Violas! A Rose by any other Name (9/17/26)

Dan McCarthy, viola d’amore, tenor viola, viola & Nicola Canzano, harpsichord 

This was the first concert of Gotham Early Music Scene's new fall season. Sonata No. 4 from Recueil de pièces – Attilo Ariosti (1666–1729) Pozato; Andante; Corrente; Air en Rondeau

Sonata in G Major, BWV 1027 – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) Adagio; Allegro ma non tanto; Andante; Allegro Moderato

Passacaglia from The Mystery Sonatas – Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644–1704)

First, a word about the viola d'amore. It is larger than the viola you usually see, has six bowed strings, and six sympathetic strings (unbowed, but they amplify the sounds of the bowed strings). The first movement of the Ariosti sonata was straightforward and pleasant. The second was slower but not dowdy and had a rich sound. After some retuning, the third movement was definitely dance-like in a subdued way while the fourth was graceful and included odd starts and stops that were almost unsettling before a rather abrupt ending. 

The Bach was played on the tenor viola which is slightly larger than the viola you're used to seeing. Its first movement had a rich, full sound and was fairly stately. The second had a brief harpsichord intro and was a bit more lively as the viola joined in while the third had the harpsichord intro, then added the viola, and was slower and serious, with the two instruments contributing as equal partners. The fourth was also harpsichord then viola and was brisk but still in a serious vein. 

The von Biber was for solo viola and was played on the alto viola, the one you're probably used to. The work had a repetitive line in the lowest string with more intricate lines played on the upper strings. It was a very interesting and enjoyable piece, though it sort of wore out its welcome toward the end. 

Now a couple of notes about the composers. Ariosti was totally new to me; Bach and I are good buddies; and von Biber is a name I knew, but I think this was my first time hearing his music live. It seems that you can teach an old 'Meister new tricks.  ConcertMeister

Orchestra of St. Luke's at Bella Abzug Park (9/9/26)

This is a fun day where small groups of OSL players present themselves in an open-air setting. Having remembered from last year that there was no printed program, I emailed ahead of time to see if they could email me the information so that I could print it out ahead of time. Nope. As of the day before the performances, the schedule had not been finalized. So I had to wing it. 

I got there early and scoped out the two different performance spaces. I could see a brass quintet setting up, so that's where I stayed. A standard brass quintet is two trumpets, one trombone, one French horn, and one tuba. I specified French horn, as both trumpeters also played the flugelhorn at one time or another. It's an interesting-looking instrument. You should do an internet search and take a look. 

They opened with the fanfare section of La Peri composed by Paul Dukas. It was appropriately fanfare-ish, bright and (dare I say it?) brassy. Portions of Saint Saëns' Carnival of the Animals followed—Lion, a march; Elephant, featuring the tuba; Fossils, so named because it quoted parts of old songs; and Finale, which was quite rousing. It was very interesting to hear an orchestral piece scaled down to a quintet. 

A pair of '20s/'30s songs followed. Puttin' on the Ritz is a delightful arrangement that I remembered from last year and was as much fun as I remembered. Tiger Rag was next with its nice jazz riffs leading into the growling "Hold that tiger! Hold that tiger!" 

A trio of songs from West Side Story was next—Maria, Tonight, and I Feel Pretty. Maria was lovely; Tonight included the slightly mellower sounds of the two flugelhorns; while the tuba featured nicely in the "I feel charming" section of I Feel Pretty. 

The set ended with Sousa's Washington Post March, my second hearing of it this summer. Do we all remember Sousapalooza from Make Music Day in June? Once again, it was interesting hearing it scaled down. 

Here's where the afternoon got dicey. It was announced that the brass quintet would do one more set and then the youth orchestra would set up at 5:00pm. I took it upon myself to go to the second performance space where a woodwind quintet was already in full swing. Only one work was announced from the stage, so I don't really know what pieces I heard. (Gosh, a printed program would have been nice.) This woodwind quintet was flute, oboe, bassoon, horn, and clarinet. One sedate and pleasant work opened with a clarinet/bassoon pairing with the horn added briefly, followed by a flute/oboe pairing before we got all five playing together. The one piece announced was the Juba Dance from Florence Price's Symphony #1. It was lively and included the hornist playing muted. Florence Price is an interesting character. You might want to look her up too sometime. 

At 5pm, the youth orchestra was setting up in the space where the wind players had been, completely at odds with what had been announced earlier. I may skip next year and decide later about 2028. But Puttin' on the Ritz ...

ConcertMeister

Bargemusic (9/6/26)

David Shohl 13 Preludes and Fugues, dedicated to David Del Tredici  World Premiere Marc Peloquin, piano 

This was my first visit to the new Bargemusic, which is no longer on a barge. As a result, finding the new venue took longer than expected, so I got into the concert just as it was beginning. Seating was difficult but I did manage to get one. I did not get a copy of the printed program and I can't find a breakdown of the thirteen movements on line. I did take a peek at a neighbor's program, and as far as I could tell, the titles didn't seem to match up with what I was hearing. The music was very modern, quite angular, jangling at times, with lots of driving, chordal rhythms. Most of the movements were relatively short. I liked some of the softer ones better than the bombastics. One movement was similar to an impressionistic color wash, just with more of the driving rhythms. And it was difficult to tell when each movement ended. 

There were some pretty sounds, but they were few and far between; the incessant rhythms were much more prominent. It was definitely not my cup of tea. Still, I'm glad I went. Oh, the composer was in the audience for the world premiere, which is always fun. 

ConcertMeister