COTS @ 2nd Street (10/22/17)

Sheng-Ching Hsu, violin; Brian Bak, violin; Maren Rothfritz, viola; Benjamin Larsen, cello, Laura Del Sol Jiménez, flute; Eric Huckins,
French horn; Ava Nazar, piano

Rising – Joan Tower (b. 1938)
The Silent Flame – I. Frosty; II. With energy; III. Rigorous; IV. Sorrowful –
Ke-Chia Chen (b. 1979)
String Quartet in E flat Major, Opus 74 ‘Harp’ – Poco adagio – Allegro; Adagio ma non troppo; Presto; Allegretto con Variazioni – Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

This Concerts on the Slope at Second Street, in Manhattan, was a new venue for me: the Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection. The concert took place in a second floor meeting hall/room that had very lively acoustics. Rising, for flute and string quartet, opened with lots of rising scales (duh!) and phrases that were slightly moody and tense. It was harsh at times but balanced with calmer phrases. It rambled a bit too much for me, with basically a lot of sound and fury. But not a lot of payoff.

The second work, for horn and piano, opened with solo piano that was then softly joined by the horn (played with a mute—a little megaphone-style cone). It was mostly calm though it did have a slight build in volume and intensity. The second movement was very rapid and modern sounding, with interesting sounds, from a technique standpoint. The third had octaves in the piano that were then joined by the horn, though the two seemed to be in their own individual worlds before coming together once in a while. It meandered a bit and also made me wonder whether it was originally written as a stand-alone piece that had perhaps been written first, with the other movements eventually added afterward. Pure speculation on my part. The final movement also had a solo piano opening, with the horn joining later as a somewhat mournful addition. After an extensive horn solo, the piece concluded with a duet, but with each instrument again in their own separate worlds. During the applause, the composer was acknowledged, since she was in attendance.

The first movement of the Beethoven string quartet was sweet and quiet, with flashes of drama—the allegro was also pretty and sweet, with its own drama, including the pizzicato section that gives the work its ‘harp’ moniker. At times, it was also very full and rich. The second movement had a song-like melody in the first violin, then a more blended sound with all four players, with dark but very interesting passages, followed by a solid and, in a sense, deep passage. It was fairly lengthy but only because there was so much to say. The third movement was also dark and dramatic, full of energy in a sort of controlled fury that threatened to escape from time to time. Even in the quieter sections there was still that energy. In the final movement, everybody got a chance to shine by bouncing phrases back and forth. Each section had a neat little beginning, development, and ending before culminating in a rambunctious rush to the final ending.

Overall, this was ambitious programming all under the impresario-like eye of
Mr. Larsen, who also is the guiding force behind Concerts on the Slope, in Brooklyn (Park Slope). It’s great that he has such dedication to presenting this type of programming. On a side note, one of the priests from the cathedral quizzed me at intermission about why I was taking notes. That led to him Googling nyconcertmeister, where I was the top hit. It also led to the fledgling ConcertMeister Facebook page—feel free to check it (and the goofy photo I posted) out. Strange new, brave new world.

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