Young Performers Channeling an Old Man

Johannes Brahms was extremely respectful of musical tradition and modest to a fault.After the completion of his Double Concerto, he decided never to compose a major work for orchestra again, since his four symphonies, four concertos, and requiem totaled the same number as the nine symphonies of Beethoven, and he did not dare eclipse the master.Not long thereafter, an autumnal mood, not of regret but rather summation, overcame him. His only significant works were all for solo piano, as if he were, like his idol Beethoven, now composing only for himself. He endeavored to retire from composition altogether, feeling that his time had passed. Miraculously, however, his creative juices began to flow again after he heard the solo clarinetist of the Meiningen Orchestra, Richard Muhlfeld.In the rich sonority of the clarinet, Brahms found the perfect expression for his innermost feelings.Taking material in A minor from that fifth symphony which could never be, he fashioned an introspective trio for clarinet, cello, and piano that starts out in darkness but ends in a glorious bath of light. Inspired by Muhlfeld’s exceptional playing,as Mozart had previously been with that of Anton Stadler, Brahms also created two amazing clarinet sonatas and the mighty quintet, which he once referred to as “a far greater piece of foolishness.” As a body of work, these clar inet pieces stand with any in the chamber music literature, including Beethoven’s late string quartets.On Sunday afternoon at Alice Tully Hall, as part of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center series, we were treated to a fine performance of the trio.The concert also highlighted three young performers worthy of special note: pianist Benjamin Hochman, cellist Clancy Newman, and clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein.Mr. Newman reminds me a bit of Joshua Bell. He is a throwback to those golden days when string players were not afraid to express themselves with generous amounts of vibrato. Mr. Fiterstein has a more declarative tone, but a lovely singing line. Along with Mr. Hochman, who is in the midst of a breakout year, the threesome dispelled the recent impression that many local musicians do not play well with others. Especially pleasing was the Andantino grazioso, with its lulling barcarolle rhythm.This was Brahms playing of the most lyrical kind.An intelligent transition piece was “Hommage a R. Sch.” by Gyorgy Kurtag. One of the best performances of last season was Dawn Upshaw’s electric rendition of Mr. Kurtag’s “Kafka Fragments,” and this piece, although ostensibly a reimagining of some of Robert Schumann’s delightful characters, is more closely related to Kafka’s depressing and world-weary aphorisms. One of the sections of the current piece is titled “The Delimited Circle,” a direct reference to the fragments from Kafka’s diaries. Mr. Fiterstein even had the opportunity to demonstrate his percussive skills, as he struck the final tone of the cycle on a bass drum, with the heads loosened for added resonance.The next composition was Schumann’s extremely beautiful Piano Quartet. Mr. Newman was joined by Harumi Rhodes, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; and Adam Neiman, piano. The experience would have been first-rate if the entire performance had been as musical as Mr. Newman’s gorgeous initial statement of the main theme of the Andante cantabile, but the remainder of this version lacked the heft of a major Central European Sturm und Drang mainstay.All of the expression was accurate and nimble, but the sound as a whole was surprisingly thin.The odd man out on this program was the String Trio of Arnold Schonberg, a fascinating work that details the composer’s stay in a Southern California hospital. Schonberg toyed with the idea of active iconoclasm directed against form in much the same manner that he previously attacked tonality. This was the only work in which he abandoned form entirely, and images seemingly appear in random order – like life itself. Normally considered an academic experiment, it is seldom, if ever, offered as emotionally as it was this day, with violist Richard O’Neill joining Ms. Rhodes and Mr. Newman for an astounding performance.

Young Performers Channeling an Old Man

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