The Viola Sings: Noree Chamber Soloists, NYC Concert Series III in Review
Yoon Lee, Yi Qun Xu, artistic directors
Yoon Lee, piano; Stella Chen, Bela Horvath, violins; Sung Jin Lee, Caeli Smith, violas; Aaron Wolff, Mariko Wyrick, Yi Qun Xu, cellos; Yi Hsuan Chiu, double bass
Church of the Blessed Sacrament, New York, NY
April 12, 2018
The Noree Chamber Soloists gave a good program April 12th at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament that featured the viola in various prominent roles. For me, the terms “chamber” and “soloist” don’t really belong together, their two aesthetics opposed, but perhaps I’m just being cranky. These young players are all obviously in command of their instruments, playing with musicality of a high order. Any reservations I have I will attempt to clarify in the details below.
The evening began with a beautifully phrased account of Mozart’s well-known Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major (K. 488), in which the soloist and artistic director Yoon Lee showed fleet scale-work, utterly even runs, and poetry when needed, despite the inferior instrument on which she had to perform. I did feel that it sounded “denatured” without the ever-so-important wind parts. Perhaps K. 414 (No. 12, the “other” A major) would have been a better choice, since Mozart himself arranged it for piano and string quartet. The strings sounded well, but I would have preferred greater inflection in phrase direction; I thought the acoustics of the large cathedral space were “eating details,” so to speak. I would have liked to hear more from Yoon Lee, but this was her only contribution to the evening.
A very good rendition of Ligeti’s solo viola sonata by Sung Jin Lee followed. It uses Rumanian folk-sources and their characteristic quarter-tone bending to tell its story. No matter how well one explains the pitch bending, it remains difficult for ears that are not culturally accustomed to hear it as anything but “out-of-tune”. It was certainly not in this case.
Yoon Lee, Pianist
All the works were preceded by verbal program notes, which I enjoy, but the speakers need to project their voices so all might hear them clearly, especially in such a reverberant space. The lack of printed program notes, a lamentably common event in New York of late, seemed especially wrong given the unusual repertoire presented.
Next came an excellent rendition of Derek Bermel’s Soul Garden, for viola and string quintet, with Caeli Smith as soloist. Mr. Bermel delivered his own program note, stating that he conceived the viola as a sort of “gospel baritone,” and the bluesy flavor of the solo part was perfectly done. The difficult ensemble accompaniment was especially ethereal.
After intermission, Brahms’s String Quintet No.1 in F major, Op. 88 was given a strong, committed reading, one that flowed with liquid enthusiasm, appropriate for this mostly sunny score. Phrasing, direction, and many details were all carefully worked out, though I wished for more “growing” when, for instance, a note is played syncopated and held while a new harmony appears underneath it. It is too easy to play one’s instrument so well that the sense of yearning, so crucial to Romantic period music (especially Brahms), can be minimized, removing an important dimension from the music. Also, as often happens in such an acoustic, the lowest sonorities tend to disappear, and I felt the cello part needed to compensate more for that. Sung Jin Lee was the excellent “singing” first viola. Stella Chen on first violin, and cellist Yi Qun Xu were also wonderful, which is not to ignore the contributions of the others at all. These musicians will mature even more if they remain together, but their starting level is already high.
