Back to the Barge (5/24/14)

The Barge, of course, is Bargemusic—an actual barge moored on the Brooklyn side of the East River—that presents year-round concerts, and that includes free Saturday afternoon Family Concerts. I hadn’t been there in a while, so imagine my surprise when I saw a holiday weekend concert on their schedule. I went, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Mark Peskanov, violin, and Doris Stevenson, piano, performed works of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Mr. Peskanov, who is also the Executive Director of Bargemusic, got the concert off to a nice start with a solo, the Siciliana from the Bach G minor sonata. He plays Bach very well and it’s obvious that he really enjoys it, as well.

Beethoven’s Sonata #5 in F Major (“Spring”) for violin and piano followed. The first movement was bright and somewhat dramatic, and a bit lengthy but interesting. (The violinist retuned before the second movement—not unheard of, but not particularly usual for him, either.) The next movement was slow and gentle, but still with some filigree runs for both piano and violin. The third was dance-like and had an off-the-beat rhythmic motif, while the last was playful. My scribbled notes had “scherzo”? As a slight aside here, the Bargemusic concerts are usually announced from the stage, so I have to do a bit more guesswork. The ‘con’ is that I have to do a little guesswork. The ‘pro’ is that I also usually do more online exploration afterward, and end up learning a bit more. It was a rondo, not a scherzo.

Up next was a single-movement Brahms Violin/Piano Scherzo that ventured more into the Romantic era with a deeper and fuller sound and repeating rhythmic passages. A fun, pleasant piece. Beethoven’s Sonata #7 in C minor followed, and began with a more complex feeling that the previously heard #5. The first movement was up tempo throughout, while in the second, the piano laid out a rather lengthy theme that was then taken up by the violin, with complex and shifting themes that followed. The third was playful, once again, and quite brief. The last movement was even more complex, with shifting moods and phrases leading to a rushed, presto finish.

And then we returned to the beginning, sort of. Mr. Peskanov played a solo Bach Gavotte—a charming way to end the concert. These Family Concerts are slightly less formal than some. The audience often includes families with children, but I consider this to be a great learning experience for them. Informal, however, does not include cell phones going off, and yes, that occurred again. Please be responsible, audience members; we don’t need those interruptions. I urge all of my NYC peeps (and visitors alike) to check out Bargemusic. As I said, they run a full complement of programming, but nothing beats free in NYC!

ConcertMeister