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Review - Collabyrinth

Beach Metro News

Second for Duo
By Bill MacLean

Margot Rydall and Ivan Zilman whose flute and guitar pairing they call DUO, have released their second CD.

Called Collabyrinth, It is an interesting mix of music ranging from the Spanish stylings of Manuel De Falla, through J.S. Bach, Mussorgsky, Stravinsky and Scriabin, to the Jazz sounds of Bill Evans, Clifford Brown and Joe Zawinul.

DUO, whose concert appearances in earthquake-ravaged Taiwan were related here (BMN, Oct 19/99 pg3), is the coming together of two talented musicians. Margot Rydall, flute, teaches at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto and is well known for her numerous solo and chamber music concerts. Ivan Zilman, guitar, has had a busy career in the recording studio encompassing both jazz and classical work, and is currently teaching here in the Beach.

When they are playing Bach, which they do often throughout the CD almost as interludes, the notes fly from the flute and guitar in crisp precision (listen to the Sonata in E minor and the Invention in D minor). Yet romance comes to the fore on "A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square" with Zilman caressing heartfelt chords from guitar to back the floating airy melody that Rydall virtually sings.

You will recognise Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" from the first strains, especially since DUO's rendition is much closer to the original piano piece than the more familiar orchestral version. And the repetitive, mechanistic chords of the Stravinsky piece underlie a haunting melody. The two preludes from Scriabin's Opus 11 are tiny gems from the Russian composer.
Tuesday, November 7, 2000

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