Mozart, Saint-Saens et al. - Chamber music works - FIU Chamber Players - Miami, March 2010

The most recent concert I've attended took place in FIU’s Wertheim Performing Arts Center on Thursday March 04. The FIU Chamber Players performed works by Mozart, Saint-Saens, and Brahms, plus a composition/improvisation by the players. On paper, this chamber music concert looked much more to my liking than the first one I reviewed a few weeks ago.

Opening the concert we had the Piano Trio in B-flat, K. 502 by Wolfgang A. Mozart. The performers were Jose Lopez on the piano, Robert Davidovici with the violin and Ross Harbaugh in the cello. I had already watched Davidovici play in the previous concert in FIU and I was quite pleased to see him return, now to play a piece by one of my favorite composers. Needless to say, the music in the trio was of the highest quality, with that melodic gift that no composer or musician has ever been able to repeat after Mozart. The first playful movement was graciously played by the performers, in what resembled a duel between the two strings, on one side, and the piano on the other. While the piano went crazy with scales and arpeggios, the violin proposed the ideas and the big cello complemented them. In the second movement, once again the Salzburg master proved that he was unrivaled in writing music that is so beautiful, and at the same time, easy to listen to. The violin played with delicacy, with the other two instruments allowing it room to breathe and to shine. The final movement, a return to the playful spirit of the first one, was pure bliss, a perfect rondo of the kind only Mozart could give us. I was very satisfied with the playing by the three instrumentalists.

The second work of the night was Camille Saint-Saens’ “Fantaisie for violin and harp”. Davidovici came back for the violin part and Deborah Fleisher took charge of the harp. It was my first time seeing this big instrument so close to me, and I was amazed at its size (it really looks smaller when in the context of a big symphony orchestra) and its physical beauty. As for its sound, I already knew the wonders it could do thanks to Mozart and his glorious Concerto for Flute and Harp, but it was a revelation to hear it paired only with a violin. Saint-Saens was another composer with a talent for beauty and melody like no other, and the piece was a perfect showcase for the violin’s lyricism and the harp dream-like delicacies. The work had a few Spanish elements here and there, though in general it sounded more romantic and passionate. The Fantaisie is structured in a few separate sections, each with different subjects, but the spirit is the same throughout the entire score. I was extremely pleased with the music and the performance.

The next part of the concert was my least favorite. Deemed as a “Catch as Catch Can Composition/Improvisation”, what we heard next was clearly jazz, not classical/academic music. Gary Campbell played the saxophone, Jamie Ousley the bass, and Mike Orta the piano, in a work that felt less improvisatory than I expected, with the exception of the soloing by each one of the instrumentalists. What was good about the piece, for me, was the chance to see a big bass, a perennial pawn in the symphonic orchestra, taking center stage, and its user certainly knew how to make the most out of the occasion, with a tremendous solo that sounded as difficult as it looked uncomfortable to play. The musicians were good, their connection very firm, but the piece left me rather cold. There’s just a few jazz pieces I truly love, and this Composition/improvisation will not be entering that group anytime soon. Anyway, it was an interesting experience and a welcomed change of pace.

After the intermission, the same trio of the beginning plus Laura Wilcox in the viola returned to the stage, this time to play Johannes Brahms’ Piano Quartet in A, Op. 26. It was quite a coincidence that both my first two concerts with this group of players have ended with Brahms’ chamber music. Unlike the previous time, however, the Brahms was not the highlight of the event. The playing sure was fiery and impeccable. Amazingly, it was the work itself the one that didn’t get to me. I love Brahms symphonic music and in general all his works for big orchestra, and I like his string quartets, but this time I was left underwhelmed. The first movement seemed to drag forever without the clear purpose of other sonata movements by the Hamburg master, even when the first theme was particularly beautiful. The slow movement was not one of the most memorable. The music became more interesting to me with the arrival of the more ferocious third movement and the dramatic fourth movement. Thus, the concert ended on a high note, but not as high as I could have expected.

In general, the event was a good experience and the performances more than satisfactory. I think the jazz composition was at the same time a blessing and a curse: on one hand, it was a welcomed return to earth from the highs we were flying at after so much beautiful music by Mozart and Saint-Saens; on the other hand, it distracted me (and, as I noticed, the audience) and left us less ready to fully concentrate on the more complicated structures and thematic material of Brahms’ work. Putting a jazz piece in the middle of three classical/romantic compositions was an interesting experiment but one that, in my view, needs not be repeated.

Telemann, Marcello et al. - Trumpet Concertos - Sergei Nakariakov (trumpet) - The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra - Hugh Wolff (TELDEC)

A long time I bought this recording exclusively for the Telemann piece (the F-minor one). At the time, I didn’t even check what else was on the disc; I just had to get a CD-version of the concerto written by the ultra-prolific German composer. As I found out later, the rest of the music is of hit-or-miss quality.

First on we have a concerto by Antonio Vivaldi. Originally written for violin and oboe, this piece in B-flat is a light little concerto that doesn’t completely grab my attention. Maybe it’s the fact that, because of the transcription, the trumpet sounds slightly out of place with the music that surrounds it, I’m not sure. As with all Vivaldi, though, one can’t expect anything else but a joyful time.

The second concerto is a D-major one by Georg Phillip Telemann. Unlike the one that steals the show at the end, this one lacks the dramatic punch or the melodic gift necessary to make it unforgettable. Anyway, this is a good rendition by the (then) very young Russian virtuoso Sergei Nakariakov and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Hugh Wolff.

The work of Johann Baptist Georg Neruda was unknown to me until I listened to the Concerto in E-flat, which is the longest one in the disc. The style of this piece is more classical and less baroque than the rest of the music on this album. To be honest, I'm not going to rush and get more recordings of Neruda’s works anytime soon. Though graceful and light, the concerto pales in comparison with the rest, with little character and invention, and short in melodic delicacies.

Things change for the better with Alessandro Marcello’s dark, winter-ready concerto in C-minor. The powerful statement that opens it sets the stage for the rest of the piece, where the trumpet sounds much more involved than in the previous one. The second movement is particularly beautiful, though I’m almost positive that it would sound even more beautiful in its original instrument, the oboe. Nakariakov plays with grace, though I think he could have avoided embellishing the theme when it is so perfect just by itself.

As is my norm, I pretty much ignored Bach’s Agnus Dei from his B-minor Mass here as it’s an adaptation and also an excerpt, unnecessarily cut from one of music’s all-time most glorious moments.

The best has been left for last. Telemann’s concerto in F-minor is also originally an oboe piece, but it has been played so often in this trumpet form that it has become a staple of the instrument’s repertoire. My favorite work by the composer, it’s presented brilliantly here by the Russian trumpeter who seems to understand it perfectly. The ambiguous, imposing first phrase of the concerto has all the necessary energy, though it could be played a hair slower for my taste. Unlike the Neruda piece, here the slow movement gets a great treatment by Nakariakov, who caresses the notes with his instrument. The third movement is an absolute gem of an interpretation, with the right speed and character.

As I said before, the album is not perfect but it’s highly recommended (if still possible to get), if only for the Telemann F-minor concerto and the Marcello work.

3.5/5

Albinoni (Gaziotto) et al. - Adagio, Canon and more orchestral favorites - Herbert Von Karajan - Berlin Philharmonic - DG

When I think of Herbert von Karajan and his long term association with the Berlin Philharmonic, I rarely think of baroque music first. Usually, I picture Von Karajan conducting Beethoven or Mahler or some other Germanic, romantic-oriented composer. Nevertheless, I needed a new version of “Albinoni’s” “Adagio” and Pachelbel’s “Canon”, two of the best-known little baroque pieces that for some reasons weren’t in my collection in any shape or form. So I tried with this DG recording, and I can say that associating the Austrian maestro with baroque music will not be so far-fetched for me anymore.

The first track in the disc is the piece still known as “Albinoni’s Adagio”. It has long been established that Tomasso Albinoni never composed the piece, but Remo Giazotto, who published it and has been denied the fame he justly deserves even if only for this single work. This reading of the Adagio is fantastic, it literally made my eyes watery, conveying so much emotion; probably the best I’ve heard. Not good for purists maybe, but for me, Karajan added a romantic depth to the piece that turned it from a minor pretty composition into a masterpiece of sadness.

Next on is Vivaldi’s “La Notte”, a concerto for flute, strings and harpsichord. Vibrant as all Vivaldi is, it was the first time I ever heard it so I can’t compare it with other versions. The energy of the music is easily brought to life by the Berlin orchestra’s superb string section.

I didn’t pay much attention to Bach’s “Air” from his third orchestral suite as I don’t like listening to the piece without listening to the entire work. Anyway, it’s almost impossible to even imagine a bad version of Bach by the Germans and Karajan (actually, it’s hard to imagine anyone making this little thing sound anything else but glorious. Bach’s music is that perfect.)

Pachelbel’s “Canon and Gigue”, the other main reason for my buying this album, gets a good if-a-little-fast reading. Unlike with the Adagio, in here the orchestra sounds cold, playing through the motions. It’s the best orchestra in the world, so it sounds ok. But I’ve heard warmer versions. The addition of the entire work (some recordings omit the gigue) is welcomed.

Christoph Willibald Gluck’s music has never been one of my strong points. I have to admit listening to the “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” from “Orpheus and Eurydice” was a revelation. The music is astoundingly beautiful, Mozart-like beautiful, and the recording here does it justice.

The disc closes with Mozart’s “Serenata Notturna”, K. 239. A light, graceful, rather forgettable little piece by the Salzburg master, the work receives fair treatment by the orchestra. Though, again, I feel the version is a little on the uninspired side of things. It’s not Mozart’s best work, but I’ve heard it played with more gusto even by lesser ensembles.

Overall, this album is a good option for someone wanting to have a version of the Adagio and Pachelbel’s Canon without having to get more music by either Albinoni (who isn’t the author of the piece anyway) or the German composer. The recording is clear and efficient, and the playing is extremely accurate, and in three of the works, inspired.

3.5/5