Cecilia Livingston
James Rolfe. Breathe: music for voices and early instruments New music for period instruments is not always convincing. But in these substantial works, James Rolfe avoids pastiche, homage, and self-conscious novelty, creating music that is subtle, sophisticated, and surprising. In Breathe (2011) Anna Chatterton’s new[...] Read more
Frances White and Kristin Norderval. She Lost Her Voice / That’s How We Knew. Seductive and hypnotic, this is an utterly convincing work for voice and electronics—not an easy combination. For forty-five minutes, it moves slowly through a text by the piece’s director, Valeria Vasilevski, and blurs genres (chamber opera? theatre work? song cycle?) with its[...] Read more
Ana Sokolovic and Ensemble Transmission. Folklore Imaginaire. This Canadian Music Centre release in Naxos’ Canadian Classics series offers sixty minutes of Ana Sokolovic’s ever-fascinating chamber music. Ensemble Transmission is heard in a variety of configurations, including solo works, and the startling rendition of Vez for solo cello,[...] Read more