Brannon Cho, cello

Victor Santiago Asuncion, piano

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

April 22, 2019

On April 22, 2019, The Center for Musical Excellence(CME) presented 2015 CME Artist Winner Brannon Cho in his Carnegie Hall (Weill Hall stage) recital debut. CME Founder and Director Min Kwon spoke briefly before the recital about CME, and to explain the four-year gap between Mr. Cho’s award and his debut by explaining that CME did not want to rush, but to allow Mr. Cho to continue exploring opportunities. It appears that Mr. Cho has been quite busy since then, and, given the quality of his performance on this evening, he should continue to be for the foreseeable future.

Mr. Cho and pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion took the stage and opened with Boccherini’s Sonata in A major, G.4 (the first two movements only). A sunny work, it was an ideal opener. Mr. Cho’s beautiful singing tone, combined with razor-sharp articulation, made one eager for what was to come.

Following the Boccherini came Matthias Pintscher’s Figura V/Assonanza (part of a larger work Figura I-V for String Quartet). With fluttering ultra-soft harmonics and sounds of atmend (breathing), it has an eerie, atmospheric quality. Mr. Cho’s playing was mesmerizing, even if one was left wondering whether this was meant to be chiefly an exercise in special effects. In any case, it showed Mr. Cho’s versatility as an artist.

More mainstream fare came next with Brahms’s Cello Sonata in E minor, Op. 38. Brahms entitled it Sonate für Klavier und Violoncello with the intent that the pianist is not merely a background accompanist, but a full and equal partner. Completed in 1865, the sonata is Brahms’s homage to J. S. Bach and uses material from Contrapuncti 4 and 13 of The Art of Fugue, as Mr. Cho reminds us in his program notes. This work always brings to mind the famous story associated with it, about Brahms and the cellist Robert Hausmann, its dedicatee. Hausmann was playing this work with Brahms at the piano, and Brahms was playing so loudly that Hausmann remarked that he could not hear his cello. “Lucky for you!” was Brahms’s reply! This listener thinks that the gruff Brahms would have been delighted with this performance. The rapport between Mr. Cho and Mr. Asuncion was striking, each attuned to the other as if they shared a single mind. The opening movement was filled with the feeling of sorrow, but also the glimmers of hope, as the duo robustly conveyed. The second movement Menuetto was played with charm. The finale was thrilling in its mutuality of conception. The large, and very enthusiastic audience gave the players a standing ovation. It was one of the finer performances of this masterpiece this listener has heard.

After intermission, Mr. Cho opened the second half with Benjamin Britten’s Cello Suite No. 1, Op. 72. The first of three suites written for and dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich, it is inspired by Bach’s cello suites and Rostropovich’s cello playing. It is a haunting nine-movement solo cello work, with a beautiful opening canto that repeats several times in later movements, each time with an increasingly disturbing tone. The movements that surround the canto suggest memories, some playful and childlike, and others of a nightmarish quality. The ending is manic, with a final angry outburst in its final notes. The challenges are immense. The cellist must not only deal with the technical demands (which are considerable), but also convey the almost manic mood changes while trying to maintain the sense of structure and continuity for the work’s twenty-plus minutes.

There was none of the coughing or fidgeting from the audience that one often hears/sees in a work of this type – indeed, their attention was locked to the stage with utter silence. This listener was completely transfixed, experiencing the joy, the innocence, and the nightmares, as if privy to a particularly emotional therapy session. To convey this musically was something extraordinary. It was my favorite performance of the evening, and it is still resonating in my mind as I write these lines.

After the emotionally demanding Britten, it was time for Mr. Cho to have some fun, and this took the form of Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20, a staple of the violin repertoire. Why should violinists have all the fun? In an arrangement by Hans Jørgen Jensen (Mr. Cho’s teacher at Northwestern), Mr. Cho let loose with a performance that many a violinist would be hard pressed to equal. With all of the Roma soulfulness coupled with the scintillating virtuosic fire, Mr. Cho’s playing exceeded all expectations (and for full disclosure, this reviewer heard Mr. Cho in a 2015 performance on YouTube as pre-concert preparation, so there was already some idea of what to expect). The audience leapt to their feet in a loud ovation, which almost seemed an insufficient response to such a dynamic performance!

Mr. Cho offered two encores. The first, Chopin’s Etude, Op. 25, No. 7, as arranged by Alexander Glazunov, was announced from the stage by Mr. Cho. The heartfelt melody was played with melting beauty by both players. The second, with the grandiose title “Concert Paraphrase on ‘Largo al factotum’ from Barber of Seville” (sometimes simply called “Figaro”), arranged by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, was not announced, but it is highly likely that most made the Rossini connection. It is a sure-fire crowd pleaser. Mr. Cho played it to the hilt, with wit, whimsy, and brilliance.

After such a showstopper as the Zigeunerweisen, this reviewer had reservations about doing another such piece as an encore, lest it diminish the effect of the “serious” works (especially the Britten) – and yet it was a savvy move on his part to whip the audience into a frenzy. It worked – the audience loved every second and once again reacted with an extended standing ovation.

Mr. Cho is an artist to watch – mature beyond his years as a musician. Yes, he has technique to burn (and he is not at all shy about using it), but he pairs this with a fine sense of line and phrase shaping. He knows when to “breathe,” and does not hurry, letting the sound linger organically, without “chopping” phrase endings. Mr. Asuncion deserves high praise as well for both his attentive collaboration as well as his assured technique. I hope to hear this duo again in the future.

Ed W. Clark High School Concert Band (NV)

Jeffrey A. Lacoff, director; David Seifert, assistant director; Julio Vargas, guest director

Ed. W. Clark High School Symphonic Strings

Charles Cushinery, Eric Maine, directors

Susan E. Wagner High School Wind Ensemble (NY)

Paul Corn, director; Brian Worsdale, guest director

Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

April 12, 2019

We often hear about the lamentable state of affairs regarding music education in our country. Lack of funds and a focus on the latest fads in education are often cited as causes. Thankfully, there are still many programs not only surviving, but thriving, with the next generation of talent being nurtured and filled with a lifelong love of music. Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) hosted two such programs last Friday, the Ed. W. Clark High School (wind and string ensembles) from Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Susan E. Wagner High School (winds) from Staten Island, New York. They called their concert Windsongs.

To any regular reader of New York Concert Review it is no secret that I am a fan of both “band” music and young ensembles. At heart, I am still as much of a “band geek” as I was in the long-ago days when I was one of those youngsters having the time of my life. It’s truly a delight to see all the excited faces as the young musicians walk onto the stage of Carnegie Hall, ready to give their all. Lest people think that my feelings of nostalgia mean that a rave review is “in the bag,” they would be missing the fact that my experiences mean I am not easily fooled or dazzled by the tricks of the trade.

A few housekeeping items before I get to the performances. There were twenty-one works played this evening, so I am not going to mention each work, as that would turn this review into a book report. In the past, I would provide a link to the program so the reader could investigate further, but regrettably, DCINY has appeared to have ceased posting the concert programs on their website. Also, though the Susan E. Wagner High School Wind Ensemble played between the two Ed W. Clark groups, I am going to begin with them.

Led by Paul Corn, with guest director Brian Worsdale sharing the podium, the Susan E. Wagner High School Wind Ensemble hit the ground running. They did their tuning before taking the stage, something I wish more ensembles would do (especially the younger ones), and they lit right into the music. The instrumentation was well-balanced overall (something not always the case in High School ensembles), and no one section was dominant (also something not common in High School ensembles). The intonation and the ensemble were excellent overall.

Glenn Miller in Concert (arrangement by Paul Murtha), with quotes from In the Mood, Tuxedo Junction, A String of Pearls, Little Brown Jug, and Pennsylvania 6-5000, was smartly played with the old-time big band feel. Saturn Returns by Michael Markowski is a showstopper that these young players tore into with gusto. John Mackey’s This Cruel Moon, a poignantly beautiful work (adapted from the “Immortal thread, so weak” movement of his Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band), was the highlight of their selections for this listener. It was an “A” that could have been an “A+” if there had been a bit more feeling of the heartache that abounds in this piece (as heard in an excellent recording done by the University of Texas Wind Ensemble led by Jerry Junkin). Yes, it is persnickety, but as the saying goes, “If you can do it this well, then you can do it even better!” Two Leonard Bernstein works (Slava! and a concert suite from On the Town) bookended their selections. Their supporters gave them a standing ovation at the end, and it was richly deserved.

The Ed W. Clark High School Concert Band took the stage to open the concert (and as a side note, I was intrigued by the tuning to Concert F). The conducting duties were shared by Jeffrey A. Lacoff, David Seifert, and Ed W. Clark alumnus Julio Vargas (Mr. Lacoff was also to been seen in the percussion section when not on the podium). Running though my standard checklist again: Well-balanced instrumentation – check (actually check-plus, as that is a dream come true for most High School ensembles), and good intonation and ensemble – check. There was again no single overly dominant section. Ten pieces were played, each from two to five minutes in duration.

This presents an interesting challenge for the reviewer, as the short duration of the pieces lends itself much more to “adjudication” then it does to a review. Reading of the band’s many superior ratings in adjudicated festivals does not surprise me, as their program seemed almost built to succeed in such format. I’ll try to do a bit of both adjudication and reviewing here. First, the review portion: Gershwin’s Second Prelude (arranged by John Krance) won me over, despite initial incredulity over the arrangement itself (from the piano version). It was a stylish and persuasive performance. Caesar Giovannini’s Overture in B-Flat (scored by Wayne Robinson) was brimming with energy and played with polish. Ginastera’s Danza Final from Estancia enjoyed a restrained tempo that allowed a cleanly articulated performance. It can so easily spiral into a helter-skelter, indistinct mess if too fast, but the group neatly avoided that fate. Derek Bourgeois’s Serenade with its irregular meter has a quirky charm which the ensemble captured well and with an appropriate sense of whimsy – good work! Finally, John Philip Sousa’s immortal march, The Stars and Stripes Forever (composed in 1896, not 1928 as stated in the notes), brought the audience to a standing ovation. Adjudication verdict: Superior, with one suggestion. The notes are all there, but there is an opportunity to heighten performance further with more careful attention to ensemble timbre. Poignant phrases (especially in Eric Whitacre’s The Seal Lullaby) need to be “softer” (in tone, not dynamics) to maximize the effect.

After intermission, the Symphonic Strings (also from Clark High School) took the stage. They were an impressive assemblage with fifty violins, twenty-one(!) violas, twenty-two cellos, and six string basses. Charles Cushinery and Eric Maine shared the podium. The sheer number of players had this listener thinking that perhaps this group was one of those in which “everyone gets in” regardless of ability. I was quickly disabused of this notion after a few measures of the opening movement of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings. Such true intonation for such a large group was striking, and the ensemble balance was every bit as impressive as well. The high level continued in the Intermezzo from Mascagni’s opera Cavalleria Rusticana.

Three selections from Béla Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances had a young girl (probably four or five-years-old) two rows in front of me happily dancing along to the music, which says more than any fusty “critic” words, and it was followed by the World Premiere of High Resolution by Jennifer Bellor, commissioned by the Ed W. Clark High School Symphonic Strings. This work has an atmospheric, dream-like quality, and Ms. Bellor writes in her notes that she took inspiration from two states of realities, being awake and being asleep. It is an effective work that is a worthy addition to the repertoire. The composer was present and rose to acknowledge the audience’s applause and to salute the orchestra.

The delightfully named Kwoktet, three brothers and a cousin sharing the last name Kwok (two violinists, a violist, and a bassist), were featured front and center in Por Una Cabez. What talents they proved to be, with the added bonus of all being personality-plus – they may be stars of the future, so keep your eyes and ears open! The fourth movement Fugue finale from Ernest Bloch’s Concerto Grosso No. 1 was scintillating. It was this listener’s favorite on a program that had much that was excellent. The audience gave them an extended standing ovation. This was one of the finest high school string orchestras that this reviewer can recall hearing in sometime.

An encore of the Temptations’ classic song My Girl had the audience clapping along in rhythm and was a joyful end to this well-presented evening of music. Congratulations to all!

Distinguished Concerts Orchestra, Distinguished Concerts Singers International

Jonathan Griffith, Artistic Director/Principal Conductor

Pepper Choplin, composer/conductor

Randol Bass, DCINY composer-in-residence

Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

November 18, 2018

The holiday season is upon us, in what seems to be coming earlier and earlier each year. The retailers are already clamoring for shoppers with promises of “doorbusters” and other deals galore – it can be overwhelming even to the hardiest souls! With a nod to the “early” idea, Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) offered a pre-Thanksgiving Day concert on November 18^th entitled A Symphony of Carols, featuring the music of Pepper Choplin and Randol Bass. The commercial aspect was nowhere to be found, as this was a concert focused on the original concept of Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Singers from Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Canada, and “individual singers from around the globe” made up the choruses of the Distinguished Concerts Singers International.

Pepper Choplin took the podium to conduct the first half, which consisted of two of his works, Come, Emmanuel, and Christmas Presence (World Premiere). This is Mr. Choplin’s sixth appearance with DCINY. I have written about Mr. Choplin multiple times, but I will simply restate that he pairs an outsized personality with the strong spiritual faith that is a hallmark of his compositions.

Come, Emmanuel is a bright three-minute work for chorus and orchestra filled with joy at the anticipation of the birth of Christ. It is what the composer calls a “simple motet” – but with a “surprise ending.” It was an upbeat opener, with the surprise ending being (spoiler alert) an enormous shout of “Come!” by the chorus.

Christmas Presence is a thirty-minute, eight-movement work. About the title, the program notes state, “In this work the concept of being present weaves throughout the music and narration [and] presents a challenge to experience Christmas in God’s presence and the presence of those around us” (italicized words are in the text of the notes). This is a high ideal and one that I do believe Mr. Choplin did aspire to in his composition.

The diction of the chorus was remarkable. Each word was crystal clear, so that while the listener had the texts available, they were completely unnecessary. This is rare experience. All credit is due to both Mr. Choplin’s skill in vocal writing and the superb preparation of the chorus. Special mention goes to soloist Renee Calvo, whose lovely voice filled the hall in the sixth movement, Still They Are Here (at Christmastime).

As well as being a composer, Mr. Choplin is a dynamic conductor who energized both orchestra and chorus into giving it their utmost. Every movement had so much emotion that one could not help thinking that each one could easily be used as a stand-alone piece. That said, this listener must express some reservations. There was a need for more contrast from selection to selection, and there was what seemed to be a planned formula of climaxes. I am a huge fan of tonal music, but when it is unrelentingly consonant and sweet, it quickly becomes featureless, and when climaxes are so frequent, one risks sounding trite.

Whatever reservations this listener had were not shared by the large audience, who cheered loudly after each movement, and rewarded Mr. Choplin and the musicians with a standing ovation at the end. Mr. Choplin knows his audience well. If his goal is to please them, then one must admit that he was highly successful.

After intermission, Randol Bass joined Jonathan Griffith for an impromptu conservation about Ms. Bass’s works being played this evening. Like Mr. Choplin, Mr. Bass has a big personality, paired with a modest, self-effacing sense of humor enjoyed by all; on a serious note, however, Maestro Griffith told the audience that he wished to dedicate the second half of the concert to the memory of Mr. Bass’s mother, who recently passed away.

The half opened with Gloria, which is probably the most frequently performed of Mr. Bass’s works. When asked about it, he joked about it being short (seven minutes) and being used as program filler. He’s being far too modest – Gloria is a dynamic work, filled with rhythmic vitality, and also playable by a large variety of ensembles of wide-ranging abilities. It was a rousing start.

The World Premiere of Carols from a Victorian Fireside (movements two and three) followed. As Mr. Bass related in his talk, the melodies for this work come from the pen of Sir Arthur Sullivan (yes, that Sir Arthur Sullivan). Mr. Bass came upon these melodies while exploring a website dedicated to Sullivan – they were intended for a larger work that was never completed, sketches of which only exist in a facsimile of Sullivan’s handwriting. Mr. Bass took these sketches and orchestrated them with chorus. The first, Christmas Bells at Sea was a ballad that was probably more Bass than Sullivan, but the second, The Marquis de Mince- Pie/Care is all Fiddle-dee-dee, was as if the spirit of Sir Arthur channeled directly from the pen of Mr. Bass. It was a delightful romp that was the highlight of the evening for this listener, all the more remarkable as I do not care for Gilbert and Sullivan in the least! Bravo, Mr. Bass!

Yet one more World Premiere followed, Laus Nativitatis. This combined two well-known Latin Texts, Hodie Christus Natus Est (Christ is Born Today) and O Magnum Mysterium (O, Great Mystery). It is filled with that exuberance and rhythmic vitality that is a hallmark of Mr. Bass’s style, but it is also harmonically interesting, with highly chromatic writing. The chorus was at times covered by the orchestra, but the overall effect was excellent. This work has the same potential for popularity as Gloria.

Symphony of Carols, in the form of a four-movement choral symphony, closed the concert. Each movement took a traditional carol, sung first in the original language (French, Catalan, German, and Latin), and then repeated in English translation. Mr. Bass dedicated this work to John Williams, and it has a certain similarity to Williams’ style. The familiar sounds of Stille Nacht and Adeste Fidelis filled the hall with Christmas cheer, as Maestro Griffith led with his customary steady hand. It was a fine ending to a night of joy and celebration.

Distinguished Concerts Orchestra; Distinguished Concerts Singers International

Patrick Hawes, composer/conductor

Paul Mealor, composer/conductor

Diana McVey, soprano; Scott Joiner, tenor

Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

November 11, 2018

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the guns that had raged for four years fell silent. The Great War (what we later called World War One) was over. One hundred years later commemorations of those millions of lives lost take place in ceremonies throughout the world. At Carnegie Hall in New York City, Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presented a concert entitled The Great War: Commemorating 100 Years, featuring two United States premieres, Patrick Hawes’ The Great War Symphony and Paul Mealor’s Requiem: The Souls of the Righteous. It was a meaningful way to pay tribute to the memories of the fallen during this centennial anniversary.

The Distinguished Concerts Singers International had choruses hailing from Connecticut, Kansas, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Wisconsin, Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, and “individual singers from around the globe.” Soloists Diana McVey (www.dianamcvey.com) and Scott Joiner (www.scottjoinertenor.com), both DCINY favorites, were present to lend their considerable talents.

Patrick Hawes (www.patrickhawes.com) took the podium to conduct the United States Premiere (Joint) of The Great War Symphony. Each movement covers one year of the war: I. Praeludium (1914-1915), II. March (1915-1916), III. Elegy (1916-1917), and IV. Finale (1917-1918). The conception is highly programmatic. The calm before the storm and steadfastness of duty of the first movement gives way to the horrors of battle in the second and to the disillusionment and despair of the third movement. The fourth and last movement expresses the final year of fighting, the silencing of the guns, and the heartache of paying tribute to those countless lives lost – with resolution never to forget the sacrifices. The Great War Symphony has a decidedly British (and Commonwealth) focus. One can hear the influences of the great British Composers (most notably Elgar, Holst, and Vaughan Williams) throughout. This is not at all surprising considering the origin of the commission in the United Kingdom and the fact that the losses were closer to home and more extensive in Britain than in the United States (where the history of World War One is often taught something like this: Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated, Europe goes to war, things bog down into trench warfare where neither side makes any progress, then the United States gets involved after the Lusitania is sunk -after waiting two years! – and suddenly it’s all over).

The texts were chosen with care, and Mr. Hawes provided good program notes that I hope will be available at the DCINY website, as they have usually posted programs in past concerts. Check this link : DCINY The Great War: Commemorating 100 Years.

At the beginning of the third movement, concertmaster Jorge Ávila played a violin that belonged to Herbert Simmons, who was killed in action at the Somme in 1916. “Uncle Bertie,” as he was called by his family, was an amateur violinist who dreamed of becoming a professional musician. His brother Lawrence kept the violin to remember him, and each generation that followed learned to play on it. The family allowed the violin to be brought to New York to be used in this performance.

Tenor Scott Joiner has a strong voice that can fill any hall. While his lyric gifts were abundantly displayed, it was his bitingly ironic tone in “The Song of the Mud” from the third movement that this listener enjoyed the most. Soprano Diana McVey sang with a poignant beauty as she gave voice to the heartache of mothers. daughters, wives and fiancées, not to mention the women who witnesses events first-hand.

The Great War Symphony is a work by a composer of craft and skill. It does not descend into sentimental tripe nor does it explode into cheap “war” bombast. This listener was engaged for the hour-long duration and thought, given the programmatic aspect, that adding a visual component (such as a projection of pictures from the war) would heighten the experience for many listeners, especially those with no real knowledge of World War One.

The chorus was well-prepared, with good balance and clear diction throughout, and the orchestra played with intense focus and energy. The audience gave Mr. Hawes a standing ovation for his fine work.

After intermission, Paul Mealor (www.paulmealor.com) took the stage to conduct the United States premiere of his Requiem: The Souls of the Righteous. This forty-minute, ten-movement work uses sections of the traditional Requiem mass with scripture from the King James Bible, and poems from Grahame Davis.

My colleague Frank Daykin wrote in an earlier review of Mr. Mealor that “if there ‘is’ a heaven, I want it to sound like the music of Paul Mealor.” One tends to understand why when listening to his Requiem – Mr. Mealor’s God is unfailingly compassionate, His judgment of souls is heavily tilted towards mercy, and all souls are worthy of Heaven. This work is filled with serene beauty from start to finish – even Fauré’s Requiem sounds fearsome in comparison!

There were numerous soloists (uncredited) from the chorus, all who did well in their featured roles, but special mention goes to one tenor, a very tall young man, who really filled the hall with his strong voice. The chorus was lovely, but one has to acknowledge that while they did excellent work, the “heavy lifting” was already done by the composer. The string orchestra was perfection in balance and ensemble.

The use of tuned wine glasses in the final movement (Lux aeterna: And let there be a Heaven) provided an ethereal effect that was enchanting. When the very last vibrations of the wine glasses slowly died away, one could feel the entire audience holding their breath as one. Then a loud and extended standing ovation followed, richly deserved.