Subway Series 2014 (9/13/2014)

This was my second experience with the Subway Series—five concerts by a St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, one in each borough of New York. Last year’s was an outdoor affair, Bryant Park, for me, while this year’s takes place in five different public libraries. Brooklyn’s was yesterday (9/14), with the other three boroughs in the near future (Bronx, 9/18; Staten Island, 9/20; and Queens, 9/21). I’m guessing that the program is the same for all five.

Here’s what I heard: A woodwind quintet—Elizabeth Mann, flute; Roni Gal-ed, oboe;
Jon Manasse, clarinet; Cynde Iverson, bassoon; and Eric Reed, horn. Here's what they played: Scherzo – Eugène Bozza (1905–1991); Six Bagatelles – György Ligeti (1923–2006); Pastorale – Amy Beach (1867–1944); Summer Music for Wind Quintet, Op. 31 –
Samuel Barber (1910–1981); and Aires Tropicales – Paquito D’Rivera (b. 1948).

A woodwind quintet (and I still have a “huh?” moment when I see a French horn in there) is most of the time going to produce bubbly, lighthearted sounds, and these compositions were no exception. The Bozza was a delightful, brief opener, with my notes reading Mendelssohn/Debussy meets “Flight of the Bumblebee.” In fact, Mr. Manasse also likened it to “Bumblebee” in the brief remarks he made from the stage.

Ligeti, once again as we learned from onstage remarks, said that he channeled Bartok and Stravinsky for his bagatelles in his use of dissonance. And the pieces were actually banned by the Hungarian government because of the dissonance! The first movement had a jaunty opening, with the flutist switching to piccolo, here. The second movement, Rubato – Lamentoso, truly captured the sense of a lament. Kudos to the horn player (all five played well throughout). As promised, there were some very harsh dissonances. The third movement had the flute playing a more sustained tune over bubbly bassoon and clarinet writing, with the tune then passed back and forth between all, finishing with a gentle ending. The fourth opened with a blast of dissonance followed by a very brisk dance (to my ears), a muted horn sounding buzzy, and a brief blast to finish. The fifth had a Zen feeling to start, with rhythmic phrases but not in a minimalist way; tensions were built and then resolved. The final movement led us back to the sounds from the very beginning.

Pastorale was gentle, rocking, very pleasant, and sweet though not overly so. Though she was listed as Amy Beach here, when her music was published and played in her lifetime, she was almost always Mrs. H.H.A. Beach, in deference to her husband.

Barber’s Suite, composed in 1955, had a gentle opening, leading to a nice oboe tune taking the lead. The piece built a bit in intensity into a not quite overpowering perpetual motion section. Then there was a return to a lovely oboe sound over sustained horn writing, with support from the others. There were some dissonances, but not nearly as abrasive as the Ligeti.

Aires Tropicales was a suite of dance movements and my notes include: energetic with touches of jazz, ostinatos (horn and bassoon, at various times), some bending of pitches, a Habañera that was a trio (oboe, bassoon, clarinet), a humorous feel for a Latin-beat waltz, a spherical feel for the fifth movement with a touch of the blues, a sixth movement that featured an alto flute (the oboist also doubled on the English horn in this work), and a very lively Contradanza to finish that I likened to “Tiko-Tiko” plus a touch of ragtime, and even foot stomping from all five players. Altogether, a delightful piece, and a very well played concert over all. I’m tempted to check out the Staten Island concert just for the heck of it—and because I so rarely make the trip over there. I’ll keep you posted.

ConcertMeister