I have just returned from this afternoon chamber music concert, and am going to try to write up my review within the next hour before I leave again to hear the Vienna Boys Choir at 7:00pm.
This was the first chamber music recital I'd ever been to featuring Seattle Symphony musicians, and it was quite excellent. It was in the upstairs recital hall rather than the main concert hall, and it featured a wide variety of music. The program opened with the Quintette instrumental by Hector Villa-Lobos, followed by the String Quartet in D major, Op. 18 No. 3, by Beethoven. This concluded the first half. In the second half there was a Concertino for Flute, Viola and Double Bass by Erwin Schulhoff, which was followed by a piece called Cafetín de Buenos Aires for six cellos by Mariano Mores, arranged by Thomas-Mifune. Then came La muerte del ángel and Resurrectión del ángel by Ástor Piazzolla, which was succeeded by Messagesquisse by Pierre Boulez, and then the final piece was the Aria (Cantelina) from Bachianas Brasilerias, No. 5, again by Villa-Lobos.
Principal cellist Efe Baltacigil was heavily featured throughout the program, which was a great thing. All the musicians chosen to be on the program were excellent though, there was nary a weak link throughout.
The opening piece by Villa-Lobos was not to my taste, but the excellence of the musicianship on stage was immediately evident. It was wonderful to hear just a few of the symphony musicians in a more intimate setting and hear what wonderful musicians they are. The flutist, Paul Taub, I did not recognize though. I don't believe he's a Seattle Symphony flutist, but he was quite good.
For the Beethoven quartet the absolute best musicians were chosen. Principal violinist Alexander Velinzon was on first violin, Efe Baltacigil was on cello, and principal violist Susan Gulkis Assadi and violinist Anait Arutunian rounded out the quartet. Anait was another musician who I don't believe is a symphony regular, but she made a solid complement to Velinzon on first violin. I wasn't too familiar with the Beethoven quartet, which is a crime, but it was played very well and was an engaging experience. I believe it was during the Beethoven that I first noticed a few symptoms of sight-reading syndrome, especially when Efe missed a note and made a face about it. Obviously these musicians don't have time to thoroughly rehearse such a long program, but they did remarkably well in spite of evidently short rehearsal time.
During intermission I sat on this backless couch thing against the wall in the upstairs lobby and closed my eyes for most of the time. I had been kind of tired during the first half because of getting up early to play piano in church, so I thought maybe I could catch a quick turbo-boost during intermission. I didn't fall asleep, but I think it helped.
The second half began with the Schulhoff concertino, which felt dreadfully long to me, and it sort of clumps in my mind with the opening Villa-Lobos in that I failed to connect with it at all. It was inspired by a visit to a Slavic folk festival though, so it did have some lovely folk-like melodies and dances in it.
The last four pieces on the program really made the afternoon spectacular. Six Seattle Symphony cellists came out to perform the Mores, which was a gorgeous tango, made even more beautiful by the acoustics of six cellos playing it. It was the most enjoyable time I had had yet during the recital. The program listed the Boulez as following the Mores, and Efe came out to talk to the audience about what they were playing and also to announce that the Piazzolla and Boulez were being switched around.
A quartet of cellists performed the two works by Piazzolla. I really love Piazzolla's music. His tangos are just irresistible. The two that they performed today were no exception. The seductive harmonies and rhythms cannot fail to draw you in and move you. It seemed the musicians were enjoying this music immensely as well, particularly Efe, who spoke with love about these pieces in particular in a video that the Symphony featured on their Facebook page in the last few days.
Then came the Boulez, which Efe, during his little talk after the Mores, essentially apologized for, saying "it's challenging but effective. And it's only about ten minutes, so don't worry." However, I found his apology to be unnecessary, as the piece was quite engaging. Obviously it wasn't exactly music, but it was quite interesting and kept my attention. Efe was the soloist for the work, sitting in front of the other cellists, which earned him a shove onto the stage by himself from the rest of the ensemble after they had all taken their first bow and exited. The audience was very enthusiastic about it, giving it an ovation at least as strong as the other works on the program.
And last came the second piece by Villa-Lobos, which was the exact opposite of the first one to my ears. This one spoke directly to me, piercing right to my core with its haunting lines, pulsing rhythms, and that melody that is one of those "how did he do it?" revelations. For this work Emma McGrath performed as a singer in front of the cello section. Emma McGrath is the Associate Concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony, and apparently she is also trained as a singer. The experience of seeing this aria performed by her and those cellists is something I will never forget. It was beyond breathtaking. It was just absolutely heart-wrenching, haunting and impactful. I gave a standing ovation for that performance along with pretty much every other person in that auditorium. It was really something.
And now I'm going to take a ten minute nap, grab some dinner, and head out to hear the Vienna Boys Choir!
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