Talisker Players is a unique ensemble of instrumentalists dedicated to collaborating with singers. The ensemble presents one of the most dynamic concert series on the Toronto scene, combining music and the spoken word in performances that are as dramatic as they are lyrical.

The music of Talisker Players programmes is an eclectic mix of works by composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as forgotten gems, both ancient and modern. The ensemble has played a key role in developing the repertoire for vocal chamber music, actively researching and reviving little-known music from Canada and around the world, and also commissioning new work from distinguished and emerging Canadian composers.

This recording celebrates the ensemble’s tenth anniversary season, with some of the loveliest and most interesting music from the first ten years of the concert series. It features core members of the ensemble in many combinations, along with some of Canada’s most splendid young singers. Four of the pieces are premiere recordings, and the rest have hitherto been rare and difficult to find. It is a celebration of the Talisker Players, of the music they perform, and of the role they have played, and continue to play, in the rich musical life of this country.

« These musicians have a knack for connecting with new compositions that send a clear message of sound and mood that any listener can relate to. »
– John Terauds, Toronto Star

FRANCIS POULENC

1-6. Le Bestiare

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

7-10. Scottish Folk Songs, Op. 108

STEPHANIE MOORE

11. In Flanders Fields

MIKHAIL IPPOLITOV-IVANOV

12-15. Four Poems

ANDREW AGER

16-19. Ellis Portal

ALEXANDER RAPOPORT

20-24. Chicago Portraits

OSVALDO GOLIJOV

25. Tenebrae