This recording is the “soundtrack” for the multi-media work Life Reflected, which had its premiere at the National Arts Centre, May 19, 2016. A highly ambitious and worthwhile project, it brought together four newly commissioned pieces by Canadian composers — three of them women — under the overall direction of the NAC’s conductor Alexander Shelley and creative producer and director Donna Feore. Each of the pieces was based on work by or achievements of, some exceptional Canadian women: Alice Munro, Amanda Todd, Roberta Bondar and Rita Joe.
A multi-media work without the visual dimension, this recording leaves one with only a fragment of the total conception and is therefore exceedingly frustrating. It doesn’t help that Analekta’s booklet is also inadequate; there are no texts and there is very little in the way of analysis of the four works presented. In my opinion, this work should have been released as a DVD.
Although the CD itself is an important documentation of the musical elements, I urge listeners to visit www.lifereflected.ca for comprehensive notes. The website reproduces the entire program book issued for the premiere performance in Ottawa and a short video offers at least a glimpse of some of the visual elements. Fortunately, Luminato 2017 is presenting Life Reflected the way it was meant to be seen and heard, and with the original performers, on June 18 in Toronto.
Dear Life is based on Alice Munro’s short story of the same name, as adapted by Merilyn Simonds, with music by Zosha Di Castri, a Canadian composer now living in New York where she teaches at Columbia University. Di Castri’s score is full of brilliant effects, and she expertly weaves in the amplified voices of the soprano and the narrator; however, there are times when I felt that the effects were at odds with the text. Munro is noted for an understated narration of often commonplaces events, and Di Castri’s music often seems too loud and too powerful for that narrative style; that said, with the visual elements added, one might have a different impression of the effectiveness of the music.
My Name is Amanda Todd is a purely orchestral rendering of the life of Amanda Todd, who committed suicide at the age of 15 after suffering years of bullying and harassment. Jocelyn Morlock’s music reflects the hope and tolerance Todd expressed in a video she posted on YouTube, which elicited support for her from around the world.
The score of Nicole Lizée’s Bondarsphere, which incorporates excerpts from television news broadcasts from 1992, the year of her space flight, celebrates the achievements of Dr. Roberta Bondar, Canada’s first female astronaut.
Finally, we have I Lost My Talk, a setting to music of a 15-line poem by Mi’kmaw elder and poet Rita Joe, with music by John Estacio. The poem expresses the pain and suffering experienced by Rita Joe as she attended the Shubenacadie Residential School in Nova Scotia. Of the four works in Life Reflected, Estacio’s music is the most traditionalist in style.
This CD, which would be important if only for showcasing orchestral music by three Canadian women, also provides a reminder of how important Canadian women are in composition. But again, I would suggest that in order to fully appreciate what Life Reflected is all about, you need to “see” it as well as hear it. Fortunately, as mentioned, Luminato 2017’s production of Life Reflected is coming up next month, so you will have an opportunity to do just that.
All the performances on this CD are well executed, with special credit due British conductor Alexander Shelley, who took up his NAC post in 2015 and is already making a major contribution to music in Canada, for spearheading this project.
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