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Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presents The Holiday Music of Eric Whitacre in Review

Eric Whitacre, composer/conductor; Kelly Yu-Chieh Lin, piano

Distinguished Concerts singers International; Distinguished Concerts Orchestra

Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

November 24, 2019

It does seem that each year the “holiday season” starts earlier and earlier; Halloween is barely in the rear-view mirror, Thanksgiving is still weeks away, and the retailers are all ready in full frenzy with “door busters” and deals galore. The early season also applies to concerts – today’s concert (November 24th) is the second pre-Thanksgiving holiday concert presented by Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY). Entitled “The Holiday Music of Eric Whitacre,” with choruses from Georgia, Wisconsin, California, Ohio, New York, Maryland, Nevada, Florida, Mississippi, Maine, North Carolina, Connecticut, Arizona, New Jersey, United Arab Emirates, and “individual singers from around the globe,” it was an afternoon of holiday cheer delivered with joy.

DCINY favorite Eric Whitacre (in his 18th appearance with DCINY) took to the stage. As I wrote in an earlier review, “Eric Whitacre is a true force of nature – Grammy-winning composer, conductor, public speaker, and evangelist for the cause of music. He is one of the most charismatic people in any field this reviewer has seen in action.” One is reminded of Oscar Levant’s famous quip about George Gershwin: “A concert with Eric Whitacre is an Eric Whitacre concert.” This is not to take anything away from the performers, but simply to remark on the infectious enthusiasm of Mr. Whitacre; one cannot help being drawn in by this dynamic personality.

The program itself was a mixture of traditional selections and holiday favorites, interspersed with the music of Mr. Whitacre (not all of which could be considered conventional “holiday,” but vive la différence). Interested readers can view the program by following this link: The Holiday Music of Eric Whitacre. This is not a concert about which a reviewer fills the page with criticisms of singers not properly forming vowels and such matters, but rather takes in the experience for what it is intended to be – a celebration of music by singers of all ages and abilities giving their very best and having the time of their lives doing so.

The standards Carol of the Bells and O Christmas Tree got the concert off to a good start. The intonation was commendable for such a large ensemble, and one got the impression that Mr. Whitacre was coaxing magic from them. The first piece on the program by Mr. Whitacre, little tree (text by E.E. Cummings), followed. With the childlike innocence of the text, combined with poignancy of the music, this piece tugs at the heartstrings.

Vince Guaraldi’s Christmas Time is Here (with lyrics by Lee Mendelson), from the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas, featured the Avondale Children’s Choir, in an arrangement by Robert Sterling that avoided those “nails-on-the-chalkboard” moments of the television version. It was delightful to hear and see these talented youngsters give such a polished performance. Great job!

Mr. Whitacre’s The Boy Who Laughed at Santa Claus, with text from Ogden Nash, ended the first half. It’s the story of Jabez Dawes, who, let’s just say, was not a very good boy. He delighted in telling all that there is no Santa Claus, but got his come-uppance delivered by Saint Nick himself! As is typical with Nash, the wordplay is hilarious. Today’s performance was the World Premiere of the orchestrated version (roughly twenty players). This is Mr. Whitacre at his whimsical best, in the vein of his early work for wind ensemble, Godzilla Eats Las Vegas!. There are quotes from Carol of the Bells, Joy to the World, and other snippets interwoven (and I detected even a small hint of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3!) with highly imaginative music bringing the text alive. I was reminded of the movies of Tim Burton throughout, and this story is right up his street. If Mr. Burton ever wanted to bring this to the screen, the music is ready to go!

The second half, with all new choruses on stage, began with an old favorite, Mr. Whitacre’s Lux Aurumque. The close intervals were rendered with refinement, and the intonation was solid as well. It was a lovely way for the chorus to settle in.

Mr. Whitacre’s Winter (text by Edward Esch) is a work that Mr. Whitacre mentioned he has not heard performed in nearly twenty years. This might be due to a prominent role for sitar, playing a specific raga (Desh). It’s a fascinating work that joins the sounds of Western and Indian music together seamlessly. Serene and atmospheric, it gives the listener the sensation of floating without ever really leaving the ground. One hopes there is not another two-decade gap before hearing it again!

Glow (text by Edward Esch) was written by Mr. Whitacre for a light-show attraction at Disneyland’s California Adventure theme park. It’s also a part of Mt. Whitacre’s Virtual Choir project, where singers from around the world record themselves, send it to Mr. Whitacre, and those thousands of individual recordings are joined together. Mr. Whitacre said this project had over 8000 singers from 120 countries! For those people who can’t make it to Anaheim, click the following link to enjoy the show: Glow. The concert hall version was quintessential Whitacre – the maximum effect with the simplest of means. Kudos to the chorus for a beautiful performance.

About the other (non-Whitacre) selections on this half: Winter Wonderland and Lully, Lulla, Lullay were charming. Brightest and Best, with fiddle solo, had an Appalachian flavor that filled the hall with energy. Silent Night was an unconventionally low-key ending to a DCINY concert, but it was a thoughtful reminder that the real meaning of the season is not all about hoopla. The audience gave their stars a standing ovation.

by Jeffrey Williams for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

AGP Agency New York Presents Kristóf Baráti, Bence Szepesi, and Éva Polgár, in Review

Kristóf Baráti, Violin; Bence Szepesi, Clarinet; Éva Polgár, Piano

Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Sunday November 24^th was quite a day for the clarinet in New York, as this musician found herself assigned to review two excellent clarinet concerts within hours of each other. The first concert of the afternoon, at Zankel Hall, was actually a chamber program featuring Hungarian clarinetist Bence Szepesi, whom I had had the pleasure of hearing and reviewing favorably for New York Concert Review last September, as he kicked off a year of touring with a Weill Hall recital (Bence Szepesi in Review). Mr. Szepesi’s Zankel appearance Sunday marked the end of his touring year with a program of Khachaturian, Schumann, Brahms, and Bartók, duos and trios that corralled the talents of two compatriots, violinist Kristóf Baráti and pianist Éva Polgár. All three have fine credentials, awards, international performances, and recordings, and under the aegis of the AGP Agency they gave us a remarkable afternoon of music.

Starting with strength is usually a good idea, and this trio did just that with the Trio in G minor for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano (1932), an early masterpiece of Aram Khachaturian. One simply doesn’t hear this trio every day, so it was a treat to reacquaint oneself with it in the capable hands of these three musicians. They showed a strong affinity for its emotional power and seemed to revel in the exotic atmosphere and winding ornamented phrases that reflect the composer’s own Armenia, along with Uzbek and other folk influences.

Mr. Szepesi sustained his long, luscious lines with effortless fluidity, as one could expect from the last recital, but the pleasant surprise here was the violinist Mr. Baráti, whom this listener had never heard, despite his very active performing life. Mr. Baráti’s tone has a sweetness that surely owes a partial debt to his very special instrument, the 1703 “Lady Harmsworth” Stradivarius (an instrument so inspiring to him that he in fact named his 2016 disc of encores “The Soul of Lady Harmsworth”). No violin plays itself, of course, and Mr. Baráti showed musicianly instincts at every turn. He and Mr. Szepesi melded beautifully, and the Khachaturian, with its intertwining lines was the perfect match for them. Ms. Polgár was exemplary in her handling of the piano part. She established a hypnotic tone for the first movement, maintained a solid framework for the highly rhapsodic writing, was precise in what were sometimes torrents of passagework, and skillfully effected decisive tempo changes for the three (as in the last movement). One could hardly imagine performers better suited to this work than these three.

Following the Khachaturian came Schumann, his Drei Fantasiestücke (Op. 73), for clarinet and piano. These were well performed overall, though this listener sensed that the comfort level was not as great here as in the Khachaturian. From the opening, which Schumann marks Zart und mit Ausdruck (Tender and with expression), the measured tempo seemed to convey reticence rather than intimacy. Such reactions are of course personal, but one wondered whether the duo of Polgár and Szepesi had yet reached a true meeting of the minds. The second piece, Lebhaft, leicht (Lively, light) achieved just the right breeziness – with the pianist even approximating a reedy sound herself – but the third piece, Rasch und mit Feuer (Quick and with fire) found doubts returning. What one usually thinks of as impulsiveness in this movement verged on skittishness here, and sure enough (as technical ease does often match interpretive decisiveness) there were glitches. All ended with brio, though, even if – to this listener – the final moments had a bit too much dispatch and almost a Mozartean lightness.

This listener, though always hoping to enjoy all performances, was braced to dislike the next work on the program, as one read that it was to be a clarinet-piano arrangement (by Bence Szepesi) of the eternally loved Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118, No. 2 for piano by Brahms, a work that stands in perfection with no adornment or adaptation; to my great surprise, however, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Mr. Szepesi’s arrangement showed good fidelity to the score, with the added virtue that all of Brahms’s singing phrases had the penetrating and sustained sound for which pianists strive. The duo played it with great sensitivity. Ms. Polgár gets kudos for the restraint needed to play such arrangements without diving into the original – she supported the clarinet in perfect balance.

A strong finish was in store at this point, as the trio took on Bartók’s exciting Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano (1938-40). The three gave it an energetic ride, each player making child’s play out of the wild ranges, runs, cadenzas, and brilliant passagework. The first movement, Verbunkos (Recruiting Dance), found Mr. Szepesi in especially fine form with its virtuoso demands. The second movement, Pihenő (strangely: Relaxation) found all three united in a conception of mysterious simmering, as the music invites with its eerie trills and sense foreboding. The third and final movement Sebes (Fast Dance) was stunningly played by all three in impressive synchronization through lightning fast runs and imitative patterns. Mr. Baráti’s technique was stellar in the cadenza.

The Contrasts are always a revelation to hear, with many jazzy elements, including an opening movement that Bartók himself admitted owes a debt to the Blues movement of Ravel’s Sonata No. 2. Its history is fascinating as well. It was composed in response to a letter from the great Hungarian violinist Joseph Szigeti, though ultimately commissioned by legendary clarinetist Benny Goodman. Goodman and Szigeti gave it the premiere with Bartók at the piano in Carnegie Hall in 1940 (before there was a Zankel Hall), As one listened to this Sunday’s trio (which perhaps deserves a name if they wish to continue as a group), one couldn’t help thinking that they should give the work a repeat performance on its 80^th anniversary in 2020. Bravi tutti!

by Rorianne Schrade for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Wa Concerts presents Wind and Fire in Review

The New York Licorice Ensemble: clarinetists Ayako Oshima, Akari Yamamoto, Michiyo Suzuki, Ikuko Tsukamoto, Fusayo Oike, Yumi Ito, Chie Matsuura, Saerom Kim

Tenri Cultural Institute, New York, NY

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Just when one cannot imagine Wa Concerts getting any more delicious, they do, and this past weekend they offered Licorice, not the confection, but the delightful assemblage of clarinetists known as the New York Licorice Ensemble (though knowing Wa there was probably some of that confection around too, as they offer a veritable feast to the audience after each concert). The New York Licorice Ensemble, named for the instrument’s jazz-age sobriquet “licorice stick,” is composed of thirteen award-winning clarinetists, of whom we heard eight (all female) on this occasion, led by founder-director Ayako Oshima. Nine of the ensemble’s clarinetists live in Japan, while four live in New York, but they have toured widely and recorded on the Penguin Record and NAR labels in Japan. This concert was your reviewer’s first hearing of them, but one trusts there will be many more, as they seem destined for larger audiences than what the intimate Tenri space can hold (to read more about them visit: The New York Licorice Ensemble.

The program “had us at hello” with George Gershwin’s ever-popular Three Preludes (1926), originally for piano but arranged here by Satoshi Ipponjima for E-flat Clarinet, five B-flat clarinets, and two bass clarinets. The sultry opening of the Prelude No. 1 was delivered winningly by the leader, Ms. Oshima, and the subsequent syncopated basses were so delightfully raunchy that one almost laughed out loud – it didn’t hurt that several performers moved expressively to the rhythms, particularly Ms. Suzuki whose “dance partner” here was a glorious bass clarinet that she handled with panache, despite it being around her own height. The semicircle of these varied instruments, played with varied styles by women of all different ages, was an almost Seussian spectacle, and the energy of the players was infectious.

As anyone who has played this Gershwin set knows, some musical challenges lie in the bluesy Prelude No. 2, which contrasts freely improvisatory outpourings over a bass that is steady to the point of obtuseness. This ensemble nailed it, with Ms. Oshima projecting plaintiveness, urgency, and surrender in her lines, and the accompanying clarinetists staying with her but without yielding to excessive empathy. The contrasting middle section was just right too. The third and final Prelude took off with fire, finishing the set to great applause – a great start to the program.

The next selection, on a more serious note, was Mozart’s Adagio in B-Flat major (1783-4), for 2 clarinets and 3 basset horns, K. 411, one of the sublime creations that reflects Mozart’s love of these instruments. All five parts were performed in beautiful balance, with a transparency that illuminated each suspension and allowed even the slightest accompanying figures to live and breathe without overwhelming the rest. This ensemble is composed of superb musicians, and they clearly work exceptionally well together with Ms. Oshima’s inspirational leadership.

Elliott Carter’s Canonic Suite for 4 clarinets (1939) followed in three movements, Fanfare, Nocturne, and Tarantella. In keeping with the tradition of commentary that helps make Wa concerts so interesting, Charles Neidich (Wa’s Artistic Director and husband of Ms. Oshima) introduced the work with some background, including a quotation from the Carter that “writing these canons was so complicated that I never did it again.” The musicians navigated this complexity with ease, in tightly knit performances. Moments seemed a bit too bright for Tenri’s very resonant space, but it was otherwise a fascinating addition to the program.

The first half ended with pairings based on the Japanese folk song Kokiriko, the first one for six players by Satoshi Ipponjima (b. 1986) entitled Minimal de KOKIRIKO (2015), and not surprisingly filled with minimalist elements. Though starting as a relaxed warmly harmonized folk setting, it moved to fast perpetual motion repeated patterns, which the ensemble handled with amazing synchronization. The second Kokiriko setting, for seven players and entitled Sasara Kokiriko (2015), was by Ginka Mizuki, whom Ms. Oshima described coyly as a “mystery composer” that only the ensemble’s Michiyo Suzuki knows well (as in “alter ego” well). It was good to hear a work from one who knows this ensemble’s capabilities, and the piece was a joy, from its rather formal opening through to its syncopated and improvisatory dance section. One hopes to hear more from Ms. Mizuki.

After intermission, we heard another pairing based on Japanese folk song, starting with Mount Semba Fantasy for seven instruments by Yuriko Keino (b. 1956) and moving to Simultaneous Variations for six instruments by Lukas Ligeti (b. 1965, and the son of composer György Ligeti). The Keino piece we were told was meant to evoke images of the playful Raccoon Dog, an important entity in Japanese mythology and folklore, and that spirit of play certainly emerged (with the help of percussive water bottles and other inventive touches). The Simultaneous Variations marked this reviewer’s first encounter with the younger Ligeti’s music, but one was struck by its light spirit. It showed a clever inventiveness that invites a listener to further explore this next Ligeti generation.

A return to Mozart followed, the heavenly Adagio K. 580a (1789). At the time of Mozart’s death two years after it was begun, this Adagio remained unfinished, and though numerous completions have been made in various instrumentations (Angerer, Beyer, Lucarelli, Renz, etc.), we heard here a masterful one for clarinet and 3 basset horns by none other than Wa’s own Director and clarinetist extraordinaire, Charles Neidich. It was a memorable journey to hear and beautifully played.

The program concluded with Mr. Neidich’s Chi-lai (2013), a work written for 12 instruments but revised for this occasion’s eight instruments, including five B-flat clarinets, two bass clarinets and an E-flat clarinet. Fighting one of the season’s wonderful colds, this listener couldn’t quite catch all of Mr. Neidich’s verbal description of the piece, but the music was intriguing and certainly evoked growing power, with textures ranging from chirping seconds to giant masses of sound, as perhaps only such a master of this instrument could create. One reservation was that (despite one’s cold) the high sounds were piercing to an overwhelming degree in this very live space, necessitating some covering of the ears – eight clarinets at full volume may in fact be too much for the Tenri space, but one looks forward to a second hearing with all the circumstances ideal.

Quibbles aside, Wa put together another resounding success, and once again, as if to put mere mortals to shame, the evening’s star clarinetist herself, Ayako Oshima, had prepared a magnificent buffet supper to follow. How it was all possible one can’t even guess, but perhaps the audience will figure it out at the next Wa concert, December 8: Wa Concert Series .

by Rorianne Schrade for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Pro Musicis presents Catherine Gregory in Review

Catherine Gregory, flute; David Kaplan, piano; Mihai Marcia, cello; Ian David Rosenbaum, marimba

Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

November 21, 2019

What a pleasure it is to attend a performance by a stellar musician who brings to her performance a lifetime of practice, study, thought, imagination, and scrupulously arranges every detail. The more I consider Catherine Gregory’s flute recital, the more impressed I find myself.

She began with Charles-Marie Widor’s Suite for Flute and Piano, Op. 34- a perfect opener. Flute-playing enjoyed a golden age in Paris in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and there was a group of composers who wrote pieces to challenge and showcase the virtuosity of the players. One of the most interesting of these composers was Widor (1844-1937). Now known mostly for his organ compositions (he was a famous performer on that instrument ), he also wrote operas, symphonies, and other vocal and instrumental music. The Suite starts in a most unusual manner. A strikingly dissonant beginning makes the piece sound as if it was written long after 1884, the year of its premiere. Soon, however, it settles into a gentle tune, followed by a more animated section, and then returns to the graceful mood of the first section. I was particularly taken with the third movement, Romance: Andantino, whose lyrical beauty which shows the flute in all its glory. To show off the flutist’s technical skills, the last movement, with its rapid triplet 16th notes, first loud, then very soft, did the trick. Having convinced us of her tone, technique, intonation, and phrasing with a typical showpiece of the old school, Ms. Gregory moved on to the very new – Steady Gaze, by Timo Andres (b.1985). Mr. Andres wrote, “Steady Gaze is a catalogue of hundreds of different ways – from offhand to effusive – of saying the same thing.” This piece contains some beautiful moments and deserves to enter the repertoire.

Having presented both the old and the new, Ms. Gregory chose to end the first half with a work from the late twentieth century’s now rather passé avant garde. In 1971, George Crumb’s music was quite the rage. His wide use of extended techniques, electronics, lighting, even his themes (whales in this case) fit in with the happenings, psychedelics, and general mayhem of the years which succeeded the rigidity of the 1950’s. I didn’t expect to see him revived, but who knows? Hindemith was recently resurrected at a well-attended concert of the New York Philharmonic, something I certainly didn’t anticipate. Crumb’s Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale) for Three Masked Players (Electric Flute, Electric Cello, and Amplified Piano) rounded out the first half. First, the lone stagehand moved the bells, microphones, speakers, and blue lights into place. The performers then entered wearing black masks, which reminded me of those worn in old cowboy movies. But according to Crumb, “the masks, by effacing the sense of human projection, are intended to represent, symbolically, the powerful impersonal forces of nature.” The piece began with Ms. Gregory’s combined singing and flute-playing, that is, vocalizing as she played. Although I have never really cottoned to this technique, which to me only diminishes the beauty of both instruments, Ms. Gregory did it well and with great conviction. Whether or not it actually sounded like a whale, as was Crumb’s stated intention, is something I am not qualified to say. The piece, which consisted of Vocalise, Sea Theme with five variations, and Sea Nocturne (…for the end of time), went on a little too long for me, but it did contain some captivating moments. The whoosh of the stroked piano strings was highly evocative of ocean waves, and Mihai Marica’s skillful execution of the very high cello part was eerily effective. There was also some fine whistling. I’m not sure who did it (the blue-lit stage was too dark to see clearly), but I think it was Ms. Gregory. Whistling! Now there’s a neglected instrument!

After intermission, Ms. Gregory showed a fine stroke of inspiration. As she emerged from the back of the hall, she said, “Imagine you are in Arcadia,” and went on tell the story of Debussy’s Syrinx. One of the greatest pseudo-improvisations in all of music, this piece sounds different with every player. The trick is to convince the audience that you really are making it up on the spot. Ms. Gregory did this, and her performance was enhanced not only by her introduction, but also by her walking down the aisle as she played, and then gracefully sitting on the edge of the stage towards the end.

Next came Kembang Suling (Flute of Flowers) for Flute and Marimba, by Gareth Farr (b.1968.) What a perfect pairing! The marimba is intrinsically a much more compatible partner for the flute than the piano, the harpsichord, or even the harp. (Composers take note!) Ian David Rosenbaum is, like all the performers on this concert, a virtuoso. His ensemble with Ms. Gregory was uncanny to point that one wasn’t always sure which instrument was playing which note. The piece exploited this lovely union while imitating Balinese gamelan music, the sound of the Japanese shakuhachi (a kind of flute), and the complex rhythms of South Indian music.

Prokofiev’s famous, and famously difficult, Sonata in D major, Op. 94 ended the concert. It was refreshing to hear the fine David Kaplan play with full force and no hint of pussyfooting around to make way for the flute. Ms. Gregory and Mr. Kaplan nailed every virtuoso passage and played the entire piece with heroic abandon. The encore was Fauré’s Morceau de Concours. It couldn’t have been played more beautifully.

by Barrett Cobb for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presents “Sing! Christmas Dreams” in Review

Joseph M. Martin composer/conductor; Heather Sorenson, DCINY composer-in-residence/pianist

Mary McDonald, composer/conductor; Joel Raney, DCINY composer-in-residence/pianist

Sarah Holloway, soprano; Matt Cahill, David John Hailey, baritones

Distinguished Concerts Orchestra; Distinguished Concerts Singers International

Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

November 17, 2019

In front of a large and most enthusiastic audience, Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presented Sing! Christmas Dreams, one of their annual massed chorus extravaganzas. The performers were the highly skilled Distinguished Concerts Orchestra, under the direction of two different conductors, and the Distinguished Concerts Singers International, three large choruses drawn from thirty-nine church choirs in the United States, one Community Chorus from Canada, plus about 10 unaffiliated choristers from around the globe. In total there were approximately 250 choral singers in each of the three choruses. And a glorious mighty sound did they each make!

First some words about the music. At a concert called Sing! Christmas Dreams, one does not expect music that will make very many demands on the listener. The music is expected to be uplifting and accessible, and so it was this evening. Most works utilized a simple harmonic vocabulary and, until the concert’s final work, little or no polyphony. Many used the pop-music cliché of modulating up a half step to increase the impact of a repeat of music and text. Save for the very large performing forces, what we heard would not be out of place on Broadway or in Las Vegas. This is not meant to be taken as a criticism. It is just a description of what this reviewer heard.

The concert was divided into three parts, each featuring a different chorus. The first third was devoted to the New York Premiere of Christmas Dreams – A Cantata of Peace and Hope by Joseph M. Martin and Heather Sorenson. Mr. Martin was also the energetic conductor, and Ms. Sorenson joined the orchestra as pianist. The cantata had seven movements preceded by a short overture. The fifth movement, The Magi’s Epiphany, featured the fine baritone Matt Cahill. My notes on the sixth movement, Christmas Dreams, included “music all sounds alike.”

Although the following admonition appeared in the printed program below the list of movements: “Please hold yourapplause until the end of the piece,” the audience applauded after each movement. Didn’t I say that they wereenthusiastic? And well they might be- a large part of the audience was made up of family and friends of the choral singers who came from far and wide to perform in this concert. Throughout this work, and during the rest of the concert, the choruses sang beautifully. All three choruses produced a lovely sound and sang with perfect intonation. My only reservation had to do with their diction. I could understand the words they were singing only when they sang Christmas Carols with which I was acquainted. Final consonants were especially unclear. This is often a problem with large choruses. The Distinguished Concerts Orchestra played with the high level of technical skill and fine musicianship one has grown to expect from this excellent ensemble. After intermission, we heard Sing Christmas! by Mary McDonald and Joel Raney, a forty-two-minute composition consisting of four Suites with three movements in each. Again, the composers served as conductor (Ms. McDonald) and pianist (Mr. Raney.) The second movement of the Suite II, Sing Noel!, stood out with its syncopated Jamaican rhythm and flavor. The third movement, Tell Out, My Soul!, featured soprano Sarah Holloway and baritone David John Hailey. As in many other works on this concert, Sing Christmas! incorporated traditional Christmas carols and songs in the newly composed compositions. I did question the strange harmonization of the simplest of carols, Silent Night, in Suite III’s second movement, and of the 6/8 arrangements of four carols in Suite IV’s last movement. I found the latter jarring.

After a rather long pause, we heard the evening’s final work, composer and conductor Joseph M. Martin’s Christmas Evergreens. Of course, when seeing this title, one immediately thinks of pine trees. But a clarifying note by Mr. Martin states “Christmas Evergreens is a menagerie of classic and best-selling holiday songs to set hearts jingling with joy and Christmas spirit.” Thesaurus synonyms for evergreen include ageless, classic, ever popular, immortal, and old time favorite. The few “best-selling holiday songs” in Mr. Martin’s composition really do not fit the definition of “evergreen,” or of its synonyms, and the mention of “best-selling” highlights the unfortunate commercialization of this religious holiday. A better phrase might have been “newly composed.” It is possible that, in the future, these works may become “evergreens.” I will choose one of the afore mentioned synonyms to say that Mr. Martin often cleverly combined “ever popular” melodies in one of the evenings few uses of polyphony.

The conclusion of the concert was met by long and heartfelt applause. It was well deserved. There are few things more exciting than the sound of large amateur choruses. Tonight’s choruses were well prepared back home by their many conductors and sang with great skill and enthusiasm under tonight’s two directors. They had the opportunity to sing in one of the world’s great concert halls, and they, their family and friends got a chance to visit one of the world’s greatest cities. Thanks to DCINY for making this possible.

by Harry Saltzman for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Vissi D’arte management presents Tamara Radjenović and Djordje Nesić in Review

Tamara Radjenović, soprano; Djordje Stevan Nesić, piano

Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

November 9, 2019

On November 9^th the twenty-four-year-old Montenegrin soprano Tamara Radjenović, accompanied by Djordje Nesić, gave an unusual and rather uneven recital of mostly opera arias. When I saw the printed program, I was taken aback. I asked the usher where the texts and translations were. “This is all there is,” I was told. It is considered a given that at vocal recitals the texts and translations of all the songs on the program are distributed along with the program. I personally think that this should be the case even when the songs are in English, but not to do so for songs in a foreign language is unacceptable. In addition, we are usually supplied with program notes, which were missing. Ms. Radjenović’s biography was full of grammatical errors and awkward wording.

The program listed the first song as Sposa son disprezzata by Vivaldi. No information was given about the opera in which the aria appears. My investigation revealed that it is part of a pasticcio (an opera consisting of music by many composers) compiled by Vivaldi and entitled Bajazet. A Wikipedia article states that Sposa son disprezzata was composed by Geminiano Giacomelli for his opera Merope. However, another source claims the composer was Francesco Gasparini. In any case, it was not by Vivaldi! I found this aria to be a surprising choice for the beginning of a recital, as one usually begins with something easily singable. Sposa son disprezzata, a slow and tragic aria sung by an abandoned wife, places great demands on breath control and dynamic contrast. Ms. Radjenović, a talented actor, was dramatically convincing. The vocal challenges, however, were somewhat beyond her.

The next selection was “Deh vieni non tardar” from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. This popular aria is well suited to Ms. Radjenović’s charming persona and youthful voice. The next two arias, Prendi, per me se libero from L’eliser d’amore by Donizetti and O! quante volte from Bellini’s I Capulete e i Montecchi, are well-known soprano warhorses, perhaps somewhat overly ambitious for the young Ms. Radjenović. There followed a pleasant and soothing rendition of Chopin’s Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp minor played by Mr. Nesić.

After intermission, Ms. Radjenović performed Quando me’n vo, from Puccini’s La Boheme. As her appearance suits this role, one could easily imagine her being cast in it at some future point. After all these operatic arias, this listener was glad to hear four works actually written for voice with piano accompaniment. The first three were by the Spanish composers Fernando Obradors and Joaquin Rodrigo. The last of the set, L’énamourée, by Reynaldo Hahn with its lovely simplicity, was particularly effective. Which brings me to my main reservation about this concert. Opera is the very most demanding technically of all vocal music. It demands that one’s vocal technique be fully in place. This is rarely the case when one is twenty-four years old. Even the most experienced opera singers, when giving a vocal recital, usually concentrate on music written originally for voice and piano. It is my opinion that Ms. Radjenović would have more success in performing art songs carefully selected to showcase her artistry as it now stands. Her present accomplishments are not slight. She imparts sincerity, vulnerability and true loveliness of sound in her middle range.

After the Hahn selection, Mr. Nesić continued in the soothing French realm with a beautiful rendition of Debussy’s Clair de Lune. The concert ended with a lively rendition of Je veux vivre from Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette. In response to a standing ovation, her encore was a lively rendition of Luigi Arditi’s waltz song “Il Bacio.”

by Barrett Cobb for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

An die Musik in Review

Constance Emmerich, Founder/piano; Mark Peskanov, violin; Nicholas Mann, viola;Thomas Demenga, cello; Robert Ingliss, oboe

Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Music Center, New York, NY

November 10, 2019

It seems almost impossible that forty-three (!) years ago, pianist Constance Emmerich founded a chamber ensemble called An die Musik (German: To Music, after the title of one of Schubert’s best-loved songs). The instrumentation of oboe, string trio, and piano permits a wide variety of program choices and sonorous variety. And here they are still (with a few changes of personnel along the way), playing to a sold-out house of admirers. This group of musicians has what I will dare to call “musical charisma,” in contrast to the “superstar” assemblages of big-name virtuosi who barely know each other and lack sufficient time to rehearse, playing on the same stage at the same time but without true collegiality. An die Musik is diametrically opposed to that, although its components are no slouches in the virtuoso department.

You know you’re at a conservatively programmed event when the outlier is Britten from 1951. Nevertheless, An die Musik’s enthusiastic, if somewhat elderly, following lapped it up, uttering great, deserved cheers. The players currently on the roster all have impressive pedigrees in contemporary music, and the ensemble has a wonderful list of commissions and adventurous programming—it might have been nice to hear some of that. I also would have liked to hear the oboe playing with the strings, and more piano-inclusive ensemble works.

The concert opened with an excerpt from one of Haydn’s great piano trios, the one in F-Sharp minor, Hob. XV/26, the same tonality as his “Farewell” symphony. But why play just the Adagio, beautiful as it is? Taken out of context, we lose the sense of an oasis between two extremely active, almost frantic movements. The Adagio is an unusual instance of self-borrowing in Haydn’s output, the melody having already appeared in his Symphony No. 102 in B-flat major from 1794. The mellow sonorities of the three players were a marvel, and their harmonic sensitivity was keen.

This was followed by the Bach/Marcello Adagio from BWV 974, played by cello and piano, from a keyboard transcription by Bach of an oboe concerto by Marcello. Although I am no youngster, I felt strangely hip in recognizing that the movement figured large in the 2015 soft-core film Fifty Shades of Grey. Thus, as rhapsodically played as it was by the superb Thomas Demenga on cello, with beautiful cushioned chords provided by Ms. Emmerich, it had for me an erotic subtext.

The concert continued with an excellent performance of a rarity, Benjamin Britten’s Six Metamorphoses After Ovid, for solo oboe, Op. 29 (1951). These brief programmatic works purport to illustrate six of the transformations in Ovid’s retelling of classic Greek myths: Pan, Phaeton, Niobe, Bacchus, Narcissus, and Arethusa. Somehow I think that if one didn’t know the titles, it wouldn’t matter, perhaps a good indicator for any “program” music. Robert Ingliss, the oboist, had great control, and Britten allows the listener to follow the thread by masterfully “metamorphosing” the opening melodic gambit of each movement with subtly developing variations upon each repetition. Even the perky moments are predominantly lyrical, sometimes ending with quizzical stops.

The first half concluded with a guaranteed barn-burner: the Handel/Halvorsen Passacaglia for violin and cello, another transcription, this time from a harpsichord suite by Handel. Mark Peskanov, violin, and Mr. Derenga reveled in its every complicated virtuoso turn with great characterization and collegial wit.

After intermission came the major work of the evening, Beethoven’s String Trio in G major, Op. 9 No. 1. A relatively early work (1797/98), it exhausts the possibilities of motivic development based on the interval of the third, even extending to the key relationship between the slow movement and the other three movements. Mr. Peskanov and Mr. Derenga were joined by the wonderful violist Nicholas Mann. Their phrasing and articulation were incandescent.

It is well known that Beethoven used to take long walks in the forests and countryside for inspiration, often with a sketchbook or at least some paper. He’d return to some of his motivic ideas obsessively, over a period of many years, even decades. I was able to hear that the opening theme of the Allegro in the first movement relates exactly (transposed) to the closing theme of the finale of his Piano Trio, Op. 1 No. 1. Also, the third movement, Scherzo, of this String Trio has a motto that will become the “Muss es sein?” (Must it be?) of his final string quartet, Op. 135! The excitement of the Presto conclusion was palpable.

There’s only one An die Musik concert in New York next year. A word to the wise: get your ticket(s).

by Frank Daykin for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Lynn Spurgat in Review

Lynn Spurgat,soprano; Jason Wirth, piano

Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

November 5, 2019

I can’t remember a concert that provided as much sheer fun as did the recital performed by Lynn Spurgat and Jason Wirth on November 5 in Zankel Hall. Ms. Spurgat loves nothing better than to have a good time and will spare no effort to assure that her listeners do too. No wonder she draws such large audiences! (See her review from last year in this publication-Lynn Spurgat in Review May 2, 2018) Along with the merriment was fine music-making and tonal beauty. Lynn Spurgat possesses a voice lined with velvet and a charming stage presence.

The program presented five sets of songs, each in a different language. We heard Italian, Russian, French, Spanish, and German. Four selections from Rossini’s Soirees Musicales began the program. Singers often like to begin a recital singing in Italian, as its vowel sounds are highly compatible with vocal production and get the voice into its “groove.” Probably due to nerves, a few of the pitches in the fast arpeggiated passages of the first song “La Pastorella dell’Alpi” were slightly off. Soon, however, Ms. Spurgat’s voice settled in. By the last song, “La Danza” the good times were rolling. This well-known song is a tarantella, whose words exhort people to dance. As the tempo accelerates it becomes increasingly excited. At the end are the words frinche, frinche, (faster, faster) and finally Mamma mia, si saltera (saltera means “will jump”). Ms. Spurgat milked it for all it was worth, raising her arms above her head at the end. The audience laughed and cheered. I hate to throw a wet blanket on such happiness, but I feel I must. After every song in the concert (with one exception – more about that later) the audience applauded. I understand this impulse, of course, but it really should be thwarted. We don’t pay money to listen to sound of clapping. The majority of concert-goers know to wait until the end of the set, but in this matter the minority wins out every time. Let’s start a movement to print the words “Please hold your applause until the end of each set of songs” in a prominent position on the program. Thomas Quasthoff used to make this request from the stage, to my delight.

The rest of the first half was devoted to six songs by Rachmaninoff. What a treat to hear these beautiful works. In this country conservatories make sure that singers are well versed in Italian, French, German, Latin, and sometimes Spanish. Even English diction must be studied. In addition a singer must acquire acting and presentation skills – movement and gesture. Most important, of course, are vocal and general musical skills. Performing the music of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev, et al. is no problem for instrumentalists, but for a singer it is a entirely different matter. There just isn’t time to do everything and learning Russian is no easy task. For this reason, the great Russian song repertoire is unjustly neglected by American singers. Her sumptuous voice sounded beautiful and her phrasing was just right for these passionate melodies.

I couldn’t wait for intermission to end to find out what new surprises lay in store. They weren’t long in coming. The audience gasped and applauded when Ms. Spurgat swept onto the stage in a different (and equally beautiful) gown, from the one she wore for the first half. This is common practice among divas, and I applaud it. The visual aspect of a concert is extremely important and having a new beauty upon which to rest the eyes is a joy. But this wasn’t all! Behind Ms. Spurgat came Mr. Wirth, looking dapper in a pink shirt and, as I recall, a vest and bow tie. Hurrah for sartorial equality! As they bowed together, the audience and performers shared a moment of happy laughter at this latest surprise.

Poulenc’s popular and frequently performed Banalités began the second half. Ms. Spurgat made the most of the rather broad Dada comedy of these pieces without crossing the line into over-acting. The fifth song of the set, “Sanglot,” (Sobs) is entirely different. It is full of genuine pathos and tragedy. The contrast with the silliness which precede it made it all the more heart-rending.

After the Poulenc we traveled to Argentina for Cinco Canciones Populares Argentinas by Ginastera. These songs, composed in the midst of political unrest in 1943, make wide use of folk elements and simple melodies, with dance, so often an element in the music of Latin America often stepping to the fore.

For the last set Ms. Spurgat and Mr. Wirth were joined by a chamber ensemble consisting of viola, flute (doubling on piccolo,) trumpet and percussion. Schoenberg’s Cabaret Songs were written in 1901, before his embrace of serialism. Unlike his later works, they are completely tonal and immediately accessible. They were arranged for this ensemble by Colin Britt. Mr. Wirth conducted from the piano. These songs gave Ms. Spurgat opportunities to make use of her well-managed chest voice. During “Bum, bum” of Langsamer Waltzer, she almost levitated. The audience began to applaud, but was shushed by a drum roll which segued into the last song. As soon as it ended, they sprang to their feet, clapping and whooping. I was the one lonely soul shouting the antiquated bravi.

I have spoken a great deal about Ms. Spurgat and now I must say some words about Jason Wirth. I have heard Mr. Wirth on several occasions and have always been highly impressed. He is a first-rate pianist, a musician of depth and knowledge, and a generous collaborator. A lively encore brought this entertaining evening to a happy close.

by Barrett Cobb for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

The Hilton Head International Piano Competition presents 2019 First Prize Winner Chaeyoung Park in Review

Chaeyoung Park, piano

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

October 27, 2019

A day of heavy windswept rain gave way to a lovely sunset, which seemed a symbol for the impressive, successful award recital by Chaeyoung Park, the latest first prize winner of the prestigious Hilton Head International Piano Competition. Only 22, Ms. Park (currently a Juilliard student) has already had numerous successes in the important competition scene, and appears regularly with orchestra and in chamber music.

Ms. Park’s program was thoughtful, focusing on rarely heard items—not the standard “debut” fare. The second half provided one repertory staple, to be discussed below. Her strengths, as shown on Sunday night, are: a refined ear for piano color, excellent use of pedaling to create sophisticated mixes of sound, total concentration, rock-steady technical means, and not a single note played without thought and feeling, while remaining spontaneous.

She opened with four pieces from Gyögy Ligeti’s Musica ricercata (1951/53, premiered 1969), that systematic exploration (ricercare: seeking) of every possibility for a work based on just one note (until the end), then two, then three, etc., until the eleventh piece gives us all twelve notes. It was banned from performance by the Soviets in the 1950s as too radical. Ms. Park chose two lively and two introspective pieces from the set, including the mournful memorial to Ligeti’s fellow countryman Béla Bartók, which connected nicely with the final work on the first half (see below). Her rendering of the fourth piece, a limping waltz “on a barrel organ” even seemed to relate to the Ravel that followed. In these brief but accessible works, Park immediately displayed her great personality, a characteristic that defined the whole night.

Following that, Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales (1911), a set of seven waltzes plus a nostalgic epilogue, was given a bold reading whose only fault was excessive rubato. This work, which meant a great deal to Ravel personally, has a score that abounds in descriptive terms such as avec une expression intense, très expressif, and even the dreaded word rubato. The trick is, however, to apply these nuances in two ways: 1) Only where indicated, and 2) Minimally. Henriette Faure, a pianist who was the first ever to present Ravel’s complete piano music in Paris in the early 1920s, and who was coached by the composer, relates what a “frightful burden” it was to work on these waltzes in particular with Ravel, that he was a “human metronome.” For some reason, Ms. Park omitted the obligatory repeat of the second section of waltz no. 4. Nevertheless, Ms. Park’s conviction carried the work. The seventh waltz, which Ravel regarded as the most characteristically Viennese, and the Epilogue were both ravishing.

The first half concluded with Bartók’s suite Out of Doors (1926), which Ms. Park admirably describes as “a recreation of the natural world, raw and undecorated.” Her ability to create sonic atmosphere at the keyboard was fully realized here, especially in the haunting evocation of nighttime in the fourth movement. She had the knack of organizing all of Bartók’s material into compelling emotion-containing phrases and groups. The score makes fierce demands dynamically, and I urge Ms. Park to consult the many recordings that the composer, a virtuoso pianist, made of his own works. Even when fortissimo is called for, he never sounds percussive. Some of her big dynamics were overplayed, though they were always part of her complete emotional commitment. This is not a “careful” competition winner, and Hilton Head is to be commended for consistently choosing such fine musicians.

After intermission came Brahms’ monumental Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5. This five-movement work strains at the boundaries of what a lone piano/pianist can do, so symphonic are its textures. Here, all of Ms. Park’s strengths were audible, especially a wonderful feeling for expansion, a stretching of the line for emotional heightening, and a mature ability to take her time. The slow movement is prefaced by several lines of romantic poetry that speak of “two hearts united in love,” and the entire sonata seems to speak of the many dimensions of that relation, including its demise. Perhaps for endurance’s sake, Ms. Park omitted the exposition repeat in the first movement, which “Brahms the classicist” would not have liked; though she did do the slow movement’s repeat of its first theme. Ms. Park was at her very best in the introspective “as softly and tenderly as possible” moments of the work, and the Intermezzo, subtitled a Rückblick (a look back), even showed Brahms as a proto-Impressionist. Ms. Park’s virtuosity was exciting as the fifth movement whirled to its huge close.

After a well-deserved standing ovation, Ms. Park favored the audience with a sweet encore by Gershwin/Wild: “Embraceable You,” which was played with exquisite voicing, subtlety, and an elegance that Earl Wild would surely have enjoyed.

by Frank Daykin for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Wa Concert Series presents Memory and the Expressiveness of Time in Review

Charles Neidich, clarinet; Vera Beths, violin; Mohamed Shams, piano

Friday, October 20, 2019 at 7:30pm

Tenri Cultural Institute, New York, NY

Wa Concerts, held at the Tenri Cultural Institute, are unique in their pairing of performances at the highest level with insightful musical and philosophical themes, all in an intimate environment that allows the audience to connect with the artists (and to enjoy gourmet offerings throughout the evening). For those of us lucky listeners who have been to one or more of these concerts, we may be getting spoiled, but the revelations continue.

Sunday’s concert, entitled “Memory and the Expressiveness of Time” was one such revelatory program. Its theme could have also related to Austria (with one lone work by German composer Sigfrid Karg-Elert) because most of the program was devoted to the Second Viennese School of music, Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern, with some Schubert representing the retronymic “First” Viennese School. As things stood, though, the chosen title drew the listener into what one could regard as a sort of expressionistic funhouse, each work inspiring meditation on music’s relation to time in intriguing ways.

Introductory comments from Charles Neidich (in his capacity as Director and curator of the Wa series) made reference to the fact that music exists in time, thus establishing the foundation for a program replete with more than the usual temporal illusions and memory manipulations, with phrases and structures appearing compressed, expanded, in retrograde, as palindromes, and so on. One could try to paraphrase, but one might risk doing a disservice to Mr. Neidich’s eloquence, not to mention growing dizzy in the effort! Suffice it to say that, once one has meditated on these phenomena, one listens rather differently.

The concert itself was superbly performed by the three featured musicians, clarinetist Charles Neidich, violinist Vera Beths, and pianist Mohamed Shams. The music began with Berg’s Vier Stücke, Op. 5, for clarinet and piano, played by Mr. Neidich with Mr. Shams at the piano. The duo captured these remarkable miniatures with vivid expressiveness and cohesion. Mr. Neidich, as ever, was one with the music in ways that impress it indelibly upon “the mind’s ear.” Mr. Shams, new to this reviewer, was simply outstanding throughout the evening in a string of wide-ranging challenges. He hails from Egypt, having studied in Cairo, then at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Scotland and the Manhattan School of Music, and he is currently on the faculty of the Hartt School of Music. He has performed widely as soloist and chamber musician and has been winner of numerous distinctions; his greatest distinction, however, is his playing itself, and what this reviewer heard from him reflected keen intellect, sensitivity, and commitment – all of which should keep him much in demand in contemporary music circles.

Schubert’s Violin Sonata in A Major, D. 574 followed, featuring violinist Vera Beths in collaboration with Mr. Shams. Ms. Beths is a veteran of the international music scene, with a particularly strong background in contemporary music. She has premiered many violin concerti, including Isang Yun’s Third Violin Concerto and has collaborated as soloist with numerous distinguished conductors including Haitink, Kondrashin, and Maazel. She is currently Professor at The Royal Conservatory at The Hague and the Sweelinck Academy in Amsterdam and leads the prizewinning period instrument ensemble L’Archibudelli. Though her background certainly prepared one for her excellence in the Berg Kammerkonzert which closed the program, one was struck by her gracious ease in this sublime Schubert work. Of course, music is music, but not every violinist can move so seamlessly from the world of Schoenberg’s school to the music of Schubert – described by Schumann and Stravinsky in heavenly terms, as Mr. Neidich reminded us. The juxtaposition of the early and late Viennese styles was inspired, setting off Schubert’s particular elegance and pacing, and there was a beautiful conversational fluency between Ms. Beths and Mr. Shams.

After intermission we heard Webern’s very famous Variations, Op. 27 played by Mr. Shams. With acute focus and exceptional control, he played from memory, projecting this work’s concise expressiveness to a tee. One marveled at his grasp of this difficult music, but also at the accordion-like flexibility of musical time, as projected from composer to composer.

As if one needed still more food for thought, we heard a composer from the same era, Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877 – 1933), a student of Reinecke and largely known through works for organ and harmonium. Mr Neidich played his Sonata for Solo Clarinet Op. 110 and it was an extraordinary journey. Mr. Neidich draws a kaleidoscope of sounds from his clarinet, rendering each sound memorable in a way that is essential if one wants the listener to note interval patterns, for example the opening fifths and seconds that recur and appear in retrograde, and so on. It is always interesting to contemplate the role of memory in music, but first comes the act of making it memorable. It was.

The concert closed with Berg’s Adagio from the Kammerkonzert für Klavier und Geige mit 13 Bläsern (Chamber Concerto for Piano and Violin with 13 Wind Instruments), composed in 1925. The Adagio from it was arranged as a separate piece for trio by the composer and was premiered in 1927. The evening’s performers shone in the works expansively expressive gestures and phrases, and one was left wanting to hear it all again and meditate for several more hours. Bravi tutti!

by Rorianne Schrade for New York Concert Review; New York, NY