Wall Street Chamber Players

Bach, Trio Sonata in C major, BWV 1037
Mozart, Piano Quartet in E-Flat major, K 493
Brahms, Trio in B major, Opus 8

Recommend

The Quodlibet Ensemble

 This ensemble includes one of Mike's former students, Mihai Marica, a celloist. They opened the evening with Arcangelo Corelli's Concerto Grosso in D major, op. 6, no 4 and G. F. Handel's Concerto Gross in G major, op. 6, no. 1. In the second half they broke the by pattern by including Robert Honstein's *Night Scenes from the Ospedale," 3 companion pieces intersperced among five concerti from Vivaldi's *L'Estro Armonico" The performances were excellent.

Recommend highly.

Mark O'Connor String Quartet

Mark O'Connor, violin
Kelly Hall-Tompkins, violin
Gillian Gallagher, viola
Patrice Jackson, cello

O'Connor, String Quartet No 2 "Bluegrass" (2005)
--, String Quartet No 3 "Old-Time" (2008)

After three duets based on Americana music, the first half concluded with the String Quartet No 2. The introductory duets filled our ears with the rhythms and sonorities of native music and prepared is for the more complex combinations of the longer work. Though filled with some gorgeous moments, it did not make its structure readily apparent in the first listening. Despite the virtuosic performances, I was less than awed.

The second half of the program began with a 7-minute free improvisation by O'Connor that provided more clues about the quartet from the first half. Quartet #3, however, seemed to leave the improvisory mode behind with four highly structured movements that allowed the cello to provide the necessary bones. The second movement was my favorite. It was highly reminiscent of "Moondog," a sumptuous piece on the Kronos Quartet's Ancient Music album.

Encore: Appalachian Waltz, very lovely

Recommend with caveats.

Wall Street Chamber Players

A predictably lovely Brahms Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano (a minor, Op. 114, 1891), and a surprisingly appealing Saint-Saens Quartet for Piano and Strings (Op 41, 1875). Oddly, the S-S is seldom performed and seems to be unrecorded. I found the 2nd movement particularly engaging.

Highly recommended.

New Music New Haven

Recent works by six graduate students in composition as well as David Lang's sumptuous "pierced" made for a wonderful evening of new music.

Highly Recommend.

Wall Street Chamber Players

This performance at the New Haven Historical Society featured a glorious Steinway A-2 piano, unlike any we normally hear.
The evening opened with four movements from Max Bruch's Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, Op 83 (1910). Though an unusual combination, the sonorities were extremely satisfying.

After intermission, the ensemble performed Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time (1940), written while he was imprisoned and shaped by the instrumental capabilities of fellow prisoners. I was unfamiliar with the work. I found it captivating.

Highly recommended.

The Rouse Effect: The Next Generation

Back in 1980, when I had slender ties to the composition department at University of North Texas' music school, I attended a What-can-I-do-with-my-degree workshop. The takeaway answer was "Go West, young composers. Write for Hollywood's film industry." As distasteful as that was to some in the room, it was prescient advice. Not only has that industry provided many composers with a good income, but it has also been the primary conduit through which Americans have been exposed to innovative, contemporary music. For example, choose Philip Glass on Pandora.com, and you'll primarily hear excerpts from his score for The Hours. Producers must judge the music serves their purposes well; otherwise, they would eschew these innovative compositions. And yet, I'm certain that a poll of the American public would reveal that a significant majority does not like contemporary 'art' music.

The attendance at the non-popular music events at Arts and Ideas bears out these observatiosn out in several ways. These are the events most challenged to produce audiences, and yet I often think find myself thinking that I'm listening to a film score, music film audiences regularly listen to with nary a complaint. With this in mind, I shouldn't have been (though I was) surprised when discussion with the three composers at tonight's performance encouraged this association between their music and storytelling.

Tonight's wonderful, wonderful evening of chamber music featured works by three of Christopher Rouse's former students: Michael Torke, Marc Mellits, and Kevin Puts. All four composers were in the audience (which was seated cabaret-style in Longwharf's Stage II), and between pieces, they provided some background and one or two elements to listen for. Though Torke did mention that "Yellow Pages" goes through the harmonic circle of 5ths using the same notes, the predominant guidance was much more programmatic: "optimistic sound of my youth," "cycle of life and death doesn't depend on humans," and "the power to transcend during times of tragedy and personal crises." I mention this not to complain about the music or the composer's elucidations, but to wonder aloud why this music, which suits the American populace so well in the background to a film, is so quickly dismissed and ignored when the moving images and popcorn are absent.

To my mind, these works did not require either visuals or narratives to be enjoyed. Highly complex (within the limits imposed by small chamber works), they exuded a vibrant energy. In part, this energy was the result of the performers, Real Quiet--Felix Fan (cello), Andrew Russo (piano), and Danny Tunick (percussion)--plus Benjamin Jacobson (violin), Andrew Bulbrook (violin), Tara O'Connor (flute), Michael Byerly (clarinet), and Ji Hye Jung (percussion). The performances by the ensemble Real Quiet were extraordinary because the musicians obviously love and enjoy these pieces. And particularly notable was the performance of Ji Hye Jung on the marimbas. Being privy to her grace and athleticism is worth the price of the ticket.

Even the musicians alternatively tossing and dropping the music sheets to the floor added to the drama of the performance.

What an evening!

Highly recommended.

06/25/2010: This was the highlight of 2010 Arts and Ideas New Haven.

Christopher Rouse: Transfiguration (Calder Quartet)

This concert featured five works by Christopher Rouse: two percussion pieces performed by The Yale Percussion Group, as well as a septet and two quartets performed by the Calder Quartet (and supplemented by three other players for the septet.
1. Ku-Ka-Ilimoku (for four percussionists)
2. String Quartet #2
3. Compline (for flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet)
4. String Quartet #3
5. Ogoun Badagris (for five percussionists)

The two percussion works were energetic and surprisingly varied and subtle, to the point of being spine tingling. The performers obviously were having a great deal of fun.

The Quartet #2 and "Compline" had a satisfying arc. Beginning with electronic sonorities (though produced on string and wind instruments), the quartet 'modulated' into an organ-like chorale that was heartbreakingly lovely and fragile. Similarly, "Compline" opened with reversed sonorities but moved toward more traditional timbres and sonorities; its final section was beautiful and poignant.

Quartet #3, a world premier of a Calder Quartet commission, was built on rhythmic rather than tonal complexity. Though it seemed to start with disintegration and reverse to integration, it didn't get to the beautiful part of the arc.

Recommend

Wall Street Chamber Players

Lovely evening of unfamiliar works. One of the Players' better performances.

Beethoven, Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Cello in B-flat major, Op 11 (1798)
This jaunty trio rings with references to Mozartian opera.

Bartok, Selected Duets from 44 Duets for Two Violins (1931)

Brahms, Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in B minor, Op 115 (1892)
Devastating in its passionate nostalgia.

The Wall Street Chamber Players

The first performance of the season provided an amiable evening of all Mozart in the comfortable confines of a neighborhood home.
Piano trio in C major (K 548), Flute Quartet in D major (K 285), and Piano Quartet No 2 in E-flat major (K 493).

High recommend.

Brandenburg Concerto 5, J. S. Bach

A small ensemble from Orchestra New England performed the concerto on original instruments for SCSU students. Wonderful, intimate experience.

Recommend.

Wall Street Chamber Players

Alexander Borodin's Quintet for Spring and Piano in C minor (1862)
String Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 10 (1893)

Wall Street Chamber Players

Turina. Piano Quartet in A minor, Op 67
Dvorak. String Quarter in G major, Op 106
Brahms. Piano Trio No 2 in C major, Op 87

At Letha & Jack Sandweiss home.

Charles Ives Program

Trio for Violin, Violoncell, and Piano.
Performed by Adrian Slywotzky (violin), Katherine Kayaian (cello), and Stephen Porter (piano)

Wall Street Chamber Players

Beethoven. Piano Trio in G Major, Op 1, No 2
Harbison. November 19, 1828 for Piano, Violin, Viola & Cello
Mendelssohn, Piano Trio No 1 in D minor, Op 49

At Phyllis & Joe Crowley's home.

Kronos Quartet

Franghiz Ali-Zadeh. Mugam Sayagi
Sigur Ros. Flugufrelsarinn (The Fly Freer)
John Adams. Three Selections from John's Book of Alleged Dances
Dan Visconti. Love Bleeds Radiant
Osvaldo Golijov. Last Andalusian Sky
Ram Narayan. Raga Mishra Bhairavi
Derek Charke. Cercle du Nord III

Wall Street Chamber Players

Shostakovich. Trio in E minor for Violin, Violoncello and Piano, Op 67 (1944)
Spohr. Quintet in D major, Opus 130 for Piano and strings (1845)