Oberon's Glade

Tag: Winter Festival

  • More Schubert @ Chamber Music Society

    Ben beilman

    Above: violinist Benjamin Beilman

    Sunday January 29th, 2023 – Continuing their Schubert-centric Winter Festival, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center today offered a full evening of the master’s works, performed by an elite sextet of artists.

    Schubert’s Adagio and Rondo concertante in F-major for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, was composed in 1816. It is essentially a miniature piano concerto. At the Steinway, Gloria Chien was joined by Benjamin Beilman (violin), Paul Neubauer (viola), and David Requiro (cello).

    Extraordinary richness of tone as the players struck up the introductory phrases; Mr. Beilman then set forth with a dreamy melody. Ms. Chein’s crystal-clear technique offered a counter-song to the dense string harmonies as the music turned dramatic and then sprightly. Things get quite merry, with dancing rhythms propelled by vivid bowing. The music turns delicate before accelerating to a lively finish.

    For the composer’s Allegro in A -minor (“Lebensstürme”), dating from 1828, the pianists were Wu Han, taking the lower octaves, and Alessio Bax, taking the upper. From its dramatic start, the music has a restless quality. Passages of extroverted energy mingle with wonderfully subtle moments: huge crashing chords give way to a haunting misterioso passage, and sharp attacks are becalmed by a poignant, pensive theme. Suddenly, silence falls. And then the pianists play on to a swift finish. 

    Ben Beilman, looking very dapper in his velvet jacket, and pianist Gloria Chien then blew the roof off Alice Tully Hall with their sensational playing of the long and demanding Fantasy in C-major for Violin and Piano, composed in 1827. To Ms. Chein’s lovely, rippling piano modulations, Mr. Beilmen embarked on an achingly gorgeous violin theme, his playing so hushed and tender as he spun out magically pure sustained tones at super-pianissimo. The audience seemed to hold its collective breath, overcome by the sheer beauty of the playing.  

    Now a charming allegro springs up. The music – lilting, light, and dazzling – calls for festoons of fiorature from both players. After a dramatic outburst, with searing violin phrases, a piano cadenza restores peace. Then, in a moment of total silence, a cellphone sounded; I momentarily thought Mr. Beilman was going to stop playing, but instead he countered the intrusion with playing of ineffable sweetness.

    The music turns dancelike, with the violinist alternating edgy plucking with sweeping upward phrases. Virtuoso playing from both artists leads to an interlude, and to a gossamer violin cadenza. Then we return to the beginning: to the enchantment of the work’s first measures. Now commences an onward flight towards the finish, with Mr. Beilman’s incredible tremelos on succeeding notes taking on the air of a demented fiddler. As their astounding performance reached its end, the crowd’s pent up excitement burst forth in a tidal wave of applause and cheers; Ms. Chein and Mr. Beilman faced a full-house standing ovation as a great feeling of joy filled the hall.

    CMS_100721_Gloria_Chien

    Above: pianist Gloria Chien

    Following the interval, Wu Han strode onto the stage in her ruby-red shoes to tell us about some of the programs CMS will be offering in their 2023-2024; we picked up brochures in the lobby after the concert, and immediately marked off several dates to put on our calendars.

    The evening’s concluding work, also composed in 1827, was the Trio No.1 in B-flat major for Piano, Violin, and Cello. For this, Mr. Bax joined Mssrs. Beilman and Requiro.

    The trio’s movement, marked Allegro Moderato, begins in a celebratory mood. It’s lovely to welcome Mr. Requiro back to Alice Tully Hall: he is a cellist of noble tone, capable of great subtlety; here, he takes up a serene melody, to be joined soon after by Mr. Beilman. As the movement flows on, the two string players are heard in unison or with their timbres entwining. Mr. Bax’s playing is so fluent, and with a keen sense of timing.

    In the ensuing Andante un poco mosso, Mr. Bax leads off with a lullabye-like theme; the cello then commences a familiar melody, which is later passed on to the violin and piano. Mr Beilman’s flawless dynamic control is again something to relish, whilst the sound of Mr. Requiro’s cello tore at my heart. Counter-melodies and elegant tonal blends illuminate the music, which has a heavenly conclusion.

    The light and lively Scherzo Allegro draws on dance rhythms. It comes to a full stop, then rebounds, with fresh themes being passed from player to player. The concluding Rondo, with its sprightly start, is full of witty dotted motifs, arpeggios, and trills. The music dances on to a merry finish, leaving the players to savor the audience’s grateful applause and shouts of bravo!

    ~ Oberon

  • CMS Winter Festival: All-Schubert Evening

    Gilbert-kalish-header

    Tuesday January 24th, 2023 – This year, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center‘s annual Winter Festival is centered on the works of Franz Schubert. Tonight’s program featured the eminent pianist Gilbert Kalish and my beloved Escher String Quartet in three masterworks from the composer’s brilliant – but all too brief – career.

    The single-movement Quartettsatz in C-minor for Strings, D. 703, was composed in 1820. It seems to have been intended to be the first movement of a full quartet, but the composer never composed additional movements.

    From its scurrying start, the Escher Quartet’s performance of the Quartettsatz was a complete delight; their rhythmic attentiveness and tonal appeal were amply on display, their playing full of both vitality and nuance. The silken sheen of Adam Barnett-Hart’s violin made its distinctive mark in solo passages, the music flowing onward to a sudden tempest. This is soon calmed, but Brook Speltz’s restless cello figurations keep things lively. There is a da capo, a sort of coda, which draws on to a full-toned chordal passage; here, the classic Escher blend could be deeply savoured.

    Gilbert Kalish then took the stage for Schubert’s Sonata in B-flat major for Piano, D. 960, composed in 1828. This long and demanding work begins with an Allegro Moderato. Mr. Kalish delivers the theme with a sense of serenity; then a low trill sounds, seeming rather ominous – a trill which later brings music of great tenderness. As things become more intense, so does the playing: modulations are beautifully handled by the pianist. The low trill returns before a final recapitulation.

    Mr. Kalish brought forth the austere calm – and the poignant colours – of the ensuing Andante sostenuto; the music’s steady rhythmic pulse puts us in a trance. The movement’s ending feels like a benediction.

    In a striking volte face, the pianist takes up the boundless animation of the Scherzo. The music breezes along, pausing only for a courtly interlude. The sonata’s concluding Allegro ma non troppo is filled with an uplifting sense of buoyancy and good humor. Passing shadowy clouds momentarily blot out the sun, but by the end, all is bright and fair.

    Mr. Kalish was hugely applauded by the packed house at Alice Tully Hall. If Wikipedia is correct, the pianist is 88 years young…simply remarkable! 

    Escher qt

    Above, the players of the Escher String Quartet: Adam Barnett-Hart, violin; Brendan Speltz, violin; Brook Speltz, cello; and Pierre Lapointe, viola.

    The gentlemen of the Escher Quartet returned after the interval for the G-major quartet, Opus 161, dating from 1826. From the work’s striking beginning, this music – which I first heard ions ago in the Woody Allen film CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS – always casts a deep spell over me. Incredibly rich and vividly detailed, the opening movement features tremelo effects – introduced  by the Escher’s stellar violist Pierre Lapointe – and achingly beautiful, ethereal themes for Mr. Bernett-Hart’s violin. The music becomes triumphant, reaching a passionate end.

    As the sonata moves on, cellist Brook Speltz’s role takes on increasing prominence. In the Andante, his sublime cello melody sets the tone, with his colleagues providing gorgeous harmonies. The music becomes intensely poignant, and Mr. Speltz’s playing has me thoroughly engrossed…hypnotized, really.

    But suddenly the music stopped; at first, I thought someone had broken a string, but apparently it was a tuning issue; corrections were made, and, after a few moments, the players resumed. It took a while to re-establish the mood; the music becomes hushed, with 2nd violinist Brendan Speltz and Mr. Lapointe sharing a duet passage. Then tremelos again are heard, and the music draws us on to an elegant finish.

    Things had been set to rights following the interruption, and the final Allegro assai should have been the frosting on this delicious cake: a deftly Mendelssohnian affair wherein the cellist has more opportunities to enchant us…which he did. But, a jingling cellphone began to sound. The musicians played on, the music so reminiscent of Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony. The phone ceased for a bit, then rang again. Could the timing have been any worse?

    The players persevered, and the audience hailed them with a boisterous standing ovation at the end. While the intense connection to the music I was experiencing prior to the unexpected lull was never re-established, it was still a wonderful evening.

    ~ Oberon