Daniel Taylor's Voice of Bach

One of the most engaging ways that Baroque music has been making inroads among listeners is through the power of the rare but opulent countertenor voice. Montreal-based Daniel Taylor has taken the journey a step further in the creation of The Theatre of Early Music, an ensemble dedicated to not just the recreation of baroque music, but the revelation of it. TEM's mission:

"We explore the depth and substance of this choral and instrumental literature as we share our ideas and passion. The key aspect involved in the approach of the Theatre of Early Music is revelation: just as in modern-day we have restored the frescoes of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, so do we hope to reveal the original beauty of ancient works. Therein we hope to understand, communicate and celebrate this inspirational music."

Therefore, it is wearing the twin hats of soloist and artistic director that Daniel Taylor makes his Sony BMG Masterworks debut in The Voice of Bach, a compilation of sinfonias, arias, duets (with soprano Agnes Zsigovics) and choral numbers (with the Theatre of Early Music Choir). What sets this recording apart right away is the transparency and intimacy of texture, noticeable in the opening Sinfonia from Christ lag in Todesbanden. In the arias, Taylor's voice doesn't dominate the texture the way many voices do in many recordings of late--instead, it feels much more integrated into the texture of the ensemble as a whole.

The Voice of Bach feels like a celebration of Bach's instrumental and choral writing as much as it is a celebration of Taylor's countertenor voice. The Motet from Cantata BWV 118b (O Jesu Christ meines Lebens Licht) and the chorale Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit showcase the TEM Choir as a vocal ensemble of the highest order--their sense of authenticity isn't just an academic exercise, but a journey into details of text, voice-leading and harmony that one can actually feel. Taylor also sings two meticulously prepared duets with Agnes Zsigovics (Wir eilen mit Schwachen and Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn). The only drawback about this type of recording project is that my favorite tracks (Erbarme Dich from the St. Matthew Passion, Es ist vollbracht from the St. John Passion, and two arias from the Christmas Oratorio) left me wanting to hear the dramatic and emotional scope of the complete works instead of just the highlights--I wanted the full meal instead of selected courses.

You can catch Daniel Taylor and the Theatre of Early Music in numerous venues across Canada this fall:

10/11/08 – Edmonton – University of Alberta
10/13/08 – Kelowna
10/17/08 – Quebec – Sacred Music Festival
10/19/08 – Quebec – Sacred Music Festival
10/23/08 – Quebec – Sacred Music Festival
10/24/08 – Montreal – Eglise St Irenee
10/26/08 – Dorval
10/26/08 – St. Leonard
10/27/08 – Westmount
10/30/08 – Montreal – Chapelle du Bon Pasteur
10/31/08 – Pierrefonds
12/04/08 – Kitchener

Check out the TEM concert listings for more info.

The Aeroplan Mini-Opera

This Tuesday will see the Toronto premiere (albeit at a private concert) of a short operatic scene I had the pleasure of premiering in September at the Aeroplan convention in Montreal. Aeroplan prides itself on being a fluid organization, and as part of their annual convention they schedule unconventional activities in order to build community and teamwork. This year, Tapestry New Opera Works was the guest organization invited to participate.

As the managers and executives entered the convention space on the first day, they were required to fill out a card on which they listed an Aeroplan moment that changed their life. From the collected cards, the composer/librettist team of Darren Fung and Colleen Murphy then chose five scenarios that the convention delegates, divided into teams of ten, would then expand into mini-operas on the following day, complete with a selection of pop songs that the teams would have to rewrite lyrics for and perform.

The other task of Darren and Colleen would be to choose one scenario from the assembled cards and create a five-minute mini-opera that would then be performed by tenor Keith Klassen, mezzo-soprano Jessica Lloyd, and myself at the keyboard the following day. The scenario they finally chose, one that they noticed kept on being mentioned in card after card involved the recent death of a trusted and valued Aeroplan employee in a tragic car accident.

The scene that Colleen and Darren came up with involved an employee on his first day on the job (tenor) who kept on getting lost and barging into the office of a manager (mezzo). After the first-day employee bursts into the manager's office a second time they strike up a conversation. Just then, the manager fields a telephone call in which she finds out that the woman who trained her on the job has just passed away after a car accident. The first-day employee then ends up comforting the devastated manager.

Since this scene was based on a real-life situation in the life of the company, the emotions of the actual event were still very much with the Aeroplan employees when they saw the performance. There was not a dry eye in the house. What was also fascinating is that the woman who fielded the telephone call in real life was in the audience and was able to actually experience herself being portrayed on the operatic stage.

This scene, with a working title of First Day, was an operatic first in that it was commissioned by a major corporation (Aeroplan) to portray an actual situation in the life of that company in a positive and community-affirming light. I was also impressed by the quality of the scenes that the Aeroplan teams created and performed and how completely they surrendered themselves to a process that must have seemed absolutely alien to them at first.

Although Tuesday's performance is invitation-only at a Toronto location I cannot disclose on the blog, I hope that there will be public performances of First Day in the coming months.