OOPS! Some classic(al) screw-ups!
Aside from some of the original clippings not being in good shape, I thought this series of concerts would make more sense if I did an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) number on them, rather than have people jump all over the place when reading the originals. Read them all from the beginning! - MQA Horowitz of the recorder
By MICHAEL QUIGLEY
February 25, 1974The quasi-elegant 18th century setting of the Hotel Vancouver Pacific Ballroom provided an apt locale for the Vancouver Society for Early Music’s third concert of the season Sunday afternoon. Featured guests were the internationally-acclaimed Dutch recorder virtuoso, Frans Brueggen and his collaborator, American harpsichordist Alan Curtis.
The afternoon concert drew a capacity crowd to the ballroom, with a scheduled evening performance a sellout, yet further confirmation of increased local interest in early music.
Brueggen. whose European following of both listeners and students has elevated him to guru status, fully lived up to his reputation of being to the recorder what Horowitz is to the violin.
His eloquent rendering of Suite in E Minor for Recorder by the French baroque composer Hotteterre was notable, considering the range of the instrument, for absolute fluidity of line, perfectly, clean articulation, and an astounding ability to draw out subtle dynamic shadings. Of particular interest was the opening Prelude which took on a pleading, mourning tone with Brueggen’s “elegant sigh” drooping phrase endings.
In the opening Andante of Bach’s B Minor Flute Sonata, played by Brueggen on a transverse flute, each note took on the quality of liquid pearls, the audience held breathless by the soloist’s nearly-inaudible low-lying lines.
Brueggen’s final selection, a short sonata by Philibert de Lavigne for soprano recorder, was equally impressive for its purity of sound. Curtis, in addition to serving as Brueggen’s very capable accompanist, proved to be a fine soloist in his own right in several baroque selections.
Two harpsichord works by Jacques Duphly included a stately portrait of a viola player teeming with melody and some almost romantic modulations. Two other pieces by a member of the Couperin family depicted a restrained brand of “affliction” and a Harlequinish dance full of cascading arpeggios and florid runs. And Rameau’s G Minor Harpsichord Suite in five movements with its varied moods was musically spun like finely-woven lace.
WHAT IS WRONG HERE: Horowitz played the piano; Heifetz played the violin. Oops!
White Heather Concert gets seal of approval
By MICHAEL QUIGLEY
April 29, 1974“Enjoy yourself,” said our secretary as she handed me the envelope. Always a great sense of humor.
I tore open the brown manila and there, staring me in the face, was my next assignment: The White Heather Concert Party.
My first move was to check the Ethnic Activities file. I noticed that most of these off-beat cases were handled by other members of the force. I wondered if the Chief was trying to tell me something? Maybe it was because of those two names I goofed up on a report a couple of months ago. Horowitz ... Heifetz ... you’ve got to admit they have a similar ring.
Sunday night rolled around and I arrived at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, as likely a locale as any. I noticed the place wasn’t full, but then there was a repeat Monday night.
From what I could gather, the pattern of this “concert” had been fitted into the one set by the same group many times before. For a start, the audience was a pretty mixed bag of young and old, with the majority in the senior citizen category.
The music was pretty low-key, though I often noticed members of the crowd singing along with the people on stage. I tried to determine if there were any hidden meanings in all this. No dice. The material was strictly sentimental and patriotic.
The comedy-like dialogues were something else, however. You could have cut the accents with a power saw. I didn’t understand very much, but then I got most of it on the tape recorder under my jacket. The boys in our Code Cracking Division are going to have a field day when they get hold of that stuff.
Overall, nothing happened that warranted any suspicion. There was plainly no threat to the State, and I’d have to give the whole occasion a “clean” seal of approval.
Next assignment, Chief?
Drek spoils Juilliard perfection
By MICHAEL QUIGLEY
February 26, 1975One of the world’s foremost chamber music ensembles, the Juilliard String Quartet returned to Vancouver Tuesday night as part of the Friends of Chamber Music concert series, and, as expected, perfection was the order of the evening.
The program opened with Mozart’s D Major Quartet, K. 499. in a performance which was remarkable for fullness of sound, subtleties of phrasing and expression, perfectly realized give-and-take and interweaving of voices, especially in the Adagio, and a well-developed sense of musical humor as depicted in the dynamic contrasts of the finale. There was nothing to be desired.
Among its twentieth century repertoire, the Juilliard is well known for its performance of works from the Second Viennese School, so it was not surprising to find one of these seminal works on the program, specifically Schoenberg’s Third Quartet.
Composed in 1927, this piece is gruellingly twelve-tone, yet underneath the “wrong” notes is a classically-oriented structure, providing a certain amount of formal coherence.
Needless to say, the Juilliard’s performance of the Schoenberg was outstanding, especially the opening Moderato, played with conviction and intensity, and the Adagio, which possessed an extraterrestrial serenity.
Closing was Beethoven’s Quartet in F Major, Opus 59, No. 1, first of the three Rasumovsky Quartets. Its opening Allegro was notable for the sense of forward motion projected, while the Allegretto was rustic and vigorous.
Unfortunately, during these two movements, the Queen Elizabeth Playhouse was permeated with throbbing bass notes from some country and western drek playing in the theatre next door, and I was obliged to leave, for the sake of my peace of mind, before the final two movements.
WHAT IS WRONG HERE? When I came into the office the next day, someone, likely the Chief, told me that a few people had called about the fact that the word “drek” is a Yiddish term which can mean “shit.” Oops!
No ‘stuff’ … but audience ‘high’
By MICHAEL QUIGLEY
April 26, 1975I tore open the sealed envelope and pulled out the secret memo. My heartbeat leapt into overdrive as I read my next assignment. There in front of me were the dreaded words: The White Heather Concert.
Only one thing beat into my brain as the black type seared into my skull: What was the Chief trying to tell me?
I thought I’d done a good job ever since I’d covered the last of these dangerous ethnic gatherings. I knew why I was being sent. It was that word I’d let slip into my report on the case now known as “The Juilliard Caper.”
Because I’d already given White Heather an OK from the ethnic point of view, I knew the Chief wanted me to check out another angle. Like drugs. After all, a lot of people had been eating haggis and jumping off tall buildings recently.
Friday night rolled around and I checked out the customary locale, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. I surveyed the crowd, the usual mixture of middle-aged and elderly.
On stage, only two singers — one K. McKellar and one H. McArthur — held everyone’s attention with Scottish melodies of patriotic and sentimental intent.
I couldn’t see any “pushers” in the crowd “dealing” any “stuff,” but as the show wore on, I perceived a strange phenomenon. People took on glazed and mellow looks, seeming happy.
Then it hit me like a thunderbolt! There were no drugs here. The whole concert was like a giant “hit” designed to paralyse everyone’s mind into a feeling of “good vibes.”
I had to leave fast. After all, there’s only so much one man can do. In fact, I think White Heather is something that even the whole force can’t cope with. I’m going to have to suggest to the Chief that something be done before it gets out of hand. Like a Royal Commission?
SOME TRIVIA RE: THE ABOVE: Since I usually got two tickets to concerts I was covering, I took my grandmother, who was over 90 years old, to this one. Although she was kind of hard of hearing, she seemed to be having a good time!