| UW Gazette, November 15, 1995 Conducted by Jan Narveson We inadvertently omitted our notice of the Penderecki Quartet's noon-hour concert of October 24 at WLU, featuring Beethoven's String Quartet No. 6 and Bartok's Quartet No. 1. A full house was on hand to hear this star-class foursome in bold, brilliant performances of two great works. Their hair- raising account of the Bartok's central movement was what most caught the audience's fancy, we judged, but in every way these were compelling accounts, continuing their record of outstanding music-making for the Faculty of Music. It's gratifying not only that the Quartet is here but also that it's appreciated and heard. November 8: Philip Thomson, piano, functioned for some years as the extraordinary teaching pianist at Conrad Grebel College. Having departed for Kent State University in Ohio a year and some ago, it was nice to have him back for an hour, during which he whipped up an extraordinary program of lesser-know but interesting music, beginning with Kuhlau's Sonatina in A, a Beethoven/ Weberesque work with a brilliant (showy) set of variations (on a theme of Rossini, he tells us); then an Impromptu in Gb by Felix Blumenfeld, who will do for all-but-unknown but who obviously knew a thing or two about piano technique, as shown in this very high-powered piece somewhere in the Liszt/Chopin harmonic and technical area. Prokofiev's Di abolical Suggestion #4 followed, and it is an alarming piece indeed, especially when done with the power and dexterity displayed by Thomson here. A set of Liszt pieces filled out the too-short time - four of them again virtually unknown. We especially liked the "Alleluia", a wonderfully exultant work; an Ave Maris Stella had its beauties as well, and Urbi et Orbi was an astonishing piece utilizing a plainchant theme. To close there was the Faust Paraphrase, at which he is an old hand. Very classy noon-hour concert! That evening: The KWS "Focus" series was back to Music 102, with works by two of the Stamitzes - Johann and Karl, father and son, though it turns out, we were told by guest conductor Glen Fast (normally in Kingston) that the work billed as Stamitz's Mannheim Symphony No. 1 is actually by a Duitchman named Anton Mahout. Well, you could have fooled us! It was rather a rudimentary piece, which is just what was wanted by way of illustrating the development of the symphony from the end of the Baroque to the fully classical period. Karl's Viola Concerto was performed by Tracy Poizner, who was admirably agile in this pretty tough piece; but the same composer's Cello Concerto no. 3, with Chris Sharpe performing, was a rather better piece, truth to tell, and Sharpe did sound very fine in it, with his appealing light, sweet tone and near-immaculate traversal of the demanding piece. Between, though, a Sinfonia pastorale by the real Johann was quite a find, in its quirky way. All this was followed by Mozart's Symphony No. 31, "Paris", which comes with a sort of aesthetic shock, so superior is it to its predecessors. As usual, the KWS members present, sans CCE members (except that regular Concertmaster Eduard Minevich took an evening off from his sabbatical to do the concertmaster's work on this one) and even sans most of its associate principal chairs, nevertheless played well, and in the Mozart very well indeed. Maestro Fast did a very good job on all this material, and the finale of the "Paris" really sparkled for him. Thursday: The Canadian Chamber Ensemble's 3rd concert of the season opened with Mozart's Oboe Quartet, which found James Mason in his usual superlative tone, though there was the odd small imperfection. His big, gorgeous, commanding sound is always something to hear, and with Moshe Hammer taking the other treble voice in this masterpiece, we hoped people didn't have the sense that they should leave right at its end, since what can follow that act? In fact, though, David Baker's Hommage l'histoire proved to be a most ingenious and charming parody and tribute to Stravinsky's Histoire du Soldat. Its first movements were considerably less astringent than the original, in part because Baker uses several percussion instruments whereas Stravinsky used only the tympani. As things progressed, in fact, it got more Stravinskyish, and soon we were hearing quotations from its model, including a couple of bars of the opening verbatim. But there were plenty of new ideas - nothing slavish about this work. Brilliantly played by our musicians, we'll thump the tables for a recording of this excellent item. A newish work by Scott Irvine, "Aubade", found Larry Larson, backed by nine more brass and winds and one percussionist, sounding pretty lovely in material that was as suggestive of Copland as the previous item of Stravinsky. It did verge on the popular in its melodic tendencies, but the very sonorous treatment for this biggish wind band made the whole thing click very well. Finally, there was the Nonet by Joseph Rheinberger - woodwind quintet plus one-each type string quartet, making for quite a range of colors. This is a really good piece, without quite being a truly great one; and in the violinist's chair for this one sat Kathryn Hubley, normally Principal Second violin in the orchestra. She acquitted herself in fine fashion, too, with good intonation and very pretty sound. Everyone contributed a few "licks" in the finale, and we were again struck by the splendid playing from our players. Clearly another candidate for CD recording. Friday: Jacques Israelievitch, Concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, performed what can reasonably be described as a humungous program of works for unaccompanied violin at KWCMS Music Room. Opening with Bach's Partita #3 in E, he proceeded through the following hugely difficult items: YsaØe, Sonata #2, Jean Martinon, Sonatine #5, Prokofiev, Sonata, Op. 115, Murray Adaskin, Vocalise, Andr Prvost, Improvisation (1976), Paganini, Caprice #20, and Kreisler's Recitativo and Scherzo. Besides all this, he gave each piece a lucid and informative introduction. And to top it off, he showed no sign whatever of flagging at the end, even when a string broke in the last piece - and threw in a lovely encore to boot (the Largo from Bach's Sonata #3). This was an example of expertise and professionalism whose equal we can't recall. (Well, he is human: this ultra-busy concertmaster, squeezing such a program between performances of the TSO the nights before and after, played from his music rather than relying on memory.) And M. Israelievitch is, as one would expect, a very fine violinist indeed. In the fabulous opening Prelude of the Bach, he adopts the practice of slightly lengthening the first sixteenth-note, thus emphasizing its harmonic structure, at the cost of a slight break in the rhythm. Interesting and defensible, though playing it "straight" has its merits too. He also, we'd guess, intentionally adjusted his sound to the Baroque manner, which suffered from the Music Room's very dry acoustic. Despite that, listening to such a clear sculpted, ultra-accurate performance of this great work was an entrancing experience. Following this was the Ysaye, which turns out to be closely related, alternating themes drawn from the Bach with the Dies Irae in intriguing ways. You have to unleash a lot of quick horsepower from the lowest strings at several points in this piece, and Israelievitch did this in really convincing fashion. In the Martinon piece, he demonstrated his agility in some very nasty rapid double-stops - and so on, and so on. This program simply abounded in violinistic high hurdles, and he swept through them all with unfailing skill. Prokofiev's wicked sonata is a rather amazing piece, though we've never been able to quite perceive it as a completely convincing aesthetic entity, even in such a strong performance. Of the two Canadian entries, we were considerably more taken by Andre Prevost's Improvisation, full of interesting wispy bits. The Paganini and Kreisler works received fine, full- voiced, technically superb renditions. But the simple hushed beauty of the Bach encore put an unforgettable seal on this concert. It's easy to see why violinists - those who can play them - love those pieces. Saturday: We weren't able to be there, but were able to hear a "same-day tape" of the Renaissance Singers' season- opener celebration of our namesake Cecilia, the patron saint of music. And their new conductor, Richard Cunningham, is a major find; not only is he a fine conductor, but he also turns out to be one terrific counter-tenor. In that Purcell charmer, Come Ye Sons of Art, he and Carol Ann Feldstein, contralto, did wonderful work in the opening duet (and elsewhere), and the choir was simply inspired. With so many pieces and soloists to take note of, we'll just note the quiet dignity of Vaughan Williams's Hearts Music; Benjamin Britten's Hymn to Saint Cecilia featured splendid work by a solo quintet (Caroline Bosley, Elaine Pearce, Carol Ann Feldstein, Mark Rowsom, Michael Cressman). The other Purcell item, Welcome to All the Pleasures, featured a lovely aria by Mark Rowsom, tenor. Britten's Festival Te Deum, struck a new and very strong note, with Wendy Donohue making a most credible substitute for a boy soprano. John Rutter's The Lord is my Shepherd brought a treat in the form of a lovely solo obbligato by oboist James Mason. Vaughan Williams's Valiant-for-Truth reminded us that this was also Remembrance Day, as well as providing occasion for the choir to demonstrate its smoothness, balance, and range; and Howells's Hymn to St. C. made contact with the choir's recent repertory. Douglas Haas provided his usual expert organ accompaniments. The fine hand of Mr. Cunningham was in evidence throughout in these elegant and vivid performances - one doesn't expect such attention to authentic Purcell-era detail in matters of phrasing in a choir from a mere provincial Canadian town. It appears that a new era for the Renaissance Singers is in store for us. Forthcoming: Tonight: The first of this year's "Toward the Third Millennium" concerts, featuring the Canadian Chamber Ensemble, at Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU, is also on the NuMus festival roster. "East Meets West Meets East" is the theme, and there are works by Canadians Melissa Hui, Alexina Louie, Jose Evangelista, and Jon Siddall; plus Japanese com posers Tamezo Narita, Kosaku Yamada and Michio Miyagi. $8/$7/$5 (student), at door. Thursday at 4 p.m., Maureen Forrester Recital Hall: Charles Dodge presents a lecture, illustrated with musical examples, "A Computer Music Odyssey: The Development of a New Medium for Personal Expression". Friday: The NuMus festival continues with a Seminar for Composers by Charles Dodge - 2:30 p.m., Aird Building, Room 318. Free. Friday evening: At The Button Factory, 25 Regina Street South, Waterloo, The Waves, Electronic Evocations, with Charles Dodge, Guest Composer. "Images of nature, Mystical remembrances of Virginia Woolf, Gertrude Stein and Enrico Caruso" - works by Christos Hatzis, Hildegard Westerkamp, and Peter Hatch, and "Child of Tree" by John Cage. $15/$10. Saturday: The K-W Symphony takes part in the last NuMus Festival event, at UW's Humanities Theatre. Lorraine Vaillancourt, conductor, Anne-Marie Donovan, mezzo soprano, in the premiere of a work by Linda Smith; plus works of Chris Paul Harman and Claude Vivier; and, above all, the now famous Symphony No. 3, "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" by Henryk Gorecki - mandatory listening for contemporaries. Tuesday, November 21 (12:00, WLU's Forrester Recital Hall): The Meridian Ensemble - Amy Hamilton, flute; Keith Atkinson, oboe; Kent McWilliams, piano. Free. November 22, 12:30: Chamber music for cello and piano with John Marshman, cello, and David Jones, piano, at Conrad Grebel College's Chapel. Free. Friday, November 24: At KWCMS Music Room, the Montreal Baroque Quartet, which sports Authentic instruments and Baroque style by lead players from the Montreal Baroque Orchestra. Emlyn Ngai, Baroque violin; Grgoire Jeay, Baroque flute (traverso); Isabelle Bozzini, Baroque cello; Jol Thiffault, harpsichord, in Handel, Trio Sonata #4; Telemann, Konzert VI in a; Couperin, Sonate "la Franoise"; J.S. Bach, Trio Sonata in e, BWV 526; C.P.E. Bach, trio in E. | |
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