Tuesday December 6th, 2016 - The program for this evening's concert by Ensemble Connect at Weill Hall really intrigued me. I had high expectations for this performance and they were fully met, both in terms of the music itself and the Ensemble's inspired playing of it. In particular, the Shostakovich was given an exceptional performance.
Prokofiev's Overture on Hebrew Themes was sketched in two days and completed ten days later. It premiered in 1920 with the composer at the piano. Since then, it has become extremely popular - both in the original setting and in a 1934 Prokofiev re-scoring for larger ensemble.
Melodic and witty, with dance themes at variable speeds popping up in colorful settings, the overture features the clarinet prominently. Yoonah Kim took all the score's demands in stride, displaying great subtlety as she fined her clarinet-voice down to a thread; she was able to sustain this piano effect for long phrases. Julia Yang's cello sounded warm and plaintive in a cantabile theme. Mika Sasaki at the keyboard provided limpid cascades of notes and rhythmic vitality. Violinists Adelya Nartadjieva and Mari Lee and violist Maren Rothfritz completed the impressive quintet. This overture-in-miniature builds to a briskly delightful finish.
The music of Osvaldo Golijov, used so compellingly by choreographer Lydia Johnson for her ballet Night Of The Flying Horses, creates its own sound-world. This evening, it was Golijov's The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind that drew us into a realm where the spiritual and the sensuous meet. The stage lights dimmed as one of the musicians spoke briefly of what we were about to hear. There was then a total blackout for several seconds before the lights came up an the music began.
The ensemble of players from the Prokofiev were back (minus Ms. Sasaki) and they showed a fine sensibility for the textures that the composer has so magically constructed. Yoonah Kim now had her bass clarinet parked next to her chair, and she alternated between instruments throughout the Golijov, giving a virtuoso performance.
The prelude of this suite develops from the central prayer of the High Holidays. Mysterious, poignant, and sorrowful, it has Ms. Yang's cello sounding from resonant depths. The music pulses up then, with the clarinet sounding over wildly plucking strings. The accompaniment becomes denser as Ms. Kim plays a broken melody; later she will wail and squawk to her discordant colleagues. Then, out of the blue, Ms. Kim sounds a remarkable sustained tone on her bass clarinet.
The piece continues its mood swings, from lamenting strings to piercing screams from the bass clarinet played in its upper range. The music mutters and shivers, with the violins skittering. Melodies stumble about; a big, wailing slow dance strikes up and then subsides into a wonderful passage for clarinet and high violin (Ms. Nartadjieva). Sustained clarinet notes and shivering strings carry us into a shimmering dream, the music evolving to a lament that intensifies before finally tapering into nothingness.
Following the interval came the vastly pleasing performance of the Shostakovich piano quintet, opus 57. This work won the composer great approval at its premiere in Moscow; it also won him the Stalin Prize in 1941.
Throughout the Ensemble Connect's marvelous performance of this quintet tonight, the spirit of Bach was ever-present. From the expert pianist Lee Dionne's opening chord, which proceeds to a passage of Bach-like keyboard figuration, Shostakovich seems to me to be constantly alluding to the great Master. A rich string lament rises up: Mari Lee is now first-chair, with Rebecca Anderson her second; Andrew Gonzalez and Madeline Fayette are violist and cellist. Mssers. Gonzalez and Lee engage in a duet; Mr. Gonzalez' very attractive tone then turns to Ms. Lee's high violin for another conversation. Bach hovers in the air. A big lushness and grand tonality give way to a rather melancholy violin duet.
Without pause, a slow Fugue follows; the piano enters in the low range, the strings exchange phrases, and things turn rather loud and angular. A dusky passage from Ms. Fayette's cello carries the movement to a beautifully modulated close.
Scherzo! A rollicking song, with Mr. Lee at the piano holding forth while the strings carry on with a boisterous accompaniment. A violin dance-motif passes to the viola, then everyone joins in a relentless tutti. As this movement progressed, I was smiling to myself: both for the cordiality of the music and the wonderful playing of it tonight.
The Intermezzo again brings Bach to mind: a pacing cello underlines a violin melody. The viola joins the violin, as if slow-dancing together, before the piano takes over the tread. Exquisite violins lead to string ensemble of almost unbearable tenderness; the music gets denser and ever more passionate.
Without a pause, we are into the Finale: a Bachian transition passage from the piano develops into a strutting, vigorous, emphatic theme for Mr. Lee, who dazzles us yet again. Wonderful wit abounds, and the music gets huge and splendid. A brief calming, then rising and intense strings propel a flow of melody. In a last brilliant little touch, the pianist plays à l'espagnole, the violin has a last say, and the finale ends with an ironic nod.
The Program:
- PROKOFIEV: Overture on Hebrew Themes
- OSVALDO GOLIJOV: The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind
- SHOSTAKOVICH: Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57
The Participating Artists:
- Ensemble Connect:
·· Yoonah Kim, Clarinet
·· Lee Dionne, Piano
·· Mika Sasaki, Piano
·· Rebecca Anderson, Violin
·· Mari Lee, Violin
·· Adelya Nartadjieva, Violin
·· Andrew Gonzalez, Viola
·· Maren Rothfritz, Viola
·· Madeline Fayette, Cello
·· Julia Yang, Cello