Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra Sinfonia/Mark Fewer – Alikeness

It is with great pleasure, I must confess, that I bring to your attention an album featuring the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. Recordings of this ensemble, and of almost anything from this province, are rather rare. All the more reason to mention this one, as it features some fine tracks. 

Most of the five works on the program are Canadian. Angmalukissa is a word that means “round” or “circle” in Inuktitut. It is a cycle of four songs evoking different iterations of circles: ripples in water, concentric circles inside a tree, circular waves of sound, the spiral structure of an igloo. Composer Deantha Edmunds, also a soprano (and the first Inuk classical singer), creates placid, meditative atmospheres in a tonal writing where the strings serve as a generous cushion for the voice (herself). Her rather effusive vibrato may put some off, but she knows how to convey the tenderness and poetry inherent in the texts. Edmunds has won several awards in Newfoundland and Labrador, and sang in front of Pope Francis in 2022, when he officially asked forgiveness on behalf of the Church for the wrongs done to the Inuit in residential schools. 

Quebec-born Serge Arcuri, who passed away last June 27, is beautifully represented by Episodes for violin and small orchestra, a spellbinding score that takes the structure of the Baroque concerto grosso and infuses it with modern dramatic tension. A fine reading by Mark Fewer on violin, who also conducts the orchestra. 

Robert Carli is best known for his work in television and film, but he also dabbles in contemporary, concert-style music. He has written B-A-C-H, a suite in four movements, each of which is obviously tonally based on the corresponding letter of the famous composer’s name. Only the 3rd movement (C) is played here. In addition to the tonal reference (but treated in an expanded way), Carli blends thematic elements from Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. Fewer is again the soloist for a gentle score, a kind of introspective elegy in which the violin hovers delicately above an almost motionless, impassive orchestra. Very nice.

Matt Brubeck is an American, Dave’s youngest son. The jazzy The Simple Life is played in an Andrew Downing arrangement by Fewer, who swings gently over the orchestral strings. A pleasant, refined change of mood from the rest of the program.

Jaroslaw Kapuściński is a Pole who lived in Montreal some time and who composed the album’s title track, Alikeness, in 2015 for the St Lawrence Quartet and percussionist Aiyun Huang. The latter is back in action in this expanded arrangement for string orchestra by Yoshiaki Onishi. Alikeness was inspired by Henri Matisse’s series of cut-out papers entitled Jazz. Although the title suggests it, there are very few genuine jazz inflections in the music. Rather, it’s a delicate interplay of contrasts between Huang’s percussion and the strings. Evocative of settings that are by turns mysterious, disquieting, amusing or meditative, the score deserves the attention of music lovers. Once again, the strings of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra Sinfonia are in top form, in a repertoire that is generally undemanding in terms of technique, I have to say. Nevertheless, this is a welcome recording in the panorama of music made by and for Canadians.

Bravo to the Leaf label for daring to take on this kind of project.