Above: soprano Joélle Harvey, photographed by Arielle Doneson
~ Author: Oberon
Sunday March 8th, 2020 - Soprano Joélle Harvey, having recently appeared as Pamina in The Met's MAGIC FLUTE, and soon to perform the Mahler 2d with The New York Philharmonic, sang music by Schubert and Chausson as well as the New York premiere of John Harbison's mono-drama IF this evening with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Masterworks by Mozart and Schumann book-ended the program, performed by some of my very favorite musicians.
Played by flautist Adam Walker with Ani Kavafian (violin), Dmitri Atapine (cello), and Che-Yen Chen (viola) - shown above, in Tristan Cook's performance photo - Mozart's Quartet in D-major, dating from 1777, opened the program.
In three compact movements, the last two joined without pause, this work afforded a wonderful opportunity to again hear Mr. Walker's impeccable and fresh-toned playing: he had charmed us last season in a CMS Baroque music program. Meanwhile, his string-trio colleagues brought appealing subtleties to their playing.
From his first notes, the flautist's playing felt like the first breath of Spring. In a minor-mode passage in the first movement, Mr. Walker's evocative sustained notes hung on the air. The Adagio follows, with the flute singing a pensive song over delicate pizzicati from the strings. This gracious movement slips elusively away as the lively Rondo immediately springs up. Whilst Mr. Walker's flute shines and shimmers, the string players find even more opportunity to display their range of colour and dynamics. In the span of fifteen minutes, Mozart and these magical musicians have made us forget - at least for this evening - the world and all its woes.
Ms. Harvey then appeared to sing three diverse works which are united by themes of love and its loss. For Schubert's "Gretchen am Spinnrade", Gilbert Kalish was at the Steinway. This was only the second time I have heard this song sung live: the first was at an unforgettable recital by the beloved soprano Elisabeth Söderström in this very hall in 1988. That afternoon, Ms. Söderström lived the song in a devastating performance, with Maestro James Levine at the piano.
Above: Gilbert Kalish and Joélle Harvey performing "Gretchen am Spinnrade"; performance photo by Tristan Cook
Ms. Harvey looked radiant in a cherry red gown; initially her tone seemed a bit clouded, but within seconds all was well and, abetted by the flow of the restless piano figurations (sublimely played by Mr. Kalish), the soprano had me totally under her spell. Her fascinating sense of colour, the intense yet always musical way she 'spoke' the words, her gentle softening of the higher notes, and the thrilling power she summoned at "...sein küss!" - the voice echoing thru the hall in the ensuing silence - were the hallmarks of her engrossing performance.
Above: Ms. Harvey and the ensemble in the Chausson; photo by Tristan Cook
Mr. Kalish was again at the Seinway for Chausson's Chanson perpétuelle; the great pianist was joined by Francisco Fullana and Ms. Kavafian (violins), and Mssrs. Chen and Atapine in the weaving of a sonic tapestry against which Ms. Harvey's voice glowed in the poetry of Charles Cros: a story of the remembrance of a tender romance...and its sudden demise.
Ms. Harvey's singing of the Chausson - her radiant high notes, her canny use of straight tone, and her poetic control of piano/pianissimo demi-tints - made me wish to hear her in Chausson's more expansive work, Poème de l'amour et de la mer, and in the Duparc songs. Mr. Kalish and the string players created a luminous atmosphere, and special mention must be made of Mr. Fullana's ravishing tone.
IF for Soprano and ensemble (CMS Co-Commission, New York Premiere) is a setting by composer John Harbison of the composer's own translation of a text by Friedrich Hölderlin. Mssrs. Walker, Fullana, Chen, and Atapine were joined by the superb clarinetist Romie DeGuise-Langlois, the New York Philharmonic's principal double-bass Timothy Cobb, Michael Brown at the Steinway, and Ian David Rosenbaum highlighting Mr. Harbison's inspired addition of the marimba to the mix. Surrounded by the sounds of this esteemed ensemble, Ms. Harvey displayed her wide range and imaginative use of dynamics in a compelling interpretation.
Mr. Harbison's score commences with a large-scale introduction. His gift for colorful writing for each voice in the ensemble is very much to the fore: the deep bass, the mix of cello, piano, and marimba, the dusky viola (alone, or meshed with clarinet and flute), the tremelo strings - these kept the ear allured throughout. At the heart of the matter, Ms. Harvey's warm and pliant timbre, with (again) some notes sung in straight tone - and with the hall-filling power she can generate at just the right moments - reached an expressive peak when the musicians suddenly fell silent as she intoned the poem's final line: "...but can you really know?" A thoughtful postlude brings IF to its conclusion.
Mr. Harbison was present, and he was called to the stage for a bow, to the audience's warm greeting. He embraced Ms. Harvey warmly; perhaps hers would be the voice for the composer's Mirabai Songs...?
The evening concluded with Robert Schumann's Quintet in E-flat major for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 44, written in 1842.
Ani Kavafian took the first violin role for this Schumann jewel tonight, playing beautifully, whilst next to her, Francisco Fullana took advantage of the opportunities the composer Schumann afforded him to make his mark. One of the work's most appealing passages comes in a melodic exchange between Mr. Atapine's cello and Mr. Chen's viola, where their subtly contrasted timbres made a fine impression.
Following the hesitant opening of the 'slow march' of the second movement, Mr. Kalish drew us in with playing of eloquent softness. A wistful interlude takes the cello and piano to the depths, and Ms. Kavafian's violin sings sweetly. A sustained tone from Mr. Chen heralds the viola's taking up of the theme. The music becomes so poignant, with Mr. Kalish suggesting from the Steinway that what we are hearing is not music, but memory.
Onward then to the Scherzo: Molto vivace, and the final Allegro, ma non troppo wherein Schumann seems to have taken inspiration from J.S. Bach, with a double fugue in which tonight's players reveled.
The evening ended with a tumultuous full-house standing ovation, the musicians bowing to a most appreciative crowd. Looking about at the upturned faces of these enthusiastic music-lovers, I felt so happy to be part of it.
~ Oberon