Carnegie Hall presents Sphinx Virtuosi “Music Without Borders” in Review
Sphinx Virtuosi: Alex Laing, clarinet; Annelle K. Gregory, violin; Sterling Elliott,Thomas Mesa, cello; Damien Sneed, John Boonenberg, piano; Olman Piedra, Andre Dowell, percussion
EXIGENCE (vocal ensemble), Eugene Rogers, Conductor
Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium, New York, NY
October 11, 2018
One of the most satisfying evenings of music of the season thus far was provided by the Detroit-based Sphinx Virtuosi, a conductorless string orchestra formed of the finest Black and Latinx musicians selected through nationwide competition. I have reviewed Sphinx previously in these pages (2016) and have always been impressed not only by the mission statement of excellence in the arts through diversity, but by the sheer passion and quality of the players.
The concert began with Syrian-American composer Kareem Roustom’s Dabke, the third movement of A Voice Exclaiming. The dabke is a folk dance common to Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, usually done at celebrations like weddings, though it may have even earlier origins as a work-dance. Despite the celebratory origin, did I detect a subtext having more to do with sorrow in this work?
Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony (Op. 110a) was next, a transcription by Rudolph Barshai of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8 (1960). It begins with the D-S-C-H name motto, which is obsessively developed throughout the work. There is a lot of foreboding to choose from in Shostakovich’s output, but this piece is truly harrowing, as well as autobiographical. It contains the Jewish folk tune he used in the last movement of his mature Piano Trio (dedicated to his dead friend, musicologist I. I. Sollertinsky), sung by prisoners as they waited to be gunned down row by row, then bulldozed into a mass grave during WWII. The work also contains typically sarcastic versions of skittish dance music, the terrifying knocks on the door by the secret police, and numerous quotations from his previous works, including the opera that got him in so much trouble in 1936, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. Shostakovich himself stated that he wanted to dedicate the work (the Quartet, that is) as a requiem to himself, since no one else would dedicate one after his death. His shame at buckling and accepting membership in the Communist party was partly responsible. This may be the finest rendition of the work that I have ever heard, including both quartet and string orchestra versions. It brooded, simmered, and raged with staggering intensity. My head is still reeling.
The very fine young cellist Sterling Elliott then played two movements from Cassadó’s Suite for Solo Cello with perfect intonation, style, and total involvement.
Terence Blanchard, American jazz trumpeter and composer, wrote his Dance for a New Day, a co-commission with Carnegie Hall, in view of the chaotic state of current events. It is really a small concerto for violin and cello, with intricate rhythmic writing for both soloists, passionately played by Annelle K. Gregory, violin, and Thomas Mesa, cello. Despite the chaos, the work itself seems more optimistic, a message that was shared by most of the contemporary works on the program.
Then came the unveiling of a new element of the Sphinx family: EXIGENCE, a vocal ensemble founded and conducted by Eugene Rogers. They premiered (NY premiere) a vision unfolding by Derrick Spiva, Jr. its text, also by Mr. Spiva, is about never giving up no matter how strongly one is oppressed. The choral effects were managed beautifully, with excellent solo contributions from choir members.
They followed this with Joel Thompson’s Caged Bird, a reference to Maya Angelou, another plea for freedom, with an effective clarinet solo part that was almost inaudible when the choir was singing full throttle. Ndikhokhele Bawo (Lead me, oh Father), a South African traditional anthem with words very similar to Psalm 23, was gorgeous. The built-in encore was Glory, from the movie Selma, composed by John Legend with words by Common and Rhymefest. It spoke for itself, and also for the triumph that is Sphinx: “The glory is us.”
