2022 was a prolific years for our artists in terms of album releases and two of these great works are now recognized by CBC as part of the «Favourite Canadian Classical albums of 2022» !
First, Viola Borealis, by violist Marina Thibeault and Orchestre de l'Agora, under the baton of Nicolas Ellis. Read below the description and review of Robert Rowat:
« This album's title alludes not only to the dazzling natural phenomenon common to northern countries, but also the music of three northern composers, whom violist Marina Thibeault connects through time and space: Georg Philipp Telemann's Viola Concerto (the first concerto written for the instrument), Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks's Viola Concerto (premiered in 2016), and two excerpts from Reckoning, a suite for solo viola by Anishinaabe composer Melody McKiver. The myriad colours Thibeault gets from their viola serve McKiver's piece well. For the concertos, they team up with rising conductor Nicolas Ellis, who leads his own group, l'Orchestre de l'Agora. The whole project brims with next-gen energy and the promise of a bright future. »
Listen to Viola Borealis here.
Vagues et Ombres of collectif9 is also appearing as the #1 in the list, praised by Rowat in these words:
« During the planning stages for their latest album, the musicians of collectif9 asked themselves, "Could we, as nine string players, perform Claude Debussy's La Mer and do it justice?" The answer, we're happy to report, is a resounding yes. Their chamber version of Debussy's orchestral tableau invites a more detailed experience of the work's textures and harmonies — a remarkable accomplishment. Arrangements of four other Debussy miniatures open the album, including an enchanting take on Arabesque No. 1 adorned with whale song. The cetacean theme continues in a hair-raising new work, Contact, by Luna Pearl Woolf, which she describes as "a sonic view into the underwater world of beluga whales in the St. Lawrence Estuary." Reader: take the plunge into the waves and shadows of this outstanding album. »
Listen to Vagues et Ombres here.
Click here to see the full palmares of amazing classical albums of 2022!