A Quartet of… Cellists

Sometimes certain works are absent from concert programs for several years and then re-discovered by everybody simultaneously. This season may have set a record in duplications of cello sonatas: within a few weeks, Debussy’s was performed three times, and Schubert’s, Faure’s, Poulenc’s, and Prokofiev’s twice each. They were played by two audience favorites – Steven Isserlis and Timothy Eddy (whose recital was reviewed earlier) – and two strikingly talented newcomers and multiple prize winners who were making their New York debuts: Jean-Guihen Queyras and Andreas Brantelid. Moreover, Eddy’s and Brantelid’s programs were almost identical.

For many young performers, nothing seems to be more difficult than to be simple. The “Arpeggione” was the weakest part of both debut recitals; sinking under the weight of fussy tempo changes, overdone phrasing and dynamics, it lost its continuity and pensive introspection. Queyras’ playing, though technically excellent, was rather fussy altogether; his constantly delayed vibrato, fluctuating tempi and other external effects were especially distracting in a Bach Sonata and three Schubert songs not well chosen for transcription. However, in the Debussy and Poulenc Sonatas, his tonal variety and rhythmic flexibility brought out the manifold colors and character changes beautifully. He was greatly abetted by his long-time pianist Alexandre Tharaud.

Brantelid also benefited from playing with a frequent partner, the esteemed veteran pianist Bengt Forsberg. Though generally wonderfully supportive, he sometimes got carried away and played as loudly as if he were alone on the stage. Brantelid is an extraordinary cellist: his technical command, without being flashy, is so natural and secure that one forgets about it; he draws the listener into the music by the sheer power of his own identification with it. He projected Fauré’s elusiveness, Debussy’s quirky rhythms, character changes, and Prokofiev’s melting lyricism and robust earthiness, all with complete authority.

Isserlis played the Poulenc Sonata as part of a very interesting program he shared with violinist Anthony Marwood and composer/pianist Thomas Adès, whose cello and piano piece, Lieux retrouvés (Rediscovered Places) was receiving its U.S. premiere. Isserlis says he has never played anything so difficult, though the rest of the program was no less challenging. It is indeed very demanding; its figurations, diverse rhythms and sound effects, evoking water, mountains, fields and the city, require utmost virtuosity and imagination of the players. Adès, who played throughout the concert, joined Marwood in Janácek’s Violin Sonata; their affinity for his idiosyncratic, prosodic idiom, his fluid tempi and shifting emotions was remarkable. For his own work, Adès had a most persuasive advocate in Isserlis, a splendid cellist and a compelling, versatile, adventurous musician. Their performance of the Poulenc, preceded by arrangements of two sad, slow pieces by Liszt, was brilliant, full of character and contrasts, with natural, poised transitions between lyricism, assertiveness, exuberance, and irony. Finally, the three players gave a fabulous performance of Ravel’s notoriously difficult Piano Trio. Surmounting its instrumental and rhythmic hurdles with incredible ease, they captured its poetic atmosphere, changing moods and kaleidoscopic colors with total identification and unanimity.

Share
by Edith Eisler  for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Cello-Piano Duos Prove Popular This Winter

Formed in 1980, the Timothy Eddy/Gilbert Kalish cello-piano duo is another remarkable collaboration. The two players are ubiquitous on the music scene: in addition to giving concerts together, they are active as soloists, chamber musicians and pedagogues. Eddy is the cellist of the Orion Quartet, in residence at Mannes, in whose intimate concert hall the Duo often presents sonata recitals. Their latest concert there—a capacity house on January 25th, 2010—featured many different styles. Classicism: Beethoven’s Variations on a Theme from Mozart’s Magic Flute, played with grace, humor, and inward expressiveness; Romanticism blended with atonality: Ben Weber’s brief Five Pieces, in which three sustained, slow, mournful character sketches are framed by two lively ones; Impressionism: Debussy’s colorful, piquant, ironic Sonata, and Fauré’s Sonata No. 2, elusive and very rarely performed, but obviously loved by these two players. After all this misty evanescence, the vigorous, earthly Prokofiev Sonata brought a sense of relief, as if the clouds had lifted and revealed solid ground under a blue sky. The players, too, seemed more relaxed, unrestrained and free, reveling in its rhythmic vitality and its full-blooded, soaring melodies, totally at one with the music and each other.

Share
by Edith Eisler  for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

James Levine’s New Baton Technique… and Superhero Status

January 24th, 2010 at Carnegie Hall

James Levine, who just recovered from spinal surgery, has returned to the Metropolitan Opera pit and the concert stage in fine fettle. At his January 24th Carnegie Hall appearance with the MET Orchestra – their second this season – his high-voltage energy, fiery temperament, exuberance, and emotional—as well as mental—concentration were totally unimpaired. However, his conducting technique seemed to have undergone a startling change. Since the musicians, after many years of collaboration, are so attuned to him that they respond to the merest lift of his eyebrows, his motions used to be “close to the vest” and so small as to be invisible to the audience. His rapport with the orchestra is still palpable, but his gestures have now become big and sweeping: he waves his arms in all directions, turning and swaying from side to side. It was very exciting. The program was framed by two of the repertoire’s most popular symphonies: Schubert’s “Unfinished” and Beethoven’s Fifth. Levine seems to have succumbed to the current penchant for extreme dynamic contrasts, from the softest murmur of whispering strings to the most thunderous use of timpani. The opening of the Schubert was nearly inaudible, but otherwise, it was beautifully lyrical and introspective. The Beethoven was extremely dramatic, and the orchestra played splendidly, as always. Levine, in addition to conducting four operas at the Met, is returning to Carnegie Hall for two concerts with the Boston Symphony, plus directing Met Chamber Ensemble Concerts and master classes. The audience gave this intrepid musical superman a hero’s welcome and rewarded him with standing ovations.

Share
by Edith Eisler  for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

“Houston, We Have a Problem”

January 28, 2010 at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

If any orchestra should tour with Holst’s “The Planets”, the Houston Symphony should—due to its relationship with NASA and the Johnson Space Center. But a film experiment directed by Duncan Copp called “The Planets: an HD Odyssey” didn’t work: the space images and video, though extraordinarily clear and beautiful, were too generic for Holst’s mythical descriptions of the planets and our own imaginations that inevitably follow. It was like experiencing an orchestra play James Horner’s riveting music to the film

“Titanic” while watching real under-water pictures of the sunken ship. One is reality; the other delves into story-telling.

In the future, a few actual stills of a planet could be shown at the beginning of each movement of the suite, and the remainder should focus on the music and the orchestra with the lights up (the players were hardly visible). In terms of future video accompaniment, I’d rather watch close-ups of the Houston performers playing this fantastically detailed score. On the other hand, the Houston Symphony, which sounded less-than-stellar in “The Planets”, might want to make some changes; there were several unclear attacks and missed notes from the trumpets and horns, and the playing as a whole lacked tonal refinement and a robust symphonic sound. The orchestra’s music director, Hans Graf, led light, airy performances of Stravinsky’s “Scherzo fantastique” and “Fireworks”, which book-ended the program, and Dutilleux’s “Timbres, espace, mouvement, ou La Nuit etoilee” was given a dedicated performance, with the orchestra’s fine cello and bass sections sounding strong and well-blended.

Share
by Anthony Aibel  for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Diana Damrau’s Versatility includes Acrobatics

January 23, 2010 at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

The German soprano Diana Damrau recently sang eight songs by Richard Strauss, and Zerbinetta’s aria from his opera “Ariadne auf Naxos” with the MET Orchestra under James Levine. Her voice is ravishingly beautiful, with enough power to cut through and sail above the orchestra, clearly showing her operatic roots, yet capable of drawing listeners into the soft, intimate songs with a wonderfully floating quality. But it was her coloratura that left the audience gasping in disbelief. Her last song, “Amor” – unfamiliar for good reason – was a tour de force of trills, roulades and other acrobatics. The aria, one of the most spectacular display pieces in all opera, was dazzling; she acted it out with humorous, ironic gestures and facial expressions, tossing off the fireworks with incredible brilliance. It brought the house down, so she repeated the last section; but this time, she stood cheek to cheek with Levine, one foot on his podium, both mugging with gleeful abandon and having a wonderful time.

Share
by Edith Eisler  for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Gilbert’s Seamless Schumann

Gilbert’s Seamless Schumann

On December 30th, 2009, The New York Philharmonic, with Alan Gilbert conducting, gave one of the greatest performances of Schumann’s Second Symphony you will ever hear. Why? Not only was it executed with a beautiful, polished sound by all the sections in the orchestra, but the interpretation was extremely honest to the extent that every musical gesture was in tune with the composer and his score. Exaggeration and showmanship are words associated with past conductors at the Philharmonic, and if anything, we heard the opposite: some of Schumann’s tempo changes were conducted so seamlessly–with such subtlety–that they almost went unnoticed. The first movement was jovial but intense; the Scherzo was played with a controlled jauntiness; the Adagio espressivo movement was played with a sincere tenderness, and the finale was simply glorious. The New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert make a case that Schumann’s Second Symphony is one of the greatest symphonies of all time. Let’s hope they perform this work often.

Share
by Anthony Aibel  for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Quintessential Gershwin at the Philharmonic

Quintessential Gershwin at the Philharmonic

On December 31st, 2009, conductor Alan Gilbert wisely let the New York Philharmonic do their thing (and that swing) in Gershwin’s “American in Paris”, as the orchestra—due to its long history with the work– can possibly play it like they play Bernstein’s “Candide Overture”: that is without a conductor. But I exaggerate a bit; some of the tricky tempo changes, balances and juxtapositions of rhythm need to be negotiated smoothly by a conductor with taste. Gilbert impressively accomplished that, and the end result was the quintessential performance of “An American in Paris”.

Share
by Anthony Aibel  for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Continuum

Continuum
Canadian Music – The New Individualists
Americas Society, New York, NY
December 8, 2009

In the first concert of its 44th New York season, Continuum did one of the things it does best: explore important, talented composers who are relatively unknown in this country. Music of Canada was presented in a program entitled “Northern Exposures: Canadian Music—The New Individualists.”  I came away from this program thinking that Canadian composers are indeed unique and tend to go their separate ways.

This concept of originality was exemplified by the U.S. Premiere of Paul Frehner’s deceivingly-titled work, Slowdown, from 2004. It’s a brilliantly-written, frenzied trio for not just one pianist, not two, but yes, three pianists at one keyboard. The idea of three pianists sitting together is pretty inventive, but the way he slows the momentum of the piece into a kind of improvisatory state is where the real imagination lies. The Other recently composed U.S. premieres that backed-up the Canadian individualist theory were Ana Sokolovic’s portrait parle for piano trio, an original and inspired work depicting the physiognomy of the face; Jocelyn Morlock’s Curvilinear  uniquely scored piece for solo accordion, inspired by ancient folk music; and Michael Oesterle’s Sunspot Letters, a first-rate work that evokes Galileo’s writings.

New York Premieres included Linda Catlin Smith’s Mois qui tremblais from 1999, a hypnotic, profound work for violin, bass drum, and piano in which the musicians perform from an annotated text of Rimbaud. Andrew Staniland’s Blue (2008), is a poignant work based on a poem by Walt Whitman; Tajikistan-born Farangis Nurulla-Khoja’s Blind Flower, written for Continuum in 2008, draws up highly original musical tone colors; and Melissa Hui’s Wish You Were Here (2003), is an Asian-inspired meditation for flute, cello, percussion, and piano that was beautifully exotic and memorable.

The perennial top-of-the-line artists included the pianists and co-directors Cheryl Seltzer and Joel Sachs, violinist Renee Jolles, clarinetist Moran Katz, the flutist Ulla Suokko, mezzo-soprano Abigail Fischer, William Schimmel on accordion, oboist Toni Marie Marchioni, violist Stephanie Griffin, cellist Karen Ouzounian, percussionist Jared Soldiviero, and pianist Shahan Arzruni.

This free concert is without a doubt one of the greatest musical holiday gifts to New Yorkers. We learned more about Canadian composers and Canada itself, but also were enchanted and enlightened by the beauty, excitement and great diversity of Canadian music.

Share
by Anthony Aibel  for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony

The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony
David Bernard, conductor
Drew Petersen, piano
All Saints Church, New York, NY
December 6, 2009

The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony

In a program called “Cinematic Genius”, the conductor David Bernard explored concert pieces that were later incorporated into film. Johann Strauss’s “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” seems far-fetched for a film about outer space, but Stanley Kubrick pulled off wonders with it in “2001, A Space Odyssey”  when he used dreamier Strauss moments to represent timelessness in space. Bernard left excerpts of the film run on screen during a complete performance of the Strauss, and it didn’t always mesh in mood–exciting dance music as a backdrop for a person walking down a spaceship corridor, for example–but you’ve got to give Bernard credit for a charming, well-prepared performance of this concert staple. I also applaud him for choosing a stylistically well- balanced program, one that presented music from three different centuries.

Drew Petersen, who performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K.466, is a 16-year-old student at the Manhattan school of Music Pre-College division. He has considerable technique—his notes were in place, the cadenza playing was imaginative, and he has done a lot of wonderful charitable work for communities who need young artists like him. Unfortunately, he had to perform on a small Kawai piano, and there was little resonance and warmth of sound. Regarding a cinematic decision, I didn’t understand the need to roll the entire closing credits of the film “Amadeus” to the concerto’s slow movement. It’s a lovely choice for the movie, but here it was a distraction.

The performance of Shostakovich’s challenging Fifth Symphony was very impressive.

Bernard has chosen players wisely; the orchestra seems to have affection for each other, and their enthusiasm for the music was undeniable. The mysterious third movement of the Fifth was incorporated into a scene of the Harrison Ford film “Patriot Games,” and it was interesting to see when it was used. Unless Mr. Bernard chooses music that was written specifically for film, I do think that excerpts of concert works used in film should be heard with the movie only before performing the work as a whole. This way, you educate the audience about a film director or film composer’s approach to a classic score and also preserve the intention of the composer. In any case, David Bernard and the orchestra should be very proud of what they’ve accomplished; I look forward to hearing them again.

Share
by Anthony Aibel  for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Piano Concertos with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra

Piano Concertos with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra
Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Symphony Space, New York, NY
December 1, 2009

The young presenting organization, New York Concert Artists and Associates (est. 2008), continued its work in an ambitious evening that included the Brahms Piano Trio in C Major, Op. 87, Mozart’s Piano Concerto in B-flat Major, K. 595, and Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto.

The Brahms Trio, though a seeming anomaly in a program billed as Piano Concertos, held its own quite well, almost outweighing the concerti in range and texture.  Pianist Yoojin Oh joined forces with Olivier Fluchaire, violin, and Peter Sanders, cello, in a performance of exceptional blending and dovetailing. Well polished (except for one or two rough moments, such as the second movement double-stops), the interpretation was striking for its unity and will undoubtedly gain more breathing room with further performing. The trio section of the Scherzo was a high point, finding the three musicians at their most impassioned.

In the Mozart Concerto, the excellent soloist was Jihye Synn, a DMA candidate at Rutgers (with degrees also from the Manhattan School of Music). Her playing was characterized by clear, fluid runs, and carefully shaped melodies. She collaborated well with the conductor, David Leibowitz, maintaining intense focus despite some patchy playing in the strings. Occasionally she seemed to shrink excessively from the crests and forte moments, but her delicacy was admirable. Her embellishment of the second movement lines helped sustain them without being obtrusive, and the final Allegro saw an extemporized (or unintended?) addition to Mozart’s own cadenza.

Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto, with Gyehwa Kim as the accomplished soloist, concluded the program. Ms. Kim is a commendable pianist with credentials to support that fact, including degrees from Peabody and the University of Montreal (DMA), and, as one might expect, she showed a good technique, memory, and general grasp; for unknown reasons, however, there seemed not to be quite the meeting of minds that there needs to be in such a substantial and magnificent work. Soloist and orchestra interacted almost incidentally at times, with some glibness and scrambles ensuing.

All in all, though, one has to doff one’s hat to such a program, outside the bailiwick of the more prominent halls.

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