The magic of Mozart
Chamber Players release new CD of piano concertos
In 1783, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a young man on the rise — and on the make. Free of the influence of his father Leopold and newly married, Mozart was engaged in cashing in on his notoriety and the growing interest in chamber music in his new hometown of Vienna.
And so he wrote a series of piano concertos that could also be played by a chamber orchestra or by a quintet. Good news for the Chamber Players of Canada that he did.
They have ready-made Mozart material to perform and to record. And so they have. On Jan. 29, the ensemble will release its ninth CD, this one under the ATMA Classique label. Performing on the disc are violinist Jonathan Crow, recently named concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra; Manuela Milani, concertmaster of Thirteen Strings; violist Guylaine Lemaire; cellist Julian Armour; and double bassist Murielle Bruneau. The Players will celebrate the launch with a reception, free and open to the public at the offices of the Chamber Players of Canada, 51 William St. from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
They are joined on the recording by the great Canadian pianist Janina Fialkowska. This is the third CD the Players have done with Fialkowska. Listeners will hear Piano Concerto No. 13 in C major and Piano Concerto No. 14 in E flat major. Rounding out the recording are the Variations on Ah, vous dirai-je., Maman and Eine kleine Nachtmusik, which according to Julian Armour of the Chamber Players is rarely recorded by a chamber ensemble.
This is the second CD of Mozart piano concerto music the Chamber Players have recorded with Fialkowska. Mozart Concertos Volume 1 was released in 2008 and featured concertos No. 11 and 12 to favourable reviews worldwide.
Fialkowska is best known as a Chopin player, but Armour says that she is also an “exquisite” Mozart player.
Armour has very specific tastes when it comes to Mozart. He spurns overly romantic versions, which he finds “over-the-top ... like putting chocolate sauce over broccoli,” nor does he lean to the technically precise but soulless renditions.
It’s all about “tasteful, beautiful and expressive,” something that Fialkowska manages so well, he says.
The four-year gap between volume one and volume two was a matter of fitting it into busy schedules. That finally happened last year.
And working on a CD is more demanding and takes more time than preparing for a concert. In a concert you just let go. You want to be enjoying the moment, he says. The new CD took three days to record in 2011 in Southminster Church in Ottawa. They also recorded a second CD of chamber music by the British-born Canadian composer Healey Willan, who may be better known for his choral works.
“We’re all aware that if a thing goes on CD in today’s world, it has to be just perfect. It has to hold up to the test of time. People really scrutinize them.
“It can be really tough. I’ve certainly seen them when you are going through take after take and somebody can’t get through a passage. And people get stressed out.”
Despite this, Armour says he loves the process of recording. He finds it makes him a better player because it forces him to think more deeply about the music. After nine CDs, the Chamber Players are more relaxed and knowledgeable about the process as well.
The ATMA label is a good landing place for the CD, Armour says. Montreal-based ATMA is one of two Canadian labels recording classical music that have good international distribution through Naxos, which has a massive network.
“It helps in a lot ways. First of all it gets all around the world. The music gets played by radio stations all around the world ... anywhere classical music is played.”
It’s good PR and it gets people interested in coming to concerts, he says.
Armour wrote the liner notes for the CD and that sent him deep into research on Mozart.
“Here’s this guy, why would he write an orchestral version and a chamber version? What happened was he had just broken the strings with his domineering father. He had just set himself up in Vienna and was becoming very entrepreneurial.
“And what was happening in Vienna at that time was there was a growing class of amateur musicians. He saw a market in which he could sell versions of music to people.”
The decision to record the well-known Night Music was in part because “I’ve never really heard a recording that I liked, so let’s do one. It just gets heard everywhere, but it is absolute perfection.
“Everything is perfectly worked out and he showed what a perfect genius he was.”
The Willan recording features many pieces that have never been recorded, surprising given his importance in Canadian musical repertoire.
“This is music that should be heard. I’m not sure why his music is not played ... but ... the whole Canadian music scene is a strange one.
“We (seem to) have this premiere fixation.”