A Surprisingly Good Performance
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Every now and then, members of the New York Philharmonic quit the orchestral stage to play some chamber music. And about 20 of them gathered for a concert on Sunday afternoon at Merkin Concert Hall. Five works were on the program, all interesting, and all distinct. It was a program for people who like music, and a variety of it.
The concert opened with a piece by Mahler: the A-minor piano quartet he wrote as a student. (What I mean is, the one movement that exists of that work. Mahler did not persevere.) I can think of about four concerts, in the past few seasons, that opened with this piece. It is, for some reason – perhaps its brevity, and excellence – a favorite curtain-opener.
The three from the New York Philharmonic, plus pianist Sara Okamoto, played it magnificently.You might have been unprepared for how good this performance was. I expected this ensemble to have prepared the work hastily, or casually, between rehearsals of symphonies or something. (Maybe they did.) But this reading was assured, tasteful, moving. It was also very precise – even the pizzicatos at the end were almost together!
Ms. Okamoto, at the piano, showed a limpid technique, and she played octaves particularly well: into the keys and easily. She appeared an unusually self-possessed musician. And the string players – Lisa Gihae Kim, violin; Vivek Kamath, viola; and Eileen Moon, cello – all made beautiful sounds, and phrased wisely.
Again, a surprisingly and gratifyingly good performance.
Next on the bill was a trio for two violins and viola by Kodaly. This is the Serenade, Op. 12, a largely Romantic work,well named. The second movement (marked Lento ma non troppo) is spare and arresting,and the third movement (Vivo) has a Gypsy flavor. The three players were Kerry McDermott and Yulia Ziskel, violins, and Rebecca Young, viola. Ms. McDermott, in particular, did some elegant talking on her violin, and she made a winning Gypsy.
But enough of strings: To end the first half of the program, we had a wind sextet – or rather, a piano-and-winds sextet – by Bohuslav Martinu. Written in 1929, it is a pleasant, often chipper, work in four movements. The two middle movements are labeled “Divertimentos.” The first is a Scherzo, for flute and piano alone, and the second is called Blues – a touching tribute to American national music. There is not enough of this music to call Martinu’s sextet “from the New World,” but almost.
The Philharmonic ensemble – which included Harriet Wingreen, the orchestra’s pianist – was competent, but this piece would have sparkled more with greater precision and zest.
The second half of the concert brought us a beauty of a piece by Schumann, his Andante and Variations in B flat, for – get this – horn, two cellos, and two pianos.You do not see that combination every day. This piece is inventive, sweeping, utterly Schumannesque. We feel that we are in the company of a rare and civilized man – one who, unfortunately, was to meet a very bad end.The Philharmonic’s group played the piece unobjectionably if not unforgettably.
And, to see us home, a piece by another civilized man – or rather, kid, for Mendelssohn wrote his Sextet, Op. 110, when he was 15. The work is for violin, two violas, cello, bass, and piano – and it is a thoroughly agreeable work, with an almost rollicking final movement (Allegro vivace). The afternoon’s six played agreeably, and they had the requisite spirit for that finale.
The piano part in this work is prominent – sometimes dominant – and Joanna Chao handled this responsibility well. She played evenly, and sometimes glitteringly. The violinist, Anna Rabinova, proved capable and musical.
As for the composer, he might impress you with his sextet written at 15, but what about the octet written at 16? A masterpiece to enter the all-time repertory.
The New York Philharmonic will next offer a chamber concert – also at Merkin Hall – on January 8.This is another interesting program, comprising Bridge, Prokofiev, Diamond, Enesco, and Francaix.There is no “theme” here – nothing to light a musicologist’s or activist’s fire. It is not a lineup of Chicano vegetarians, or pieces that invoke the moon goddess (whoever she is). Just a bouquet of worthy chamber works, for a Sunday afternoon.
Nice.