Jacob Ashworth, violin; Bixby Kennedy, clarinet; Lee Dionne, piano
Suite for clarinet, violin, and piano, Op. 157b (1936) – I. Overture –
Darius Milhaud (1892–1974)
Duo Concertante for violin and piano (1932) – I. Cantilène; II. Eglogue I;
III. Eglogue II; IV. Gigue; V. Dithyrambe – Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971)
Suite for clarinet, violin, and piano, Op. 157b – II. Divertissement – Milhaud
Sonata in Eb Major for clarinet and piano, Op. 120, No. 2 (1894) –
I. Allegro amabile; II. Allegro appassionato; III. Andante con moto – Allegro – Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Suite for clarinet, violin, and piano, Op. 157b – III. Jeu – Milhaud
Suite from L’Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale) (1918) – I. Marche du Soldat; II. Le violon du Soldat; III. Pastorale; IV. Marche Royale; V. Petit Concert; VI. Tango—Valse—Rag; VII. Danse du Diable – Stravinsky
’Tis the season! No, not quite that season yet, but Sunday’s concert was the opening of the season for Concerts on the Slope. At first glance, the program looked a little disjointed. That’s because it was—the three movements of the Milhaud were not played together. That made it slightly awkward since audiences usually don’t applaud individual movements and this audience didn’t quite know what to do at the end of the first piece on the program. Eventually we did applaud. I’m going to treat the Milhaud as one entire work and comment on the three movements here. It opened with all three players with a sound that was very full, bright and slightly impressionistic. It was tuneful and fun. The second movement had the violin and clarinet bouncing phrases back and forth before joining together, eventually joined by the piano as well, with all three playing calmly and pleasantly. The third movement was very playful, scored for violin and clarinet only, which seemed odd to me. My notes read (no piano?). Well as it turns out, that was strange because the suite has a Finale for all three instruments that was not included on this concert. So it was odd to have the movements spread out through the concert and to not hear the complete work.
The Stravinsky violin/piano duo had a slightly mysterious opening that was modern but not all that jarring; after a louder section it had a softer ending. The second movement had gentler, smooth violin lines paired with an energetic running accompaniment in the piano, and then turning rather boisterous for the end. The third movement was rather spare for both, to begin with, pretty in its own way even with modern-sounding phrases and intervals. This truly felt like a duo. The fourth was, not surprisingly, a dance-like gigue. It had an energy that was not quite unbridled, and a feeling of perpetual motion. There was a brief, calmer section before the energetic drive returned for what seemed a rather long section that then ended abruptly. The last movement was slightly mysterious again—in fact, it was pretty much a copy of the first movement, in terms of overall feel as opposed to the actual music, including a quiet ending.
The clarinet/piano sonata of Brahms began with a nice, gentle romantic-era feel. Even with its mix of calmer and bolder moments, scattered ideas and meandering paths, it was enjoyable to listen to. (Between the movements, there was some late arrival seating—3:40pm for a 3:00pm concert!) The second movement was richer and fuller, and more focused, compositionally. A contrasting section had a piano solo opening with the clarinet eventually joining. A solid, more tuneful section followed, although it also wandered a little. The final movement had a fairly quiet opening, with a build-up to more substantial writing, though there was also a lot of back and forth with a mixture of tempos and volume, altogether too segmented for my taste. The allegro at the end was exciting in its way but felt as though it was merely tacked on as an afterthought.
A little bit of history about L’Histoire was announced from the stage. It was slightly confusing, so it sent me to my good friend Wikipedia. L’Histoire is a theatrical piece by Stravinsky that was originally scored for a septet. When the suite was created, it included only five of the seven movements. Stravinsky then created the trio version we heard, but Mr. Kennedy reinstated the Pastorale and Marche Royale. Whew!
The piece opened with typical Stravinsky rhythms. Having somewhat of a primitive feel, it was definitely a march that included some strident clarinet writing. The second movement was a piano and violin duo, with the clarinet eventually joining in. The third was much calmer at the beginning, with more dissonances and a few louder outbursts from time to time amid the, overall, calm movement. The very obvious march followed, which was full and rhythmic and sometimes a bit harsh. The fifth movement was brisk with driving rhythms for all three players, chugging along. It had a few relatively quiet interludes but for the most part, the louder sections were almost relentless. For the sixth, the piano and violin tango was more hinted at than real—the waltz that followed had violin and clarinet lines above an oom-pah-pah over and over and over from the piano—then a smooth segue into the rag, which was also more hinted at, in terms of rhythms. The ending movement had a harsh, almost violent opening. The dance seemed tinged with evil, or at least danger, and was quite appropriate for a dance of the devil. All in all, even with its harshness, driving rhythms, and relentless moments, the entire piece worked as a whole for me. All three players performed very well throughout the afternoon, and returned for a well deserved encore.
A note on this ‘free’ concert. As with many others, there is a suggested donation, in this case twenty dollars. While I didn’t put that much into the free-will offering basket at the back of the church, I did contribute. And one of the good things about the Slope concerts is that all of the donations go directly to the performers—there is nothing taken out for expenses, etc.
ConcertMeister
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