Bargemusic (8/18/12)

OK, so I took my birthday (week) off from posting. Saturday’s concert was piano/violin/cello music, with Olga Vinokur, Mark Peskanov, and Eugene Osadchy, respectively. As always, the program was announced from the stage and it began with the first movement of the Piano Trio in C Major, K. 548 by Mozart. Because it was so well received, the trio played the two movements that completed the work.

Next was the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50, with the Schubert “Rondeau Brilliant” (in B minor, D. 895) rounding out the program.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a huge Mozart Fan but this piece had enough heft and variability from movement to movement to make it interesting without the cloying sweetness and sentimentality that I sometimes experience with Mozart. There were many repeats, as usual, but the second movement had some legato (smooth, gentler) lines while the third movement was bright and dance-like—but my notes also included bouncy. Bouncy, yet not frivolous sounding.

My notes are almost nonexistent for the Tchaikovsky, but I remember it as being well balanced and full of themes that (we were told) would be expanded on in the movements we weren’t going to hear.

The Schubert, for piano and violin, was firmly steeped in the Romantic tradition—rich harmonies, many phrases that didn’t end quite where or when I thought they would, and a few false endings, harmonically.

One minor quibble—a page turner for the pianist would have been nice. There were a couple of loud “thwaps” that were a bit disconcerting.

This was almost a dress rehearsal, since these three works were on the regular schedule for Saturday night at 8pm and Sunday afternoon at 2pm. Who knows, maybe there was a page turner for those concerts. Also as usual, there was a brief Q&A session after the concert and one question was about how often the performers practice scales. The general consensus was that with so much music to practice for performance, strict scales were not high on the list. That said, I spoke up and said that any time I’ve been at the “Barge,” Mr. Peskanov is never without his fiddle in his hands—whether he’s on that afternoon’s program or not. He’s always running his fingers and bow over the strings.

Thanks, Brooklyn. I’ll be back at Bargemusic from time to time.

ConcertMeister

Nuevo Tango—Very Delayed (8/7/12)

I waffled back and forth on this, and then finally decided to post. This was the fourth (and final—and I actually attended all four this year) Naumburg Orchestral Concert; Pablo Ziegler (piano) and Lara St. John (violin) with Andrew Roitstein (bass), Claudio Ragazzi (guitar) & Héctor Del Curto (bandoneón). Of special interest was the fact that six of the twelve pieces on the program had been played by Astor Piazzolla (1921–1992) at a Naumburg concert in 1987. In addition to those six Piazzolla pieces, there were four more Piazzolla and two pieces by Pablo Ziegler.

And therein lies the problem for me. Once I’ve heard the fast version of the Nuevo Tango (a fusion of tango, jazz, and classical) and then the slow version, the other ten pieces on the program are variations on the first two, without enough variation (for me) to be totally enjoyable. On top of that, the two Ziegler pieces were very similar to all of the Piazzolla pieces.

All of the artists played extremely well, and seemed very committed to the music—the individual pieces and Nuevo Tango, in general.

For the record, the six pieces Piazzolla played in 1978 and included in the 2012 concert were: Michelangelo, Muerte del Angel, Tanguedia (La Camorra), Mumuki, Adios Nonino (which I think I’ve heard once before), and Lunfardo. Mr. Ziegler’s (1944–) works were: Milonga del Adios (a piano/violin duo) and Muchacha de Boedo.

That said, the Naumburg organization is by far one of the classiest in the business, and it was a treat for New Yorkers (and beyond) that all four concerts in the series were broadcast live by WQXR (105.9 FM, wqxr.org). The host, Midge Woolsey, was a great MC for all four concerts, as well—dealing with the live audience and with performers from each concert being included addressing the radio audience. I’m glad I heard Nuevo Tango—I just need it in smaller doses.

ConcertMeister

August 4, 2012, You Don’t Know JACK ...

… JACK Quartet, that is.

I had heard of them but had never heard them until Saturday afternoon’s Rite of Summer concert on Governors Island. It was quite a full day for me, as I had already done a six-and-a-half-hour volunteer shift at Summer Streets. But hearing this quartet was worth it.

They are a string quartet that brings an energetic edge to both their playing and their repertoire. The outdoor concert opened with “Mantle Eruption” by Brian Baumbusch. The piece opened with explosive strokes passing from player to player, followed by explosive themes being developed. I liked this piece and it was a good opener (apparently the quartet adjusted their order of the program for this, the second concert of the afternoon). I was without a pen for taking notes, so I may report a few things out of order since the performance didn’t follow the printed program.

I particularly liked the next piece—the second movement of “Three Pieces” by Guillaume de Machaut (arr. Ari Streisfeld, one of the quartet’s violinists). As explained from the stage, this piece was written to explore the similarities between the medieval Machaut stretching the boundaries of harmony and form and the current crop of composers doing the exact same thing. The themes resonated with me—I have a real affinity for, and enjoyment of, medieval music. This was a very positive musical experience.

The second movement of Charles Ives’ “String Quartet #2” followed, showing us the early 20th-century version of these explorations. It seems somewhat tame these days, but I bet there was a great hew and cry upon first hearings of the piece.

The other three pieces on the program were: Selections from “Thaw,” Ken Thomson; Quartet version of “Lifeboat No. 6 Tongue in Trees,” Payton MacDonald; and “The Open Road,” David Crowell. One of the composers (and I forget which) was in the audience, as was Mr. Baumbusch. It’s great to be able to hear new works by living composers. All three of the last works were written for JACK. One of them gave me the feeling of Middle Eastern sounds and rhythms, but that might have been just my take. The MacDonald was interesting; having heard that it was originally composed as a quintet with Mr. MacDonald playing the marimba made me wish that I could hear the original version.

The playing throughout was excellent, even taking into account the amplification due to the outdoor setting. I hope to have more opportunities to hear this quartet—I enjoyed this concert that much. And kudos to the promoters for a Rite of Summer concert series. I stumbled upon them last year (their maiden voyage) and I’m glad I’ve been able to hear the concerts of season two.

ConcertMeister