The irrepressible Canadian Brass have been since 1970 providing more entertaining programs for a greater variety of audiences than would seem possible with just a standard brass quintet. They have done so by being first some of the most skilled performers on their respective instruments, second by pursuing the widest variety of musical genres and presenting them in easy-to-take, concise arrangements that sparkle with good humor, and thirdly by not being afraid to do most anything to dress up the music – even to putting on a tutu while playing some ballet music or acting out some of the music while playing it.
If you haven’t seen or heard the Canadian Brass before, I suggest starting with the DVD here, which as the title portends, gives you a peek into the home life of the five musicians in between a more straight presentation of a concerto of their music – some of which is duplicated on the accompanying CD. It appears lucky that all five of them had families with movie cameras covering their childhood and youth, because that is the source of some of these home movies. These short bits give the viewer more of an idea of the personality of each member of the quintet. The concert has them in more formal attire, changing one or twice, and in a couple different environments. The DTS surround is excellent, offering a musical experience of better fidelity than the typical such concert on video – although it’s not discrete surround but the AMSI II technique which generates a 5.1 soundfield from original stereo recordings.
The CD has more selections than the DVD, 22 in all. Close to the opening of the concert are two more serious works: The Vivaldi concerto for two trumpets in C and their transcription of the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which works surprisingly well. I also enjoyed the two short Giovanni Gabrieli pieces – there are none on the video concert. The Canucks have considerable assistance on many specific tracks from a host of guest artists, including members of the NY Philharmonic, Philadelphia, Boston and Berlin Symphonies, a choral group, an organist, pianists and some percussionists. The recordings in this compendium were originally made between 1989 and 1994. The major classical record labels are doing mostly reissues from their libraries lately, and this type of dual disc is a welcome improvement on the single CD collection – giving us a video of the performers in action.
TrackList, CD:
1. Kanon in D
2. Sonata Pian’ E Forte
3. Canzon in Echo Duodecimi
4. Allegro
5. Largo
6. Allegro
7. Allegro Con Brio
8. Ride Of The Valkyries
9. Dance Of The Sugar-Plum Fairy
10. Strike Up The Band
11. Alexander’s Ragtime Band
12. 76 Trombones (From The Music Man)
13. I Got Rhythm (From Girl Crazy)
14. Carousel Waltz (From Carousel)
15. American Patrol
16. Send In The Clowns (From A Little Night Music)
17. Memory (From Cats)
18. Music Of The Night (From Phantom Of The Opera)
19. Bess You Is My Woman Now (From Porgy And Bess)
20. Bill Bailey
21. Bye Bye Baby
22. Maple Leaf Rag
TrackList, DVD:
1. Thus Spake Zarathustra
2. BACH: Little Fugue in G minor BWV 578
3. Beale Street Blues
4. MOZART: Rondo
5. ROSSINI: Largo al factotum
6. Amazing Grace
7. The Flight of the Tuba Bee
8. La Virgen de la Macarena
9. WEILL: Cannon song
10. PACHELBEL: Kanon in D
11. Tuba Tiger Rag
12. BACH: Toccata & Fugue in d
13. Bebop Bach (Prelude No. 2 BWV 847)
14. The Saints/Hallelujah (Handel)
15. Dixie Bach (Fugue No. 2 BWV 847)
– John Sunier
