Too bad I couldn’t get this post up while you still had time to get to this delightful concert – but successive first-night performances of Amistad and La Cenerentola (with LONG reviews due next morning) got in the way. Just click on the titles to read what I had to say about them.
Well, things were a bit confusing at the start of program I of the much-cherished Bank of America Chamber series. But then, Dr. Wadsworth and his coterie of world-class musicians weren’t allowed into their temporary home at the Memminger Auditorium until yesterday – and for just a couple of hours at that. The concert “menu board” was placed where most incoming attendees couldn’t see it – so quite a few folks had no idea what they were going to hear, even after they had taken their seats. To top things off, nobody bothered to get Wadsworth a microphone – so some people could hardly hear him introduce the music. But once the music got started, all was well.
But first, he also re-introduced us to an old friend: Geoff Nuttall, the St Lawrence String Quartet’s (SLSQ) lead violin. He’s now taking on the extra duty of serving as Wadsworth’s new Associate Artistic Director for the Chamber series. Hey, running this 11-program series is a tough job – and the good doctor is pushing 80. As he told me during our recent interview, he’s ready to pass on some of the trench labor to younger folk, freeing him up to work more on things like his piano and harpsichord playing.
And the opening number proved that he’d lost nothing of his ivory-tickling prowess. He and flutist extraordinaire Tara Helen O’Connor teamed up for Francis Poulenc’s charming Sonata for Flute and Piano – one of his select chamber works. The first movement’s wistful sense of melancholy gave way to the slow central Cantilena’s sweet, sad singing for the flute, with some exquisite interplay between the instruments. The finale’s mischievous high spirits demonstrated Poulenc’s impish, playful streak.
The only distraction was the annoying bleat of a cellphone during the last movement. Even though I finally gave in & got one last month, I wouldn’t oppose even draconian pre-performance measures to keep them silent (well, I might draw the line at strip searches).
Enter tenor Paul Groves – the series’ vocalist this year – and the first tenor I know of to have graced this series. Along with the members of the SLSQ and Wadsworth at the keyboard, he gave searing, sensitive voice to Ralph Vaughan Williams’ shimmering On Wenlock Edge, setting six verses from A.E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad. It’s one of the English master’s finest vocal cycles. Groves’ bright and gleaming tone, plus his rare interpretive intensity, made something extra-special of it. This is a voice that can either slice through the thickest instrumental textures, or float serenely above them. His colleagues provided gentle (except for a few louder passages) and intuitive support.
The finale was grand indeed: an inspired traversal of Ernö Dohnányi’s rousing, neo-romantic Sextet in C Major, Op. 37. Newcomers Hsin-yun Huang (viola) and Eric Ruske (French Horn) made their festival debuts, perfoming alongside pianist Stephen Prutsman, violinist Scott St. John (of the SLSQ), Todd Palmer on clarinet, and (glory, hallelujah!) wonder-cellist Alisa Weilerstein.
They had an absolute ball barreling through this fabulous, fun-filled piece like a well-oiled machine – only a machine doesn’t go all passionate on you. I wonder if I’ve ever seen smiles like theirs as they played. The final movement was particularly wacky and wonderful. The composer was allegedly very sick when he wrote it – and you can hear it the jumpy, feverish nature of the music. ‘Twas a slam-bang end to an utterly delightful concert.
Chamber Series off to Smashing Start
Too bad I couldn’t get this post up while you still had time to get to this delightful concert – but successive first-night performances of Amistad and La Cenerentola (with LONG reviews due next morning) got in the way. Just click on the titles to read what I had to say about them.
Well, things were a bit confusing at the start of program I of the much-cherished Bank of America Chamber series. But then, Dr. Wadsworth and his coterie of world-class musicians weren’t allowed into their temporary home at the Memminger Auditorium until yesterday – and for just a couple of hours at that. The concert “menu board” was placed where most incoming attendees couldn’t see it – so quite a few folks had no idea what they were going to hear, even after they had taken their seats. To top things off, nobody bothered to get Wadsworth a microphone – so some people could hardly hear him introduce the music. But once the music got started, all was well.
But first, he also re-introduced us to an old friend: Geoff Nuttall, the St Lawrence String Quartet’s (SLSQ) lead violin. He’s now taking on the extra duty of serving as Wadsworth’s new Associate Artistic Director for the Chamber series. Hey, running this 11-program series is a tough job – and the good doctor is pushing 80. As he told me during our recent interview, he’s ready to pass on some of the trench labor to younger folk, freeing him up to work more on things like his piano and harpsichord playing.
And the opening number proved that he’d lost nothing of his ivory-tickling prowess. He and flutist extraordinaire Tara Helen O’Connor teamed up for Francis Poulenc’s charming Sonata for Flute and Piano – one of his select chamber works. The first movement’s wistful sense of melancholy gave way to the slow central Cantilena’s sweet, sad singing for the flute, with some exquisite interplay between the instruments. The finale’s mischievous high spirits demonstrated Poulenc’s impish, playful streak.
The only distraction was the annoying bleat of a cellphone during the last movement. Even though I finally gave in & got one last month, I wouldn’t oppose even draconian pre-performance measures to keep them silent (well, I might draw the line at strip searches).
Enter tenor Paul Groves – the series’ vocalist this year – and the first tenor I know of to have graced this series. Along with the members of the SLSQ and Wadsworth at the keyboard, he gave searing, sensitive voice to Ralph Vaughan Williams’ shimmering On Wenlock Edge, setting six verses from A.E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad. It’s one of the English master’s finest vocal cycles. Groves’ bright and gleaming tone, plus his rare interpretive intensity, made something extra-special of it. This is a voice that can either slice through the thickest instrumental textures, or float serenely above them. His colleagues provided gentle (except for a few louder passages) and intuitive support.
The finale was grand indeed: an inspired traversal of Ernö Dohnányi’s rousing, neo-romantic Sextet in C Major, Op. 37. Newcomers Hsin-yun Huang (viola) and Eric Ruske (French Horn) made their festival debuts, perfoming alongside pianist Stephen Prutsman, violinist Scott St. John (of the SLSQ), Todd Palmer on clarinet, and (glory, hallelujah!) wonder-cellist Alisa Weilerstein.
They had an absolute ball barreling through this fabulous, fun-filled piece like a well-oiled machine – only a machine doesn’t go all passionate on you. I wonder if I’ve ever seen smiles like theirs as they played. The final movement was particularly wacky and wonderful. The composer was allegedly very sick when he wrote it – and you can hear it the jumpy, feverish nature of the music. ‘Twas a slam-bang end to an utterly delightful concert.