# La Chronique du Disque (August 2013) - Part 2



## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

Link to Part 1: http://www.talkclassical.com/blogs/itywltmt/1249-la-chronique-du-disque.html









*A Grand Concert Of Musick: Archiv Produktion CD & Catalogue*
[Store Purchase]​
Found on an "end rack" on sale for $10, this CD is a re-issue of an Archiv LP from 1977 (with additional material from 1984) featuring Trevor Pinnock and his English Concert. Among these baroqie selections, *William Boyce*'s First Symphony is probably the best known. This is both HIP and hip - Pinnock and Hogwood are the leaders in this kind of repertoire, but the production value of the Pinnock run on Archiv usually out-duels Hogwood. The catalog, highlighting Archiv's 65th anniversary, is a noice throw-back to hoiw we used to shop before Amazon, AllMusic and such on-line catalogs. *SQ = A, OI = A*.









*Tchaikovsky, Sibelius: Violin Concertos / Oistrakh, Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra*
[Store Purchase]​
In these pages, I have brought up the quartet of Soviet-era superstars (Richter, Rostropovich, Gilels and Oistrakh) who had the luxury of travelling to the West during some of the darkest years of the Soviet Regime. In 1959, Oistrakh visited the US, and had the opportunity to record with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra - a great match for the Russian violinist. I can only imagine that Ormandy and Oistrakh hit it off, because the result (albeit somewhat muted by the early stereo sound) is quite simply _amazing_. I own the *Tchaikovsky *concerto recording on vinyl, and the remastering does enhance some of the more subtle string work we associate with the so-called _Philadelphia Sound_. I had never heard the *Sibelius *recording before, and I found that Oistrakh _nails _the violin part, whereas Ormandy doesn't quite measure up to the work they did on the Tchaikovsly (my opinion). The only disappointment is that Oistrakh _does not _play all the repeats in the finale of the Tchaikovsky... A Great document, worth listening to. *SQ = A-, OI = A-*.

*A Touch of Gould*

During our trip to Toronto, we happened to be at the corner of Yonge and College streets around supper time, and stopped for a bite at *Fran's Restaurant*. Every Gould devotee knows that the pianist used to frequent the _original _Fran's a few blocks away (at Yonge and St-Clair), a 10-seat diner that had Glenn's seal of approval. The restaurant was part of a chain owned by Mrs. Deck (that's indeed Fran' surname) and the College st. location has been around since the 1950's, restored to be _very fifties-diner like_ a few years ago.

None of us realty had any diner food - I had the lasagna (delicious!), my daughter had the fettuccine and my wife ordered the (roasted) chicken burger. I can't be sure if Glenn Gould was as eccentric with his culinary choices as he was as a musician, but if he was, then both my wife and daughter would have made him smile during the meal. My daughter, with surgical precision, removed every speck that appeared to be mushrooms (even if some were pieces of onion or tomato), and my wife simply quipped "if the bun is white, then I'll just have it like that, on the plate."

As we steped out of the restaurant, I pointed out the building right across the street to my wife. "This is the original Eaton's Department Store", I said. This isn't _strictly _true - the Eaton's at Yonge and College was built between 1928 and 1930 so wasn't the _first _Eaton's, but it was the flagship of the Eaton's chain of department stores. The French architect Jacques Carlu (who later designed the Rainbow Room in New York City), was retained to design the interior of the _Seventh Floor_, including the 1300-seat Eaton Auditorium and the elegant Round Room restaurant.

Itself an Art Moderne masterpiece, the Eaton's Seventh Floor was at the heart of Toronto's cultural life for many years. The Auditorium played host to the major performers of its day, including Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, and the National Ballet of Canada. In addition to its architectural beauty, this space was well known for having the "best acoustics in North America", according to Glenn Gould, who would use the hall for a number of his recordings for Columbia.

When the Eaton Centre was built in the mid-70's, the Department Store was sold and renamed "College Park". By then, the new owners had no interest in the seventh floor and had planned to gut it in favour of... office space. Fearful of losing this important architectural and cultural masterpiece, a concerned group of Torontoians formed the _Friends of the Eaton Auditorium_ to lobby the Supreme Court of Canada to have the floor designated a _National Historic Site_, in 1982. Nevertheless, the stately Seventh Floor was sealed off and the grand space remained vacant for nearly thirty years.

In the summer of 2001, Toronto entrepreneurs partnered to negotiate for the Seventh Floor with College Park's landlords, having identified a need for a special events venue that captured the glory and elegance of days past. Their modern-day vision was to restore the floor to its former glory and operate the facility as Canada's premiere multi-functional special events venue, not unlike Lady Eaton's original vision in 1931. You can see how they made out here.









*Glenn Gould plays Beethoven: 32 Variations WoO 80; "Eroica" Variations op. 35; 6 Variations op. 34*
[Store Purchase]​
I couldn't resist buying a Glenn Gould CD (actually one album with 2 CDs), and the two sets of _Bagatelles _were recorded at the Eaton Auditorium in May and June 1974. Some of the works on this CD are in my collection from the _Gould The Young Maverick_ collection of CBC radio acetate recordings from the early 1950's. In that collection, the _Eroica _variations were "rushed" by the radio producer whoi was gesturing "time is up" to the pianist from the control booth. No rushing here - the three sets of variations are played with Gould's usual pedantic attention to the composer's indications. Same goes with the Bagatelles, and the short two-movement sonata. _Usual Gould caveats apply_, but that doesn't faze me one bit! *SQ = A, OI = A*.









*Collection emergence, ANDRE GAGNON*
[Store Purchase]​
From Gould to - possibly - the _Anti-Gould_. André Gagnon, pianist, composer, arranger and piano accompanist was the youngest of... 19 kids and after taking piano lessons with a local priest, left his small village in the lower St-Lawrence valley to attend the Conservatory in Montreal. Graduating with honours, he earned a scholarship and studied in Paris with (among others) Yvonne Loriod (Mrs. Messiaen, no less). During these student years in Montreal and Paris, he developed friendships with folk singers (as we say in Quebec, _chansonniers_) from Georges Moustaki in Paris to Claude Léveillée in Montreal. For the better part of the first 10 years of his professional career, Gagnon was dedicated to working with singers, taking the occasional job with television and recording the odd "Muzak" album. Things changed around 1973 with his album _Projection_, the first of a series of records with Columbia and later London/Decca where he developed his own "pseudo-classical" sound, which earned him a worldwide reputation as a composer of "easy listening" music with a _piquant _of seriousness. This compilation set (2 CDs) looks at the early phase of Gagnon's career, and features no less than _three _cover-to-cover re-releases of albums featuring his own music: _Mes Quatre Saisons _(a set of four baroque concertos based on arrangement of folk songs), _Les Turluteries_ (a pair of baroque suites based on the songs of Mary Travers - AKA _La Bolduc_) and _Projection_. Digitally remastered, and full value for nostalgia. Gagnon has always been a favourite - no guilt here. Liner notes are in French. *SQ = A-, OI = A*.

*August 30 2013, "I Think You Will Love This Music Too" will feature a new podcast "Scandinavia" at its Pod-O-Matic Channel . Read more August 30 on the ITYWLTMT Blogspot blog.*


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