Alaria Chamber Ensemble in Review
Yuri Vodovoz, violin; David Oei, piano; Guest Artists Tzu-En Lee, viola; Julian Schwarz, cello; Donovan Stokes, double bass
Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
December 8, 2019
It was a great joy to anticipate the Alaria Chamber Ensemble’s recital at Weill Hall this past weekend, for several reasons – among them the programming itself. The inclusion of a premiere always heightens a listener’s interest (or ought to), and on this afternoon’s program there was to be the world premiere of Eric Ewazen’s Piano Trio No. 2, composed for the Alaria just this year. Surrounding the Ewazen premiere were powerful works by Arvo Pärt, Ernst von Dohnanyi, and Franz Schubert – in particular the ever-popular Quintet in A Major (“Trout”) for piano and strings – so a feast was in store.
The Alaria Chamber Music Program, as one reads in the printed program booklet, has been active since 1984, formerly in residence at Mannes College (The New School for Music), and has been offering master classes, coaching, and concerts at venues throughout the city. The principal performers on this occasion were Alaria board directors Yuri Vodovoz, violinist, and David Oei, a pianist who seems to be simply everywhere on the New York music scene these days. Excellent guest artists were violist Tzu-En Lee, cellist Julian Schwarz, and double bassist Donovan Stokes.
Before even a note was played, one received the impression that the Alaria is run as a well-oiled machine (one can learn more about them at www.alaria.org). A beautiful program booklet with helpful and thorough program notes by Lawrence Bein deserves mention, considering that we complain often enough about poor and patchy notes – or a complete lack of them. Words of introduction were spoken from the stage by Artistic Director Yuri Vodovoz and Chairman of the Board Peter Frank, and the audience learned that prior Alaria commissions have included works by Paul Schoenfield, Daniel Brewbaker, and Peter Schickele – an impressive enrichment of the chamber music repertoire.
Sunday’s program opened with Arvo Pärt’s elegiac work Mozart-Adagio for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1992) written in memory of the violinist Oleg Kagan, who died in 1990 at age 44. The work is quite haunting, framing and adorning, with dissonances and fragments, the Adagio movement of Mozart’s Piano Sonata K. 280. The trio played it with utter immersion, though at times for this listener the sound was a bit too live and “present” for the otherworldliness of the piece.
The perfect sound was achieved throughout Dohnanyi’s Serenade in C for string trio, Op. 10, played by Mr. Vodovoz with Tzu-En Lee and Julian Schwarz. This five-movement Serenade, composed 1902-4 when the composer was in his mid-twenties, is full of joy and energy, captured well by this ensemble. Each musician had his stunning moments – among them a ravishing viola line from Ms. Lee in the second movement Romanza and some honeyed lyricism from Mr. Vodovoz in the fourth movement Tema con Variazione – but one appreciated in a subtler, more cumulative way the musicianship of Mr. Schwarz, who was responsive in every moment, playing with a beautiful burnished tone when he came to the fore. The Serenade has its treacherous moments – among them the octaves in the frenetic and chromatic central Scherzo, where increasing efforts to match intonation perfectly tend to receive diminishing returns (as opposed to simply yielding to the motoric frenzy, scratchiness notwithstanding); in general, though, one savored Dohnanyi’s exuberance throughout, as these three musicians worked quite well together. Many moments found them melding into a vibrant collective sound, and they clearly delighted in the double-stops and energy of the Finale.
Eric Ewazen’s Piano Trio No.2 followed. This listener has appreciated Mr. Ewazen’s music since hearing his Ballade, Pastorale, and Dance for flute, horn, and piano some years ago, so this premiere was met with avid interest. For those unfamiliar with Mr. Ewazen’s music, he has tended to be (at least based on what this listener has heard) unabashedly tonal, but with a voice that is all his own. He states in his refreshingly clear notes that his influences include the music of Copland, Bernstein, and (from his days at Eastman), Howard Hanson, as a hearing of this trio would attest. The Piano Trio No. 2 is a work that many audiences will be apt to find immediately appealing, as it encompasses lucid neo-classicism, earnest lyricism, and bracing brilliance in the finale. Overall, this listener enjoyed the piece, though not quite as much as the earlier flute-horn-piano work (as some stretches seemed just a bit facilely developed, almost glib – perhaps completed in haste?); that said, it was full of engaging ideas, and with the passion invested in it by the performers, especially by Mr. Oei, who showed the devotion of a champion, it emerged as compelling and closed the first half in triumph. Enthusiastic ovations brought Mr. Ewazen to the stage for a bow, and the commission benefactor, Heather Marcus, was given well-deserved thanks as well.
After intermission came Schubert’s “Trout” Piano Quintet, adding double bassist Donovan Stokes to the four musicians of the first half, Mr. Vodovoz, Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Oei, and Ms. Lee. Clearly, as one could hear from the start, these musicians made up a felicitous five. Schubert added to an already rich musical afternoon, and one already looks forward to the next Alaria program. Congratulations to Alaria, and long may they thrive as an asset to NY cultural life!
