Daniel Lamas and Weiwei Zhai in Review
“Midnight in Paris”: Bloomingdale School of Music “Performathon” Scholarship benefit
Daniel Lamas, viola
Weiwei Zhai, piano
May 15, 2021
Mon Dieu, que j’adore… oops. I mean, my goodness, how I love French music. I have, as we all have, been so starved for the lively arts, especially classical music, during the pandemic, that when a video of this recent recital at Bloomingdale School of Music was sent to me, it was manna from heaven.
Two artists previously unknown to me, violist Daniel Lamas and pianist Weiwei Zhai, presented a thoughtful short recital of music, some lesser known and one fragment of a warhorse.
Chilean born Mr. Lamas, who has a wide range of experience in orchestras and chamber music, is currently a faculty member (viola, violin, chamber music) of this valuable institution on the upper west side of Manhattan, as well as owner of his own string studio. His training includes both the Manhattan School of Music and the Paris Conservatoire. His philosophy of teaching is “to instruct with care and nurturing,” exactly as he and his partner handled this program.
Ms. Zhai, born and raised in Chengdu, China, is on the piano faculty of the Bloomingdale School. She is currently finishing her doctorate degree at the Manhattan School of Music with legendary pedagogue Solomon Mikowsky. She has won numerous awards in competitions and performed in her native land and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall..
Their performance was absolutely gorgeous throughout (even with the limited fidelity of online video) as to sonority and especially style. Clarity, simplicity, and accuracy. Really, what more can one ask of French music interpretation?
Darius Milhaud was said to be able to set the phone book to music, so prolific and varied was his ability. A member of the Les Six artist group, he had a strong neoclassical aesthetic, often overshadowed by his penchant for polytonality and Latin rhythms, the result of his trip to Brazil as ambassador Paul Claudel’s secretary in 1917. The excerpt (II. Français) from his First Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 240, revels in this classicism; a contemporary layering atop themes from the eighteenth century. It was played with great style and verve by the duo.
The Trois pièces (composed 1914, published 1915, originally for cello and piano) by Nadia Boulanger display her mastery of compositional craft, the kind that was expected of everyone at the Paris Conservatoire, even if they didn’t go into it professionally. Of course, the world knows her better as an inspiring teacher, with her younger sister Lili, the first female winner of the Prix de Rome, remembered as the composer. These three mood-pictures are delicate, generally in the early twentieth century post-Impressionist manner, and they were given perfect performances.
The Finale of the Franck Sonata was played with enthusiasm and grace—and moreover, it never sounded “difficult” -no mean feat. Another astounding example of French craft, the strict canon between violin and piano never sounds “academic.” I certainly want to hear these two musicians live, and hear the three preceding movements leading up to this one.
So, this was a very satisfying “appetizer” and now I want a banquet from this duo, s’il vous plait!
