This recording is dedicated to the memory of Canadian contralto

MARGARET STILWELL
Margaret Stilwell was born in Toronto, Ontario, on September 26, 1924. A favourite soloist of conductor Sir Ernest Macmillan during the 1950s, she sang in numerous oratorios and passions with both the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Although her early concert career showed considerable promise - with a number of offers to sing abroad - Margaret chose instead to devote herself to her husband and new family. Although Margaret Stilwell sacrificed a full-time professional career, she continued to sing - as a soloist - in both Grace Church-on-the-Hill and St. Paul’s Anglican Church. She was also a charter member of the Festival Singers of Canada (under Elmer Iseler) and sang with that organization for 25 years. While in her early 40’s Margaret Stilwell was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis and at the age of 61 developed symptoms of ALS (more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease). She died two and a half years later on June 22, 1988 - a few months before her 64th birthday. Today, her daughter - mezzo-soprano Jean Stilwell - is the national spokesperson for the ALS Society of Canada.

ALS SOCIETY OF CANADA
ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) is a rapidly progressive fatal neuromuscular disease. It is characterized by degeneration of a select group of nerve cells and pathways in the brain and spinal cord, which leads to progressive paralysis of the muscles. Generally there is little impairment of the brain, sight, touch, hearing or smell. ALS can strike anyone. ALS is not contagious, does not discriminate, and can strike at any age. ALS kills two to three Canadians a day. Between 1,500 and 2,000 Canadians currently live with ALS. The cause is unknown. There is no cure - yet. The ALS Society of Canada is committed to providing care and finding a cure for ALS. With our regional partners our mission is

• to provide support for people with ALS, their families and caregivers
• to support research into the cause of and the cure of ALS
• to build public awareness of ALS and its impact.

LES CHEMINS DE L’AMOUR
This collection of French mélodies and cabaret songs represents some of my favourite material. For me, each song is a true ‘classic’ which I never tire of hearing - or singing. For this CD I have arranged the songs so that they unfold like a monodrama or a song cycle – cabaret style. Imagine… Marie…a young girl from Bordeaux... In a series of songs she reflects upon her life and loves, reliving many of the crucial – often painful - scenes from her past. We follow her along her “chemins de l’amour” (“pathways of love”), from youthful innocence and the passion of her first secret encounters, through rejection, separation, denial, despair, to her eventual ‘fall from grace’. Musically this journey travels a broad course, from the mélodies of Poulenc, Satie, Koechlin and Debussy; through songs once made popular by Yvonne Printemps and that ‘little sparrow’, Edith Piaf; to two French works by the great German composer Kurt Weill. In fact, the ‘cycle’ ends with an excerpt from Weill’s musical, Marie galante, in which the protagonist - now a prostitute - dreams about a ship which will come to take her back to her native Bordeaux - back to a time and place of innocence and hope. And to conclude – as an epilogue – a wonderful song made popular by the great American-born French chanteuse, cabaret star and cause célèbre, Joséphine Baker: “J’ai deux amours, mon pays et Paris…” (“I have two loves: my country and Paris”). I dedicate this album to the memory of my mother, and friend, Margaret Stilwell. - Jean Stilwell

P.S.: I would also like to thank the following for their generous support: Reg Dohms, David James, John Loosemore, Dr. Lois Plumb, Elisabeth Pommes, Robert Speer, my friends at the ALS Society of Canada - and Neil Crory.

JEAN STILWELL, mezzo-soprano
The Canadian mezzo-soprano, Jean Stilwell, hailed on three continents for her complex portrayal of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, is at the forefront of this generation’s mezzo-sopranos. In Keith Warner’s daring production for Minnesota Opera and Opera Ontario, Ms. Stilwell was praised for her “riveting” performance of the title role and for her “mesmerizing stage presence and dangerous sounding, husky mezzo...vocally rich and powerful”. In addition to her triumphs as Bizet’s femme fatale, the tall, striking Toronto-born mezzo is in great demand for a unique array of operatic roles including the title part in Handel’s Xerxes, Penelope in Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria, Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther, Mère Marie in Poulenc’s Les Dialogues des Carmélites, Lucretia in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia and Maddalena in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Eboli in Don Carlos. In addition to opera, Jean Stilwell is known for a wide variety of concert repertoire ranging from Handel’s Messiah, Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand and Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, to Schoenberg’s Cabaret Songs, Berio’s Folksongs and R. Murray Schafer’s Adieu, Robert Schumann. As a concert artist she has performed with leading international orchestras from Finland and Japan to the United States and her native Canada; and under the baton of such distinguished conductors as Mario Bernardi, Sergiu Commissiona, Sir Andrew Davis, Helmut Rilling, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Bramwell Tovey. Jean Stilwell’s previous recordings for CBC RECORDS include Luciano Berio’s Folksongs with Raffi Armenian and the Canadian Chamber Ensemble (CBC MVCD1073) and Harry Somers Five Songs for Dark Voice (CBC SMCD 5199) with Alex Pauk and the Esprit Orchestra. She is also featured on the historic Millennium Opera Gala which was recorded ‘live’ at Roy Thomson Hall on December 31, 1999 (CBC SMCD 5198).

ROBERT KORTGAARD, piano
Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, pianist Robert Kortgaard obtained both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School in New York City. Since graduation, he has performed throughout Canada, China, the Czech Republic, England, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Portugal and the United States – primarily as a recitalist and chamber musician. Robert Kortgaard collaborates and records with some of Canada’s finest musicians, including violinists Martin Beaver, Mark Fewer, Moshe Hammer, Jacques Israelievitch and Catherine Manoukian; cellists Bryan Epperson, Amanda Forsyth, Shauna Rolston, and Thomas Wiebe; and flutists Susan Hoeppner and Marina Piccinini. In recent years he has worked increasingly with many of Canada’s most outstanding singers, including sopranos Valdine Anderson, Measha Brüggergosman, Joanne Kolomyjec, Wendy Nielsen, and cabaret specialist Patricia O’Callaghan; as well as mezzo-sopranos Linda Maguire and Jean Stilwell.