Archive for the ‘CD Reviews’ Category

Ballade of the North: Canadian Women Composers. With Ralitsa Tcholakova, violin, and Rebecca Danard, clarinet. Ars Universalis, 2011. Works/Tracks 1 Jean Coulthard – Ballade of the North (15:46) 2 Sophie Carmen Eckardt-Gramatté – Souvenir II (E. 29bis) (5:39) 3 Elizabeth Raum – Freya (7:44) 4 Elizabeth Raum – Les Ombres (9:47) 5 Ana Sokolovic – Chant (5:38) Kelly-Marie Murphy – Postcards from Home 6 Alberta clipper (3:14) 7 Horizon at Dawn (6:50) 8 Hoedown (4:15)

Piano Music by Torontonians, 1834-1984, LP (1984). a collection of short piano pieces performed by Elaine Keillor, who has achieved a formidable reputation for her extensive research and performance of Canadian works, both historical and contemporary. This album offers a sample of the range of Keillor’s explorations, from nineteenth century piano pieces to the two most recent works, Rivers (2nd Set) No. VII Â ((1979) by Ann Southam, a contemplative, flowing work, and Mary Gardiner’s […]

Canadian Compositions for Young Pianists, 4 CDs, Studea Musica (2000). “As a Canadian music aficionado who likes to skirt the edge of ‘listed’ repertoire, I have often sighed that more teachers would explore the Canadian soundscape if there were recordings available. And this collection is one stop shopping. With 65 composers represented by over 230 works, this is not only a one-of-a-kind compilation, but also a major historical document of […]

  Mary Gardiner Works for Piano and Voice, with Gloria Jean Nagy, Conservatory Canada (Waterloo Music) CD (2002). Composer, pianist, educator, Mary Gardiner, B.A. Honours (Music), A.R.C.T. (Piano Performance) has composed for piano (including a piano concerto), string orchestra, voice, choir, chamber and vocal ensembles. Her music has been described as ‘rich in ideas’, ‘well-crafted’ and ‘honest without contrivance’. It has been published, recorded, broadcast and performed across Canada and […]

Canadian Sounds, piano collaborator in works by Deirdre Piper, Carleton Sound CD-1007 (2001). Until the publication of volumes 4 and 19 in the CMH Society series, Canadian organ music prior to the Second World War remained in some obscurity. That which had been published has long been out of print, and much has never been published. The music of Healey Willan is one of the few fortunate exceptions. By and […]

Musique: Canadian Songs for Parlour and Stage, with Gloria Jean Nagy, Carleton Sound CD-1011 (2006). The text of Albert Lozeau’s poem, Musique, published in the collection L’Ame solitaire (Montreal 1907), refers to music being used to enhance the words of religion, patriotism, and the expression of a whole range of human emotion. This recording of songs drawn from the publications of the Canadian Musical Heritage Society, CMH volumes 3, 7, 10, 12, and 14 reflect all […]

Poetic Sketches. Centrediscs/NAXOS CMCCD 21615, 2015. “Canadian composers, past and present, are blessed to have a champion as finely skilled and genuinely dedicated as Elaine Keillor, a veteran touring pianist as well as mentor, scholar and author whose six-decade career shows no sign of abatement. (On this beautifully recorded disc, she performs on her own American Steinway piano and her playing illustrates the easy virtuoso assurance one associates with keyboard […]

Piano Music by Maya Badian. LBCD-1019-2013, 2013.

Narratives of Life – Srul Irving Glick, Steven Gellman, Hélène Riese Liebmann, Maurice Gardner.. With Joan Harrison, cello. Marquis 81467, 2015. Narratives on Life – music for cello and piano is the latest CD from the Ottawa duo of cellist Joan Harrison and pianist Elaine Keillor (Marquis MAR 81467). The four varied works are connected by the composers’ shared Jewish heritage and are not often heard – indeed, three of […]

Music For Archaeus: Compositions by Maya Badian, “Metamorphoses” piano duet with Chunson Park, LBCD-1015-2008 (2008).