A Good Week for Clarinetists, and a Bad Night for the Horn

On Tuesday night, as the Philadelphia Orchestra was banging at Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony in Carnegie Hall’s main auditorium,the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble was downstairs, in Zankel Hall. They presented smaller music, but still good music – including a piece by Beethoven. In fact, this piece was a great hit in Beethoven’s day. But more on that in a minute.Joining Beethoven on this program were Haydn and Prokofiev. If you were looking for a common thread in the evening – and bless you, if you weren’t – it was theme and variations: Each piece contained a theme and variations. But what’s wrong with enjoying three pieces, three quite different pieces, for their own sakes?The program began with Haydn’s Trio in E flat for horn, violin, and cello (also called a “Divertimento a tre”). This is essentially a Classical showpiece for horn, and you need a really virtuosic player to bring it off. Joseph Anderer – a stalwart of both St. Luke’s and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra – is a virtuosic player. But he had a very rough time of it in the Haydn.For much of the first movement, he was pinched, uncertain, and struggling. Often, when you hear a piece for horn, your main thought is,”Gee, this is a difficult instrument.” You spend so much time worrying for the horn player, you can hardly enjoy the music. Playing with Mr. Anderer were the violinist Krista Bennion Feeney and the cellist Daire Fitzgerald. This first movement was a festival of squeaks, scratches, and misses. You know how Classical or Baroque music, in particular, can sound sickly? This was one of those instances.The second movement – which is also the concluding movement – went a little better, with Mr. Anderer seeming to relax, and come into his own, just as the piece was ending.I might make a familiar comment about the acoustics of Zankel Hall, too: They are exposing, exacting, throwing players (and singers) into harsh relief. If you’re not making beautiful or otherwise pleasing sounds, Zankel Hall will double your pain (and the audience’s).The Prokofiev on the program was a relative rarity: the Quintet in G minor, Op. 39, for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, and bass. As Stephen Ledbetter’s program notes informed us, Prokofiev wrote this music for ballet – for a circus ballet, no less! (Its title: “The Trapeze.”) But he always intended it to be played as a stand-alone quintet.The work is in six diverse movements, and features Prokofiev’s signature quality of nutty beauty. It is also alive, very alive: Aliveness is another of Prokofiev’s signature qualities.The St. Luke’s players were fairly alive themselves. This was especially true of the two woodwind players, Stephen Taylor, oboe, and Stephen Williamson, clarinet. Prokofiev requires clarity and precision, and these players provided those, abundantly. Plus, they and their fellows seemed to be having fun – not just getting through the piece, but really making music.Some sections of the piece, for my taste, could have been jazzier and more insinuating, but this performance was flavorful enough.The Beethoven on the program was his Septet in E flat, Op. 20.What are the forces here? Clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello, and bass. But the Septet was very popular in Beethoven’s own time, and was arranged for many combinations of instruments. Like the Prokofiev, the work is in six movements, and (unlike the Prokofiev) it lasts about 45 minutes. This septet is quasi-symphonic. In fact, if Beethoven had a Symphony No. 0, a la Bruckner, this would probably be it.The St. Luke’s players started together, a very good way to start – and, on the whole, they were decent. But the clarinetist, Mr. Williamson, continued to be excellent. He made a beautiful sound, handled his passagework smoothly, and played absolutely – gloriously – in tune. I might pause to note that this has been an exceptionally good week for clarinetists: David Shifrin in Mozart’s clarinet quintet, for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; Alan R. Kay, in George Perle’s 90th-birthday concert in Zankel Hall; and Mr. Williamson, here.Maybe Pete Fountain could drop in for a set?Beethoven apportions his music pretty evenly across the seven players, but the violinist has a lot of work. Ms. Feeney did her part solidly, and she often played with spirit. But she suffered from some flatness – more than her fair share of it. You might say that, in the minuet, this flatness made the music sound all the more rustic. But that is not a case for poor intonation! And in the first movement, Ms. Feeney was awfully free with portamento. At times, she sounded more like a singer in Puccini than a violinist in Beethoven.I should say, too, that Ms. Feeney contributed a sweet little cadenza in the last movement. And Joseph Anderer, throughout the Septet, showed himself fully recovered from whatever was hampering him in the Haydn. As for Ms. Fitzgerald, the cellist, she demonstrated a fine, glowing sound.Overall, this was not the tightest or most polished account of Beethoven’s Septet you will ever hear. But it left no doubt about the greatness of the work. I might say that the second movement – Adagio cantabile – boasts one of the most beautiful songs Beethoven ever wrote, at any stage of his life.In those program notes, Mr. Ledbetter informed us that, after Beethoven’s death, the manuscript of his Septet sold for 18 florins. And the “Missa Solemnis” went for seven.And what is the “Missa” worth today? Not seven florins, is one answer!

A Good Week for Clarinetists, and a Bad Night for the Horn

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