Program III at Dock Street, as expected, was a small, but savory smorgasbord built around the music of three prominent composers who spent quality time at the MacDowell Colony – we’ve already blogged about it below.
But that crowd’s contributions were preceded by Debussy’s gorgeous Danses Sacree et Profane, with Catrin Finch’s shimmering harp backed up by string quartet. The strings players were the usual members of the St. Lawrence Quartet, minus Geoff Nuttall: Scott St. John took over at first violin – and last year’s SLQ stand-in, Daniel Philips, reprised that role at violin 2. The piece was a lush and evocative tone-painting, with two contrasting run-on movements exploring both sides of the border between sacred and profane – and, as host Wadsworth told us, you could sure tell when the profane part kicked in. It’s such a treat to have Finch back for a second year: at this rate, we may get to hear just about all of the rather small chamber repertoire for harp.
The first of the MacDowell bunch was American master Ned Rorem, who also studied in Paris in his youth. His Paris Then is a blasé little waltz for piano & clarinet that reminds you of French composer Francis Poulenc on a sunny day. Todd Palmer’s smooth clarinet work made us smile. Then, flute sorceress Tara Helen O’Connor took his place for a late piece from Yankee icon Aaron Copland — his Duo for Flute & Piano – but just its final movement. It made for a perky little conversation between the two instruments. Charles Wadsworth did the keyboard honors in both of these gems.
Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla did for the tango what Haydn and Mozart did for the minuet. This sensual dance form was the basis for most of his work – which has taken the world by storm in recent years. The Seasons, originally written for orchestra, is one of his most important works – and we heard the ‘Autumn’ and ‘Spring’ movements from it, in arrangements for violin (Chee-Yun), cello (Andres Diaz) and piano (Wendy Chen). The music smoldered and schmoozed; great stuff.
Palmer made us smile with Rorem, but he had us gasping in the final selection – by one of today’s really hot composers, Osvaldo Golijov. Born in South America, he was raised largely in Israel – where he picked up a penchant for Klezmer music. His Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind was written specifically for the musicians who performed two movements from it here: Palmer plus the St Lawrence Quartet (with Nuttall back at violin 1). He used three different kinds of clarinet, and played the heck outta all of them in this amazing modern Klezmer fantasy. Palmer made his clarinet weep and wail in the most Angst-ridden Jewish fashion – but showed he could get wild & crazy with the best when the going got celebratory.
Well, dear blogophiles – I’ve revealed three concerts’ worth of advance chamber program info so far, but that’s as far as Doc W’s blessing goes (except for the final concert, that’ll offer the great Schubert C Major Quintet in memory of Menotti). So – like it or not – from now on, it’s back to Menotti’s fine old tradition of making you take potluck by keeping you in the dark until concert time. But that wise practice has made more adventurous listeners of many of us. And the “delightful surprise” factor is also at work: it’s something like dumping out your stocking on Christmas morning. You’ll never hear me complain.
