Musical background:

I have always been involved with classical music in one form or another. First as a young boy learning to play the piano at my father's side. I was quick to learn and developed a talent for the keyboard, enough so, that my father felt I could learn to also play the massive pipe organ at the church where he was choirmaster. It was somewhat nerve-racking but at the same time thrilling, to play for the large community at Sunday and Midnight masses. Through the years I have taught piano to young people, accompanied singers and composed some of my own music. It is this gift of an early appreciation for music that I consider to be the primal driving force in my life.

Since 1980 to present, I have been involved full-time with classical music retail as both a sales associate and store manager, with responsibilities for ordering and purchasing inventory for small music stores and superstores. I deal with and buy from all major music labels. On account of the experience that I have gathered over the years in this business, in 1993 I had the express pleasure to be selected and subsequently a part of the judging panel for the Canadian Juno Awards.

My motivation for creating Classical Music Sentinel is so that I can share my love and knowledge of classical music recordings with all of you listeners and collectors out there on this musical planet. Had I known from the start that classical music would have been such an integral part of my life, it would have been interesting to have kept count of all the recordings I have heard over the years -- I am sure it is in the thousands.

What I enjoy listening to:

I listen to anything and everything from Renaissance masses by Josquin DesPrez to experimental works by Steve Reich, but the period that I seem to orbit around the most is 1800 to 1950. I admire all the masters, but the composers that really intrigue me are Gustav Mahler, Dmitri Shostakovich, Alexander Scriabin, Richard Strauss, etc...I love composers who present a challenge, a struggle or conflict within the music, a problem you might say, that eventually gets resolved by the music itself. In other words, composers who have something to say, and explore the depths of music and sometimes bend the rules a bit to communicate their vision and express their feelings. A solid mix of structure and expressive freedom. I dislike composers who are like tailors. They might use a different fabric, a different colour, unusual buttons, but in the end you always get the same suit. I like a recording to sound as natural and alive as possible, with the right soundstage, presence and depth. The dynamics are crucial to convey the music's intent, and when captured and reproduced well, go a long way in turning a good recording into a great recording. And, of course, the musicians have to be involved and in tune with the music at hand for everything to come together.

Jean-Yves Duperron