Elgar: Noble and Sublime (11/23/19)

Margaret Kampmeier, piano; Susan Rotholz, flute; Jill Levy, violin; Michael Roth, violin; Sarah Adams, viola; Eliot Bailen, cello

Three Winged Movements – The Hawk’s Glide; At the Bat’s Dwelling; Hummingbird’s Gaiety – Lior Navok (b. 1971)
Venetian Boat Song – Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)
Allegro Molto – Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805–1847)
Quintet for Piano and Strings in A Minor, Op. 84 – Moderato–Allegro; Adagio; Andante–Allegro – Edward Elgar (1857–1934)

Fun facts gleaned from remarks by the performers: The Mendelssohns (siblings) were instrumental in bringing the music of J.S. Bach back into vogue during their lifetimes. The Elgar quintet was written in 1918, and Elgar was knighted in 1904. Now, on to the music.

The first winged piece, all three were for flute and piano, had a splashy opening and then wandered into modern phrases and harmonies. My takeaway was that it had modern, pretty sounds. The second had a slightly extended piano opening before the flute came in with more modern, pretty sounds, though with a hint of anxiety, or so it seemed to me. The third was much more brisk (almost bordering on frantic) and was the most interesting of the three, though it went on a bit long.

Felix M.’s solo piano piece was gentle and pleasant, sort of a barcarolle, and had a nice overall arc, in a relatively simple and effective way. Fanny M.’s solo piano piece was more energetic. It was slightly dramatic, had a song-like feel to it, with quite a few embellishments, and had a rather dramatic section before winding down to a quiet ending.

The first movement of the Elgar had a slightly mysterious opening followed by pretty writing for the strings, with the piano then joining in. There was a mix of dramatic and gentleness, then a big, full dramatic section before closing out with gentleness and, again, a bit of mystery. A gentle opening by the quartet started the second movement before being joined by the piano. It was relatively sedate, though it also included some sedate drama, as well. It was a little lengthy and meandering, but still pretty and, mostly, interesting. The third movement was also fairly gentle to begin with, though there were hints of drama, too, plus a playful section (still tinged with drama) before leading to a full and energetic ending.

I’m not quite sure how ‘Noble and Sublime’ (from the title) figured into the afternoon, but I’m glad that I heard these interesting pieces, all of which were new to me.

ConcertMeister