The seventh program of the Bank of America Chamber Music Series blew into town early this afternoon, providing a choice selection of delights. Dr. Wadsworth slated some rare birds in with more familiar material, opening a lot of eyes (and hopefully ears as well!). A hot day did nothing to dampen the audience’s spirits, and coupled with our very talented musicians produced (yet again) a wonderful experience. Everyone performed admirably, and there was plenty of magic in the air…especially at the end. But I’ll get there soon enough!
The good doctor kicked things off by bringing cellist Edward Arron to the stage for Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise. Dr. Wadsworth handled the piano duties with only one sliding moment of a twitter. But this piece is about that melody, and boy what a melody! Edward Arron’s tone is open, with a touch of brightness to it which brought a hymn-like quality to this chestnut. As it drifted into silence, I knew I was in for a special afternoon.
Dr. Wadsworth commented on the long standing practice of excerpting movements from larger works for performances, a practice continued today with the closing movement from Zoltán Kodály’s Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7. St. Lawrence String Quartet violinist Scott St. John joined Edward Arron on stage, and the piece began with a throbbing flutter from his violin. The work picks up speed quickly, marked by several plucked exclamation points before becoming a laughing gypsy hoe-down, exploring the entire range of both instruments with the pedal to the metal. The dance slows to a conversational pace which ebbs and flows till the end; our gypsies appear to be closet rocket scientists! And that’s the genius of Kodály: erudite sophistication found in the simplest of folk melodies.
Dr. Wadsworth then turned the hosting duties over to his new (well, newly titled…) partner in crime, SLSQ’s Geoff Nuttall, who seems more than able to provide exactly the atmosphere for which this series is known. In introducing bassoonist Peter Kolkay, he quipped how rare it is to see “the bassoon in captivity,” and had Peter give us a rundown on his instrument. Our bassoonist then dove into the rarely heard Sonata for Bassoon and Cello, K. 292, by Mozart. Cellist Edward Arron got a true workout today! The sonata starts in good humor, like so much of Mozart, and even though this work was written when the composer was nineteen years old, shows the perfect balance of line which makes listening such a pleasure. The bassoon’s warm, buttery tone creates a clean line, and in the hands of this master, brought forth a sense of joy. The pathos of the slow movement was somewhat interrupted by what sounded like a large steel beam crashing to the floor behind the scrim, but our musicians soldiered on undaunted, and the disturbance did nothing to diminish the sound coming from the stage. The closing movement placed the cello on a bit more equal footing with the bassoon, and its speed brought out the best in both musicians. Charming!
Closing our program today was Johannes Brahms’ Horn Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 40. There is precious little literature for this marvelous combination, so it was with great interest that I approached the granddaddy of them all (I played horn in high school…). Our ensemble included pianist Pedja Muzijevic, horn extraordinaire Eric Ruske, and…quite possibly the most captivating violinist I’ve heard this year, Yoon Kwon. I’m sorry guys, you played superbly, bringing this rich work to fervent life, but my ears (and I must admit, eyes as well…) were glued to the sound emanating from this incredible talent. She’ll be back, and I can only hope that this is the start of a long relationship with Spoleto in her life. O.K. I need to stop now. She’s that good!
