My homeland tends to be overlooked by other nations. It's a fact that most Canadians have grown accustomed to, and one that many have come to relish thanks to the benefits involved. For starters, the old Maple Leaf offers a primo passport for traveling, which is always nice. Then there's the issue of our international reputation, which is generally in good shape -- especially in comparison to that of our neighbour to the south -- thanks to our policy of more or less minding our own business except where humanitarianism is concerned. There are obviously exceptions, and yes, of course I'm generalizing, but I don't really care. Go track down Christopher Ondaatje if you want to discuss Canadian politics and foreign policy -- or really anything else for that matter, I'm sure he can handle it. I, on the other hand, am here to briefly highlight Canada's contribution to the classical music scene.
You might not know it, but Canadians have had their fingers in the musical pie for ages, and have made a habit of sweeping in from the fringes and taking people by surprise. True, we might not have produced Horowitz, or Brendel, or Lang Lang (thank God), but we can lay claim to Marc-Andre Hamelin, Angela Hewitt, and Glenn Gould, so there! And what about strings, you ask? True, Milstein was born in Odessa, and Heifetz was reared in Vilnius, but James Ehnes is from Brandon (that's in Manitoba, fourth province from the left) and Leila Josefowicz took her first steps in Missisauga, Ontario. There are also the generals, the ringers, the entertainers: Alexander Brott standing at the helm of the brilliant Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Guy Lombardo marshaling his squadron of Royal Canadians hither and yon, and the always elegant Gisele MacKenzie lighting up the airwaves and making Jack Benny's jokes work, most of the time.
So you see, we've done rather well for ourselves, thanks very much. I'm not saying we're on anything close to the same plane as the heavy hitting nations, but for a big country with a small population we can certainly raise some eyebrows.
And speaking of Canadians raising eyebrows, none other than Lara St. John will be here on November 17th, playing Paganini 2 at the Cadogan Hall with the Royal Phil. The concert's sold out, but those people with tickets are in for a singular experience. She's a talented chick, that Lara, but she's also a bit nutty, so there's no telling what can happen. This is, after all, a person who posed topless for her Bach sonatas and partitas album cover, holding her violin horizontally to cover up the fun bits, and squinting sexily into the light pouring through what appear to be venetian blinds. Crazy? Well, it's a bit unusual, no doubt about it, but the playing is great. I've heard her live a couple of times, including once at the Wigmore for David Takeno's 60th birthday concert, where she alternated between making people -- virtually all violinists -- squirm uncomfortably in their seats and playing some really well thought out phrasings and voicings in Bach solo movements. This was over two-and-a-half years ago, and I still remember it with frightening clarity. I imagine those on hand at the Cadogan will come away impressed.
