Cecilia Sparacio, flute; Arianna Kalian, oboe; Simeon Loring, clarinet; Nancy Vizza, horn; Lori Brand, bassoon; David See, piano
Allegro con moto from Quintet No. 1, Op. 18 – Felix Mendelssohn/
Loring (1809–1847)
Concertino for Clarinet – I. Grave; II. Allegro molto; III. Adagio; IV. Allegro risoluto – Giuseppe Tartini/Loring (1692–1770)
Sciarda Spagnuola – I. Entrata; II. Pavanne; III. Gagliarda; IV. Passamezzo;
V. Frottola; VI. Finale – Juriann Andriessen (1925–1996)
Divertissement, Op.6, Sextet for piano and winds – Albert Roussel (1869–1937)
Quintet in E-flat, Op. 16, for piano and winds – I. Grave – Allegro, ma non troppo; II. Andante cantabile; III. Rondo: Allegro, ma non troppo – Ludvig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
First off, L’Amore is a wind quintet. Yes. There is a horn there, which is brass, and yes, there is a flute there which is some sort of metal. But they comprise a woodwind quintet—I don’t make the rules, I merely play by them. Mr. See, on the piano, was a bonus player, and a very good one at that.
The Mendelssohn/Loring (see Loring, above) was charming, with an interesting staccato theme (think tap-tap-tap-tap-tap) that got tossed around to all five players in the quintet. It was a fun movement but it did tend to go on and on.
The Tartini was cobbled together by Mr. Loring from different movements of different pieces written by Signore Tartini. The first movement was slow and almost plodding while the second was brisk and bright, with the clarinet featured much more prominently. The third was slow again but with more charm than the first movement. The final movement was jaunty, with repetitive phrases that were almost like a theme and variations.
While I didn’t get too much of a hint of Spanish flair, the first movement of the Andriessen was much more modern, rhythmic, and very brief. The second was gentle, yet still intricate and interesting, and the third was full of fun rhythms, with touches of humor. The fourth movement was sweet. It had a contrasting section that still maintained the sweetness. The fifth was brisk, but with a certain heft to it. The Finale was very similar to the Entrata and rounded out the piece nicely.
Adding the piano to the wind quintet was a very nice touch. It created fuller music that still highlighted the quirky quality of the wind quintet. The Roussel started with solo piano and then added the oboe and then the clarinet, and then everyone jumped into the mix. It was somewhat modern but listenable, and at times reminded me of Debussy (though it made its own statement). An interesting touch—at times the horn played with a mute inserted into the bell of the horn, giving it a somewhat buzzy sound. The entire piece was playful at times without going overboard.
The Beethoven quintet (alas the flutist was demoted to page turner for the pianist) opened with the instruments playing in unison/octaves, followed by a brief flash of solo piano. My notes say that there was a slight sense of dark drama, and that the first movement was pleasant but felt a little too long. The second movement had a fairly lengthy piano opening and then all of the players joined in. In general, it was slower and calmer and seemed a bit lengthy, as in, did not really hold my interest. The final movement was quicker but not frantic at all. There was a very nice interplay between the piano and the winds.
Was this stellar playing? Not exactly. Was this a nice afternoon of varied music? Exactly. I’d say this group is worth another revisit. I think my last post about them was in 2015. Age is showing with them (and with me) but there’s still a lot on offer.
ConcertMeister
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