A cassette copy of this first recording from the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra has eluded us, so we’re going with the vinyl. Which has the benefit of so much space for liner notes! Which includes English, French and German notes about the composer, the piece, and the conductor… but not the musicians. Thankfully we have this article from the Herald that confirms that Concertmaster Čeněk Vrba was indeed a part of the recording. [img width=662.5px]//7ca49eb9f67ba1319ef136f9d52cd8b8.cdn.bubble.io/f1767122251783x356079966393385800/richtext_content.jpeg[/img] [h2]CPO records first CBC disc[/h2] By Eric Dawson (Herald staff writer) The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra is giving the performance of a lifetime in Jack Singer Hall before for an audience of none. The musicians are in jeans. Conductor Mario Bernardi is working away on the podium without a jacket or tie. Though there isn't a soul in the stalls, the orchestra is performing for the most demanding listeners it has ever faced. Tucked away in another room of the Centre for Performing Arts is a CBC recording team. The Philharmonic is making its first disc, featuring Schumann's Second Symphony and the Overture, Scherzo and Finale for the corporation's widely-hailed SM 5000 series (SM for "serious music," 5000 because it had a futuristic ring). The CPO is the one major orchestra in the country that hasn't made records for the CBC up to now, and there is some lingering resentment about the delay. "Even Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo have made records before us," says CPO concertmaster Cenek Vrba. "Even the Quebec Symphony and the Atlantic Symphony, for God's sake," says Bernardi. But any annoyance the orchestra feels at being neglected is forgotten in the excitement of the recording process. Vrba says that the delay has actually worked in the CPO's favor. "If that had come to us a few years ago, we wouldn't have been as ready. Sometimes it is better to wait. We could have made a good record earlier. But this one will be something special." * As an attempted take dissolves into chaos early Monday morning, a plaintive voice pipes up from the anonymity of the Philharmonic strings. "Where are we? Can someone tell me where we are?" Anton Kwiatkowski has masterminded more SM 5000 recordings than any other producer in the country. The widespread acclaim that has accrued to the series for its consistent sonic excellence is praise for Kwiatkowski's extraordinary ear. Nothing gets by him, not a wrong note, a false entry or a sloppily-played chord. As the sessions are set to begin, Kwiatkowski takes his place in an impromptu studio with engineer Don Pennington and a handful of CBC staff, and begins directing the technical side of the recording. They are out of sight of the musicians in a small dressing room made still more cramped than usual by an array of analogue and digital recording equipment. The orchestra cannot see Kwiatkowski at work but he has the musicians clearly in view on the 10- inch video monitor that captures their every move. He uses a microphone to announce the beginning of each take to the musicians. But any conversation between the orchestra and production staff is by telephone, one behind Kwiatkowski, another that rings with nagging frequency by Bernardi's side in Singer Hall. The Sunday and Monday sessions proceed with rigorous professionalism on everyone's part. The basic shape of individual movements and the overture is set by recording them once or twice without stopping. Then the most intense work begins. Bernardi's telephone rings. It is Kwiatkowski with his first request for retakes. "That was good, thank you. Now, can we go to 14 bars into the allegro and start there. The orchestra wasn't quite together." Bernardi asks to begin eight bars into the allegro to give the orchestra a better lead-in. Nine bars, Kwiatkowski suggests. Bernardi agrees. As the conductor hangs up the phone, the producer's voice can be heard echoing through Singer Hall. "Bar 26, take one." The orchestra launches into the troublesome passage. Just as the players begin hitting their stride, the telephone rings. Bernardi is in high spirits, he's pleased with the playing, and he waves the baton airily over the orchestra as he reaches for the receiver. Kwiatkowski misses the joke. His head is buried in the score as he isolates problems. The last beat of bar 31 is not together, he says. He suggests starting after a preceding pause, and continuing for nine bars. Bernardi relays the message and the orchestra begins again. The noise is tremendous. Not everyone understood precisely where to begin, and the attempt breaks down within seconds. Bernardi calls out the relevant bars once again, raises his baton and the musicians complete the requested passage without a hitch. After precisely nine bars, the telephone rings again. "Thank you, that was very good," Kwiatkowski says without emotion, and moves along to the next correction. "It's not enough to be a good orchestra. People must know how good you are, and that means records and touring."- Mario Bernardi. Bernardi is uncertain how many recordings he is making this season. Six. Seven. As the leading Canadian conductor, his schedule is crowded with recording sessions. Yet even with so many projects in the works, he acknowledges that this one is special. Schumann's Second Symphony is a personal favorite of his. He performed it many years ago with the National Arts Centre Orchestra but the chamber-size band was underpowered in a work that demands the full resources of a symphony orchestra. Bernardi wanted to try it again, and when he programmed it with the CPO in November, the results were spectacular. The CPO returned to the score in February and March when they took both the symphony and the overture to Banff, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. Only three hours' rehearsal time was budgeted for the recording sessions, so these performances were welcome and necessary opportunities for Bernardi and his players to rethink their approach to the music before the sessions began. The advance preparation paid off. "I've had an easier time making this record than many others I've made, Bernardi said. "The orchestra was completely prepared and there is a wonderful sense of morale here that helped us cut through the inevitable tension of recording." "We ended 40 seconds before the end of the final session. I planned it that way. There is nothing worse than finishing early. - producer Anton Kwiatkowski. * * The last half hour is a difficult one. Playing for four hours, even with the mandated rest breaks, is taking its toll on some of the players. Despite his reputation as an authoritarian conductor, Bernardi never raises his voice in reprimand. He acknowledges the musicians' exhaustion and asks them to continue to give their all. After a series of short takes, Kwiatkowski asks Bernardi for a last long take to cover some minor glitches earlier in the session. The Philharmonic's response is extraordinary. Knowing it is their last chance for perfection, they tackle music they have already played countless times with renewed precision and excitement. With the last chord, the recording is over. Bernardi thanks the orchestra warmly, and the musicians stamp and applaud their thanks in re- turn. Bernardi retires to his dressing room, the orchestra files off stage and the recording engineers begin to dismantle their equipment. Bernardi is thrilled with the results. "I think this record is going to surprise a lot of people. "It will be the best calling-card the orchestra ever had. It's one thing to take out an ad in the paper to tell people how good you are. It's another to be able to hand them a recording and say "This is what we can do."" Vrba is exhilarated. "When I was recording once in Japan, (conductor) Kurt Masur urged us to give our best by reminding us that our children and grandchildren would listen to our record and judge us by what we eventually put out on record. I think this record will sound pretty good to the next generation. "This is our ideal Schumann Second and it leaves me feeling very proud." The record will probably appear in the stores sometime next season; no firm release date has been set. But in terms of morale and proficiency, the sessions have already had an effect. Vrba said the morale boost provided by the CBC team will be invaluable in the months to come. Bernardi believes that "the incentive to be perfect" will have a direct effect on the way the orchestra plays for the home crowd. "A recording session forces the musicians to listen to each other in a way they've never done before. The slightest fault can't go through. "That kind of demand on their skills is bound to have an effect. It is bound to make them a better orchestra."
