconic musicians may pop up in that conversation as proof of a solid self-image: the Joni Mitchells and Gordon Lightfoots so many Canadians have grown up listening to. And then, of course, there's the jokes about Bob and Doug McKenzie too. (koo-loo-koo-koo...)
But when a Peruvian-born singer; a guitarist who's equally at home with new wave, classical, and pop; and a bassist/drummer who calls himself an "explorer of jazz, hip-hop, and metal" are getting international praise for their "World Music"... and they're actually a Canadian band... a solid new identity of both Canada and of World Music start to emerge. So maybe we owe a thank you to Vancouver's Pacifika.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-12-09 at 03:00 AM
As you may have already heard (how could you have missed it?), we have some give-aways happening here at Radio 2 to celebrate the release of jazz starlet Sophie Milman's silky new album, "Take Love Easy."
With ways to win on both TonicandCanada Live, this may qualify as a mini-extravaganza. So let's bring you up to speed, and count the ways today's Canada Live podcast can help you win...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-12-09 at 03:00 AM
Let's get this out of the way: it's, "Nn-dee-dee O-noo-kwoo-loo."
Now that you've got the pronounciation down, it'll be easier for you to pay attention to the other amazing details of this powerful genre-bending singer appearing this afternoon on Radio 2 Drive.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-11-09 at 04:10 PM
Montreal's Oliver Jones was just a kid when he heard the music that stopped him in his tracks. By that time, the young player was already known as a pianist in his own right. He'd been playing radio tunes from pure memory since he was three, and by five had already performed at a local church.
But when the sound of Oscar Peterson's practicing came out onto the street where Oliver was playing with his friends, he told his biographer, the music, "was so beautiful that he stood frozen on the spot."
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-11-09 at 10:59 AM
Since coming together in early 2005, it's been all bows (as in, string-) and bows (as in, "take a--") for The Janaki String Trio. The group has continuously racked up international awards and titles. No less than The New York Times have called them "magnificently polished" and a group with "an irresistible electricity." And, now, they're up NEXT!
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-11-09 at 03:00 AM
Nope, it wasn't Ella. Or Nina Simone. It was relative unknown, Sheila Jordan, who was the first female vocalist ever signed to legendary jazz record company, Blue Note.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-10-09 at 03:29 PM
She calls herself a painter first and a musician second. But even with music as her self-proclaimed secondary title, Joni Mitchell has created a whole new genre.
True, her music can be generally classified as folky-jazz or jazzy-folk (depending on what part of her career you're talking about). But the Joni genre that's even more fascinating isn't a result of her own doing. It's one that's sprung up about and around the cult of Joni...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-10-09 at 03:00 AM
More on the Sophie Milman Give-aways
Yesterday, we gave you a heads up about two Sophie Milman contests we're running on Tonic and Canada Live to celebrate the release of the songstress' new album, "Take Love Easy". And now that it's Mothers' Day and all, we thought we'd remind you of all the ways you can win. You know, just in case you *ahem* neglected to make it to the flower shop in time.
Sure, you still won't get the give-away goodies to Mum in time for brunch today... but if you say you won the prizes just for her, she might find it in her heart to forgive you...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May-10-09 at 03:00 AM
The second of an eleven-part series exploring some of the greatest symphonies ever written with Toronto Symphony Orchestra music director Peter Oundjian and series host Eric Friesen. Today: Mozart's Jupiter.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 9-09 at 03:00 PM
It's hard to imagine a world without chocolate. But try to think back, to the late 17th Century, when chocolate was still a new discovery. An exotic treat from an exotic land. One that even had exotic consequences for dear old Henry Purcell...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 9-09 at 10:13 AM
There's a bittersweet lesson for lovers in Handel's half serious, half light-hearted comedy, Partenope. It's all about the fragility of love, driven by a story that aroused Handel’s imagination as early as 1708... even though it wasn't performed until 1730. There were some who felt Silvio Stampiglia’s “immoral” tale that had so bewitched Handel to be extremely controversial...
(That's probably why it stayed on his mind for so long...)
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 9-09 at 03:00 AM
Canada Live & Tonic's Sophie Milman Giveaway Starts Today!
She's number one! She's number one! Within days of being released, Sophie Milman's latest album, "Take Love Easy," shot to the top spot on iTunes. But if you haven't bought it already, hold off! Canada Live and Tonic have a whack of Sophie Milman goodies that just might have your name on it.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 8-09 at 04:10 PM
Oh, Montreal! How you've impressed the world with your cutting-edge sounds, of late!
We always knew the European-inspired architecture and high-quality cheeses were helping you pump out amazingly fresh-sounding musicians. But since you've wowed global listeners with Arcade Fire and Patrick Watson, it's now a well-known fact that yours is the scene to watch. And you just keep living up to the reputation. So, tonight on Canada Live: some fantastical frames from that enduring scene...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 8-09 at 03:02 AM
And the winner is... cheese lovers everywhere!
Okay, so maybe it wasn't so much an "invitational," seeing as the contest started by y'all inviting yourselves into it. But when listeners heard Tom talking about the official "Grilled Cheese Invitational" (so official that it's held in a loft in L.A....) you started sending in your own recipes...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 8-09 at 03:00 AM
As it clobbered recordings from starry personalities like Lang Lang, the critics called James Ehnes' 2008 Grammy win "a triumph of excellence over hype." But those who knew his music already called it a long time coming.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 7-09 at 12:25 PM
Ah, the scintillating sounds of a finely tuned flower pot. Sure, for some they may just hold flowers (p'shaw...). But to composer Frederic Rzewski they hold music-- and even life!
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 7-09 at 03:00 AM
In Somali, his name means "Traveler." And since K'naan is Mogadishu-born and now Toronto-based, he's lived up to his name... But the rapper's geographic moves haven't been due to any wanderlust.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 7-09 at 03:00 AM
It's a swashbuckling countdown on today's Tempo!
Grab your 3-D glasses as we raise the curtain on our Top 5 Favourite Adventure Movie Music Themes! (We know we're on the radio... but isn't everything more fun with 3-D glasses?)
Our list will draw from rollicking compositions both new and old as we tell you about the most memorable, popcorn-crunching, edge-of-your-seat musical themes from the silver screen. But before we tell you what's on our list, we thought we'd like to hear what's on yours...
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 6-09 at 03:43 PM
Tonight on Tonic: the number five. Doesn't seem that exciting, does it?
But when the Dave Brubeck Quartet put out an entire album of songs in bizarre time signatures, the number five as featured in their track "Take Five" was a very exciting number.
For one thing, it managed to make the quirky 5/4 groove of the song so popular that the otherwise odd beat became almost natural to listeners' ears. It's one of those "earworms" that get stuck in your head... That silky saxophone melody just looping and looping...
We've been talking about "digital radio" in all it's forms lately on Tech Q. Last week I explained a bit about what satellite radio was, some of it's advantages and disadvantages, what audio formats the two incompatible (XM and SIRIUS) systems use, and a bit about the recent difficulties the business has faced.
Today we'll take one more look at satellite radio in North America to talk about possible future directions and my own impression of the sound quality.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 6-09 at 10:00 AM
The saying goes that April showers bring May flowers. Well, now that we're a whopping six days into May, the tulips may be blooming but the showers remain. That's because today, as Tempo presents the latest in its series on Canada's talented young Classical artists (called Next!), we'll hear Edmonton's Andrew Wan telling the story of Brahms' beautiful Rain Sonata with his virtuostic violin skills.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 6-09 at 01:00 AM
Maria Dunn sure looks good for her age... if you're judging age by the feel of her music. Her lilting-yet-determined voice and timeless lyrics carry the stories of people from hundreds of years ago and oceans away. So what a treat that she actually lives here in Canada... and in the present, no less!
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 5-09 at 03:30 PM
There's just something about the tango that stirs the passions and constrains them in the same moment... It's a street dance with the class. A style that takes parlour music and turns it as sultry as a hot Buenos Aires night. Is it the complex mix of 19th Century European dance, African rhythm, and the yearning of struggling workers in Argentina that makes it so compelling? Or is it the romantic mystique of... the free reed wind instrument? (Which sounds about as seductive as Groucho Marx with a rose between his teeth...)
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 5-09 at 10:50 AM
Today on Drive: a hip-hop darling and a hip-hop demon. You can always count on K-os (Toronto rapper/dj/producer) for lyrics that are at once profound and provocative, pushing the hip hop community to bust out of its radio-friendly complacency, rise up, and be the music it should be.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 4-09 at 03:30 PM
So, is Serena Ryder’s “Sing Sing” stuck in your head yet? Are you stomping and clapping your way home?
Phew! With all the special programming we had here at CBC Radio 2 to help you celebrate Music Monday, it’s been quite the day. One full of music-teacher-appreciating, music’s-importance-acknowledging, all-around-music-loving goodness.
But just when you thought it was time to put your feet up and go back to just feeling so-so about music (as if!), we have one special concert coming your way that will no doubt convince you that Music Monday should be Music Everyday.
Tonight’s Canada Live really is a special treat. Of course, the show always brings you the best of live music from across Canada every night of the week. But today, we’re going to do take all that good work we usually do over seven days, and compress it into one super-concentrated and super-unmissable concert event.
Posted by Brianna Goldberg on May- 4-09 at 10:30 AM
As all you dedicated listeners know, every Monday at CBC Radio 2 is a “music Monday.”
But since it’s the first Monday in May, both those words get a capital “M.” And with those upper-cases, let the music-loving festivities commence... both on the air and on the ground!
If you’ve been following our lead-up to Music Monday you already know that this is the day Canadians shower appreciation on their music teachers present and past, and honour the special role that music plays in our lives. This all culminates in an amazing trans-Canada concert, where groups large and small raise their voices at the same time (10 am Pacific time, 11 am Mountain time, 12 pm Central time, 1 pm Eastern time and 2 pm Atlantic time, and 2:30 in Newfoundland) to sing out out Serena Ryder’s inspiring tune, “Sing Sing.”
But on CBC Radio 2 we have even more plans to help you celebrate Music Monday right along with us. Here’s just a sampling of what’s in store:
It's Music Monday, and kids across the country will sing and concertize -- sharing the fun of making music. On Radio 2 you'll hear a girl's choir on Tempo, on Tonic a feature on Oliver Jones mentoring singer Dione Taylor, and on Canada Live -- excerpts from a recent event featuring arts education advocate Sir Ken Robinson, as well as lots of music performed by various youth ensembles.
More about Music Monday coming up later, from guest blogger Brianna Goldberg. She'll be a'bloggin for the next three weeks, I'll be back May 25 -- welcome Brianna!
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
The idea of almost any singer releasing three CD's worth of new music at once might strike you as, well, a bit much. (Or maybe "crazy" was the word that came to mind.) But sometimes it works. Joel Plaskett, best known as frontman of Joel Plaskett & The Emergency, is a recent example that it can.
Right now he's touring the music from that new triple CD (aptly titled "Three"), and one of the recent shows is broadcast tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.). It's an all-acoustic concert, Plaskett performing with his dad, Bill Plaskett, and singers Rose Cousins and Anna Egge.
Recently I listened to all three CDs back to back, and it really does hold up. Good songs, and enough musical diversity so you're not thinking, 'hey enough already.' But what do others in the music blogosphere have to say about Joel Plaskett's recent, bold move?
For eleven weeks these two extremely musically knowledgeable gentlemen explore the intricacies of what makes a great symphony great. And of course there will be lots of music, much of it selected from Maestro Oundjian's favourite symphonies.
The series airs Sundays on Inside The Music (12pm, 12:30 NT), and will be available to stream online after the broadcasts go to air. Today's episode begins with some of the history of the symphony, with a focus on one of the many Haydn symphonies (No. 44 In E minor, The Trauer).
So today..."Papa" Haydn and the birth of the symphony, according to Peter Oundjian…
Wherever you are, I hope it is a splendid spring Sunday. It's definitely a splendid Sunday for anyone interested in the intricacies of the symphony, as a new series begins today called Peter And The Symphony.
Peter And The Symphony features Toronto Symphony Orchestra music director Peter Oundjian in conversation with esteemed broadcaster Eric Friesen. The eleven part series explores some of Maestro Oundjian's favourite symphonies, and airs on Inside The Music (Sunday Edition 12:00 p.m., 12:30 NT) from today, May 3rd, running until July 12th.
If that's not a good time for you to listen to your radio, do not get rattled! You can also hear the series as podcasts, available at the Peter And The Symphony site, after the programme has gone to air.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Hopefully the subject heading didn't make you shake your head in disbelief -- just two hints about stories Katherine Duncan covers today on In Tune (Saturday 5pm, 5:30 NT).
First to the opera gracing the pages of Vanity Fair. You have to give The Metropolitan Opera and General Manager Peter Gelb the credit -- it was a stroke of genius (or at least brilliant marketing) to simulcast operas in movie theatres. Why else would opera stars be on the cover of the May issue of Vanity Fair?
Actually, they probably wouldn't be. As the blurb for the Vanity Fair opera feature says: "Meet seven international opera stars who are putting to rest the fat lady sings cliché, via live broadcasts to movie theaters."
Next to "The Taliban Dances," which no doubt piqued your curiosity.
You could call her the "it girl" of 1744. Or not. Either way, the character of Semele makes for good drama. Today you can hear the mythological tale in the form of baroque opera by Handel, when Saturday Afternoon At The Opera (Saturday 1pm, 1:30 NT) broadcasts Semele in a Pacific Opera Victoria production.
So here's the peanut version: The alluring Semele is in love with the god Jupiter. And she wants to be immortal. (Always a mistake.) Things get ugly when Jupiter's wife Juno (who sets the bar for jealous spouse behaviour) schemes to rid her world of Semele.
Nathalie Paulin stars as the alluring one, Benjamin Butterfield as Jupiter and Anita Krause as Juno. For more about the opera including a PDF of the programme booklet, please keep reading.
Legendary folksinger Pete Seeger turns 90 tomorrow; today Inside The Music Saturday Edition (12p.m., 1 AT, 1:30 NT) broadcasts a documentary about Seeger presented by Canadian author, medical doctor and undersea explorer Joe MacInnis. He adds longtime Seeger devotee to that list of eclectic qualifications -- MacInnis has been following Pete Seeger’s career since the 1950s days with The Weavers.
Always fascinated by the guy with a banjo who spearheaded the cleanup of the Hudson River, and introduced the Civil Rights anthem We Shall Overcome to Martin Luther King -- MacInnis recently spent time with Seeger in his cabin in New York state. A must listen for Seeger/folk music fans!
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Canada Live (8 p.m.) has the blues too -- tonight with a concert from Joe Louis Walker recorded at the Vancouver Island Music Festival.
Funny thing about the blues, when you have 'em, listening to 'em makes you feel better. Misery loves company? Great music eases the pain? Not sure. But try this on for size -- Joe Louis Walker playing some slow, simmering blues, a tune called Blue Guitar. (Music kicks in at around 27 secs):
There, don't you feel better? If so, you'll want to tune into Canada Live this evening after 8 to hear more from Mr. Walker. To (re)quote the Times Colonist review of the concert: "If there is a heaven, we want it to sound like this."
The Peter in question is Toronto Symphony Orchestra Music Director Peter Oundjian. Starting Sunday, May 3rd on Inside The Music (12pm, 12:30 NT) you have the opportunity to hear him in a very special eleven week series.
Peter And The Symphony features Maestro Oundjian in conversation with veteran broadcaster Eric Friesen. Together they'll take you into the heart of the awe-inspiring musical form called the symphony.
Having chatted with the producer about the programmes I can tell you it promises to be fabulous listening. And great news -- Peter And The Symphony will also be available as podcasts after the shows go to air.
Tonight, some uplifting blues from famed guitarist Joe Louis Walker on Canada Live (8 p.m.) Recorded at the Vancouver Island Music Fest, a review in the Times Colonist paints quite a picture:
"Joe Louis Walker, sharp as a tack in white pants, Hawaiian shirt and straw hat, pumped his electric blues out of the main stage speakers while reminiscing about gigs at Harpo's Cabaret in Victoria 20 years ago. Maybe we're simply crazy from the heat. But if there is a heaven, we want it sound like this."
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Calling all sound explorers. Newfoundland's Sound Symposium is on the lookout for "musicians, artists from all disciplines, scientists and others who work in the world of SOUND to propose projects and performances for 2010 Sound Symposium."
If you've ever been to a Toronto Symphony Orchestra performance you know that 
Some pretty major musical anniversaries happening this weekend. You're probably thinking the Haydn 200th, and sure, that's big. But how about this: In Tune turns one today! That's why the Radio 2 Blog brought in a cake AND a panda.
"I must be a masochist, but I quite enjoy competitions." -
You don't have to read his mind -- 
Peter Cook, Radio 2's Resident Geek and Globetrotter, brings his excellent series on digital radio to a close today (for previous installments go to 
Jazz drummers with opera singers; classical violinists with DJ's, folk singers accompanied by trombone -- apparently anything is possible at the 
"It's in the pod" might be the 21st century equivalent of "it's in the bag." At least, when what's in the pod(cast) is as fun as today's edition of the 
We've been talking about "digital radio" in all it's forms lately on Tech Q. Last week I explained a bit about what satellite radio was, some of it's advantages and disadvantages, what audio formats the two incompatible (XM and SIRIUS) systems use, and a bit about the recent difficulties the business has faced.
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