Author: Philip Gardner

~ Author: Oberon

Tuesday July 22nd, 2025 – I wasn’t feeling well but decided to go to this evening’s Chamber Music Society concert because I was especially keen to hear the Arensky quartet that was the closing work on the program. The prevailing heat and humidity had exhausted me, but now we had had a cooler day, and I was glad to get out of the house. In the event, I didn’t make it to the end of the evening.

Mikhail Glinka’s Variations on a Theme of Mozart, as played by Anna Geniushene (photo above), got the evening off to a dazzling start. From its extraordinarily subtle opening bars,  the music soon turns fanciful. Ms. Geniushene’s technical command made for a fascinating aural experience as her mastery of piano/pianissimo colorations and touches of rubato constantly enticed the ear; her extraordinary delicacy of touch was a testament to her amazing control. Just as she was polishing off the final bar of music, someone sneezed loudly. Yes, I know these things can happen, but really spoiled the atmosphere in the hall. 

During the ensuing performance of Beethoven’s Variations in G-major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 121a, “Kakadu”, my evening began to unravel. A couple sitting in front of me began sharing whispers, and even cuddled a bit, whilst two women next to me fanned themselves briskly with their Playbills. I managed to tune these distractions out – at least momentarily – as Ms. Geniushene was joined by violinist Francisco Fullana and cellist Sterling Elliott for the Beethoven.

After a unison start, the pianist sets a gentle pace; the strings veer between intensity and lyricism, the violin tender, the cello deep. Moments of drama alternate with delicious subtleties as the music turns dancelike.

Now the variations commence: the first for solo piano, the second for nimble violin & piano, the third for mellow cello & piano. Scale passages from the Steinway underscore themes traded between the string voices in the fourth, The fifth has a lyrical flow, the sixth is witty, with the strings making slashing attacks. Violin and cello are charming in the seventh variation, and Ms. Geniushene plays wistfully in the eighth, soon joined by the strings. Then a merry dance strikes up and the finale is quite grand. The three musicians were warmly cheered. 

Schubert’s Adagio and rondo concertante in F-major for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, D. 487, commenced with violist Lawrence Dutton and the gorgeous cellist Inbal Segev cellist joining Ms. Geniushene and Mr. Fullana for some sublime music-making. But the chatterboxes in front of me could not sit still, and now the man behind kept whispering to his companion, whilst the two women to my right had fallen asleep. As the Schubert reached its brilliant finish, to hearty applause, I decided to head home, not having heard the Arensky, which is why I was there in the first place.

~ Oberon