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CURRENT NEWS ITEM: TODAY ON RADIO 2 18/11/08
According to one review witnesses at a performance of Mark Berube & the Patriotic Few saw "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.
TOP - 50 RELEVANT BREAKING NEWS
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The original Motorola Q was really the Windows Mobile device that started the trend of BlackBerry QWERTY competitors a couple of years ago, but had serious battery life issues. Since then Motorola has continued to improve the device so that today's Motorola Q9 devices are actually quite powerful, functional, and reliable. The one wireless feature they currently lack is WiFi, but they do have 3G radios. Unwired View revealed that the Motorola Q11 is now up on the Motorola site even though no official press release has been issued. This device does have WiFi, but loses the 3G radio so I am not sure it is really a step up from the Q9 devices. Then again, I understand this device...
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Today's the day when we all (or at least many of us) stand behind the little cardboard facade and make the "X" with a pencil that apparently was designed for this and no other purpose. It's also the day when someone will find out that they are the lucky winner of the Ron Sexsmith Contest -- as Tom draws the winner's name live on Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.). So if you entered, don't forget to tune into The Morning to see if you won, and to stock up on quality coffee as per Ron's request. A quick note about today's Canada Live Podcast as well -- the concerts this week include Sarah McLachlan, which I know will be of interest to some listeners who heard the concert when it was originally broadcast. Listener/blog reader Jonathan Crone wrote in at that time to say: "I wasn't able to listen to most of it due to the kid's bedtime, but what I did hear was fantastic. Her, a guitar, and a piano. There are so few performers that can pull that off...Amazing. " Ah, those kids and their bedtimes. Another good r ...
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Brahms fans take note, October is Brahms Festival month on Tempo (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.), and Julie has been featuring each of Brahms' symphonies, recorded live by the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Today at 13:00 (that's 1 p.m. for civilians) it's Brahms' 3rd Symphony, a work thought of as being so perfect that Sir Edward Elgar once said, "When I look at the Third Symphony of Brahms I feel like a tinker." So modest. Please continue reading for the rest of the day's show highlights:
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It's been described as "living, pulsing chamber music," and you can hear it Thursday evening on The Signal (10 p.m.) "It," in case you are now wondering, is some music that blurs the lines between composition and improvisation, performed at this year's Guelph Jazz Festival and recorded by CBC Radio 2. The musicians doing the living and pulsing are British bassist Barry Guy, (who has collaborated with the likes of Evan Parker and Derek Bailey), Swiss violinist Maya Homburger (who has performed with John Eliot Gardiner's English Baroque Soloists and Trevor Pinnock's The English Concert and leads The Chandos Baroque Players) and Canadian Jeff Reilly on bass clarinet. Reilly is familiar to many CBC listeners, through his work with a broad spectrum of performers and ensembles, from Jerry Granelli to Symphony Nova Scotia, and as a CBC producer himself. And here are the rest of the daily highlights:
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Yes, that's Colin Linden in the Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) studio playing some tunes, talking some talk -- all of which you can hear on the show Friday afternoon. For more on Mr. Linden (who is in studio with another very talented blues guy, Paul Reddick) please see Colin Linden On Drive Friday . And here are the rest of the day's show highlights:
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This week Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT) is hosted by Ms. Katherine Duncan, who also hosts Saturday's classical music news show, In Tune (Saturday 5:00 p.m., 5:30 NT). What's making headlines today on Sunday Afternoon In Concert though is a feature profile of the St. Lawrence String Quartet at twenty, and the Calgary Philharmonic playing tango. The St. Lawrence String Quartet is well established as one of the world-class chamber ensembles of its generation -- early on (in 1992) they won both the Banff International String Quartet Competition and Young Concert Artists Auditions. Since then they've toured North and South America, Europe and Asia. As part of their 20th Anniversary Tour, the quartet re-unites with founding members Barry Shiffman, and Marina Hoover in a concert for the Calgary Pro Musica Society. In addition to music by Strauss, Haydn and Dvorak, you can hear them premiere one of a series of commissions - Table At The Bushwaaker by Elizabeth Raum. As to the tango -- ...
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Justin Rutledge, he of the literary turn of album title (his latest, Man Descending, is named after the excellent Guy Vanderhaeghe short story collection) is Rich's guest on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) this Monday afternoon. (He's also featured in a documentary about Dolly Parton -- something tells me he and Rich will have plenty to chat about.) And as per usual with a "Drive Live," Justin R. will play some songs as well. More on Mr. Rutledge on the Radio 2 Blog later today; for now, here are all of the daily programme highlights:
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In September the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra collaborated with DJ Masonic (a.ka. Mason Bates, both a composer and a club DJ) with a work called Omnivorous Furniture. It was part of a KWSO series called Electronica, which featured laptop and percussion pad along with the percussion section of the KWSO. It's not the first time Bates has worked in this kind of context by any means -- his Carnegie Hall debut included performing live electronica in the percussion section of The National Symphony, a work he had premiered at The Kennedy Center under the baton of Leonard Slatkin. As for the KWSO collaboration, that you can hear on Tuesday night's edition of The Signal (10 p.m.). And now to the rest of the daily highlights:
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A much buzzed about concert featuring the man some call "the future of reggae" will be aired Wednesday evening on Canada Live (8 p.m.). The man in question is Jason Wilson, and the concert also features the guy who taught Bob Marley how to play guitar -- Ernest Ranglin. But wait, there's more --Pee Wee Ellis on sax and Brinsley Forde of Aswad. All that, and a second concert with the young, talented Juno-award winning bass player, of whom Oscar Peterson once said "she has the same lope or rhythmical pulse as my late bass player Ray Brown. She is what we call serious"...Brandi Disterheft. Please continue reading for the rest of today's show highlights:
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Sometimes a performer's name suddenly crops up everywhere, and that's been the case for me with Courtney Wing. He's a singer-songwriter working with a pretty rich musical palette, in fact the concert broadcast tonight features what has been called an "operatic folk ensemble" featuring members of Bell Orchestre and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. His own background provides some of the musical influence (a Chinese father and a Russion/Icelandic mother -- Wing can play traditional Chinese percussion, and has sung Icelandic music...). Did I mention the concert is being broadcast on The Signal (10 p.m.) Thursday night? Now I did. And here are rest of the day's programme highlights:
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Zaki Ibrahim, who hails from T.O./Cape Town/Vancity, is on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) today, in the third hour of the show. Ibrahim's music is an original blend of soul and jazz and hip hop -- to learn a little more about her, you may want to click on over to yesterday's feature post. World music lovers also take note: tonight Canada Live (8 p.m.) broadcasts a concert of Balkan music by Lubo And Kaba Horo -- a concert that launches Mundo Montréal, an original CBC series of world music concerts taking place at the Lion D'Or in Montreal. Please continue reading for the rest of the daily highlights:
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You know there's a folk show on Saturdays, right? Or maybe wrong, since with all the new programming some of the new-ish shows have been neglected on the Radio 2 Blog of late, and I fear Deep Roots (Saturday 11:00 a.m., 12:00 AT, 12:30 NT) has fallen into that category. But don't let that happen to you! Deep Roots a very nice hour of music presented by the charming Tom Power from Newfoundland. Today's highlights include the latest from Canada's traveling King of the Blues (Big Dave McLean) a Canadian bluegrass band covering a Coldplay hit, and what Tom calls Grammy winner Norah Jones' "sordid Country and Western past." Heh. And since this is a small spotlight on the folk, I should add that for the rest of the weekend Tom, along with much of the Canadian folk music community, will be at the Ontario Conference Of Folk Festivals -- I'm sure he'll have plenty of fresh folk from that conference for listeners on upcoming editions of Deep Roots. And here's what else you can hear on your radio today:
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If you're looking forward to a relaxing Sunday afternoon with your radio by your side, here is what you can hear on Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT): music from the Pacific Rim, plus a celebration of the pipe organ, with music from the recent Canadian International Organ Competition. The former is via two west coast orchestras: Conductor Bramwell Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, fresh off their seven concert Asia-Pacific tour is featured with music from their final performance, from the Shanghai Music Festival. (Music includes: Jeffrey Ryan's The Linearity Of Light, Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, and the Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz.) Also, the Victoria Symphony performs a fusion of classical Chinese music with Silk Road Music. Compositions are by Alexina Louie, Chan Ka Nin, and a newly commissioned work by Jin Zhang. As to the pipe organ music -- as previously mentioned it comes to you from the new triennial Canadian International Organ Competition, which wel ...
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Good Monday morning. Today on Radio 2 one of the highlights is the appearance of Roxanne Potvin on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) -- she dropped by the studio the other day to play some tunes (photographic evidence provided to the right) and Rich broadcasts the music and their conversation today. Ms. Potvin is a bi-lingual singer from Gatineau, Quebec, whose latest recording is called No Love For The Poisonous. Her previous recording, The Way It Feels, was produced by one Colin Linden -- and yes, her music is bluesy. But also a little bit country, a little rocky, a little Beatles-inspired...here's a snippet of conversation about that very subject: To her Ms. Potvin performing in studio, and to hear the rest of the interview, tune into Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) And here are the rest of the day's show highlights:
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The "Paganini of the steel pan" is on The Signal (10 p.m.) Tuesday night -- Liam Teague, in a broadcast that features his live performance of a world premiere, a composition called Pan Trio by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Michael Colgrass, recorded at the Cool Drummings festival. As well as being hailed as the Paganini etc., Teague teaches music and is one of the leaders of the steelband at Northern Illinois University. (If you're interested in some of his thoughts about steelpan and formal education you may want to have a look at the Pan In Education project.) Please continue reading for the rest of the day's programming highlights:
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Today is the last day of the "Brahms Fest" on Tempo (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.), and on this afternoon's broadcast you can hear the great Brahms Violin Concerto with Pinchas Zukerman as soloist, and his longtime friend, Zubin Mehta, leading the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Many of the concerts are already available on Concerts On Demand. Also, podcasts featuring Radio 2 host Bill Richardson in conversation with Pinchas Zukerman (speaking about the place these works hold in the classical repertoire) will be available beginning November 9th. (More information about that will be posted at Brahms Festival.) Please also note: On Sunday, November 16th the entire Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT) programme will be devoted to the music of Brahms. And here are the rest of today's broadcast highlights:
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Raindrops keep falling on my, or no, actually it's been snow across much of the country. And it not yet November, shocking. But bets that the opening line of this post made you think, Burt, as in Bacharach. At 80 Burt Bacharach still performing, and one of those recent performances was recorded by CBC Radio 2 and will be broadcast tonight, Thursday, on Canada Live (8 p.m.). The performance was recorded at Pop Montreal in the Eglise de St. Jean-Baptiste before 1200 appreciative Burt fans -- so if you are of that clan, do tune into the show this evening. Also wanted to note that today Drive broadcasts an interview by Rich Terfry with Shad -- here's just a little bit of what you can hear: For the rest, tune into Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.). Now to the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
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Vampires, werewolves and ghosts, oh my! Yes, it's that day, the one associated with molasses candies wrapped in orange and black paper that now seem impossible to find. Oh, and also associated with scary things, and bones. Tonight Pat Carrabré, weekend host of The Signal (10 p.m.), celebrates Halloween with a concert by The Ghost Bees, who they describe as "spooky Halifax twins." It's an accurate description of some of their music -- echoed by a writer for Halifax's The Coast: "Strange, spirited and often spooky, acoustic folk sometimes called freak folk." In keeping with the scary stuff, no candy corn -- Pat also spins We Are Wolves, David Mott’s Dark Masque Masks, Francois Houle’s Ghosting and Marilyn Lerner’s Wolfen. Please continue reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
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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:
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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.
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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. And here's what you can hear before...and after:
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This morning's listings begin with two key notes: 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 -- see Which Joni Mitchell Song Will Stay With You Always. That's all this week until Friday, when he'll 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.) And here are the rest of today's broadcast highlights:
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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.
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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. For the rest, tune into Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m. (And you may also want to click on over to this post to see a video of Tagaq with the Kronos Quartet.)
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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!"
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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.
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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.
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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:
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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:
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In case you missed yesterday's 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.)
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Saturday Afternoon At The Opera has a double header of Puccini this weekend, and next. (A quadruple header?) 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.
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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 w ...
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Why is it that some voices seem to embody time and place in the growth of a nation? Maybe it's really a timing thing, musical sensibilty 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.
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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.
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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.
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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 pul ...
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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. Gianni Schicchi is a production of Opera Australia, and Turandot is performed by Teatro San Carlo Orchestra, Pinchas Steinberg, conductor, with Andrea Gruber as Princess 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.
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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.) ...
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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.
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So, what's it going to be? Do the best songs come from the east or the west in Canada? That's Tom Allen's question o' the week, in the wake of the Grey Cup, and you can voice your opinion here or here. 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 fro ...
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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.) Also, don't forget that on Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.) Tom continues to solicit your opinions on Where Do The Best Songs In This Country Come From, East Or West?
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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.) Also, don't forget that on Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.) Tom continues to solicit your opinions on Where Do The Best Songs In This Country Come From, East Or West?
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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.
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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.).
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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 ...
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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. It's not all about saying goodbye though, as conductor Alain Trudel talks about the next phase of this proud tradition, with the creation of the National Broadcast Orchestra. For more about the new NBO, you may want to re ...
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Happy December! And this December Monday morning begins with a bonus version of Tom Allen's Blog Question O' The Week, on Radio 2 Morning : Where do the best songs in this country come from, east or west? Because last week's responses were so interesting and filled with such pith and vinegar, Tom's decided to continue asking the question this week, with a few refinements. One of them is the starting point. Here's how Tom explains it: "Tell us what you think the absolute best Canadian songs are – new, old, sad, patriotic, angry, happy, ambivalent, dumb, impenetrable, maudlin (there’s room for everything if it’s really good)…and then tell us where you think that song comes from, and why. No holds barred on the 'where' part. If you think you can convincingly argue that Four Strong Winds is an eastern song (and good luck with that), then fill your boots." You can respond right here on the Radio 2 Blog -- Tom reads 'em all, or here or here. And now to the rest of today's programme highlights:
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Music of note today includes Alex Cuba dropping by both Radio 2 Morning and Drive. (On the latter he'll play his Spanish language version of a Blue Rodeo hit, more about that here.) But there's also a concert tonight you may want to hear if you are a jazz vocals fan: jazz vocalist/pianist/composer Denzal Sinclaire on Canada Live (8 p.m.). The concert comes from the 2008 Festijazz International de Rimouski, and features the St-Germain String Quartet as well as more expected jazz backing. (Bass/drums/sax, and french horn. OK, so not entirely expected.) Nothing to do with the concert, but there's a funny pseudo FAQ on Sinclaire's website, which includes questions like: "Oh! Like Denzel Washington?" and "Do you know who you sound like?" (every singer's favourite question). He would rather be asked: Would you prefer the Yamaha, the Steinway, or the Bosendorfer? So would we all, so would we all. Please continue reading for the rest of the day's show highlights:
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Figgy Duff is a pudding, as you may know. Never had it, but it's a Newfoundland specialty involving lots of butter and sugar so it can't be bad. Figgy Duff the band was formed in 1975 in St John's, and went on to become one of the province's best known folk rock bands. Last summer one the band's founding members, Pamela Morgan, led the group in a 25th anniversary party at the Writer's Festival at Woody Point in Bonne Bay Newfoundland, the former Orange Lodge -- the building itself had just turned 100. Band alumni Kelly Russell, Dave Panting, Phil Dinn, Frank Maher and George Morgan were there, and the concert also served as a Duff tribute featuring an all star guest list including Daniel Payne, Sylvia Tyson, Ron Hynes and Ellen Power. You can hear the music that was played that night this night, Wednesday evening, on Canada Live (8 p.m.). Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
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Dreamsploitation may sound like some kind of therapists' convention, or in musical terms may conjure up a lush electronic orchestra. It's neither though -- in fact it's the work of one man from Nova Scotia, who when he's not going by the Dreamspoitation moniker, is called Chuck Blazevic. The sound is very lush though, created by many many tiny samples from recordings and acoustic sources, all manipulated and, as Mr. Blazevic himself puts it: "...transposed and re-contextualized into an ultra-melodic tapestry of soft-psychedelia, b-movie orchestral back drops, dusty drums, and loud quiet sounds." To hear more, tune in to The Signal (10 p.m.) Thursday night as Laurie features the music...and for the rest of the day's programming highlights, please continue reading.
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