This article originally appeared in the spring 2016 Harker Quarterly.
Violinist Jessica Lee and pianist Reiko Uchida teamed up for a crowd-pleasing night Feb: 19 at this season’s second Harker Concert Series performance, which featured the works of composers from a variety of eras.
As the first piece of the evening began, Lee stood still with her instrument at her side while Uchida marched through the solemn opening chords. A slow uplift gave way to a weepy melody, accentuated by Lee’s superb vibrato and interpretive clarity. Their interplay soon drifted into a jaunt of arpeggios, tempo changes and volume swells. Lee’s and Uchida’s mastery of tone and technique served them well through these challenging sections, maintaining astonishing accuracy without losing the emotional impact. This was most apparent just past the midway point of the piece, with Lee’s melodies sweeping across the tapestry created by Uchida’s colorful piano work.
Sergei Prokofiev’s “Five Melodies” – “beautiful little jewels,” as Lee called them – began with a plaintive melody and chords that were written in sunny California but sounded more akin to a rainy day. Lee’s animated, dramatic interpretation lent a kind of imagery to Prokofiev’s melodies. The busy second movement brought to mind a busy city street, perhaps the kind the composer encountered while in 1920s Los Angeles. Speaking of busy, the frantic and anguished third movement called back to a Prokofiev quote Lee cited just before the piece began: “I am as ecstatic about California as it is about me.”
Lee prefaced her performance of Leoš Janácek’s “Sonata for violin and Piano” with a personal anecdote about her visit to the composer’s home in the Czech countryside. The piece, she said, contained “explosive fragments,” a result of Janácek’s interest in speech patterns, the various in ections of which found their way into this particular piece. Certainly, the piece often played out like a heated conversation between various parties, shifting moods, coming in ts and starts. It was unconventional material, rhythmically challenging and thematically complex, but Lee and Uchida were up to the task. The transition from the anxiety-fraught first movement to the more organized, daydream-like Balada: con moto was no trouble at all.
The pleasant, strong melodies of Beethoven’s “Sonata for violin and Piano in Major” welcomed the audience back from the intermission, Lee and Uchida going back and forth with delightful flurries and strolling melodies before drifting into the thoughtful and reflective Adagio. Though Lee’s violin was center stage, Uchida shined in the space provided with her steady rhythms and playful interpretation.
Ever the entertainer, Lee elected to close the evening with Pablo de Sarasate’s “Introduction and Tarantella,” displaying not only the technical ability of both musicians, but also their air for theatrics, sending a very appreciative crowd smiling into the drizzly evening. But not before stopping in the atrium for an autographed CD.
The program began with Joseph Haydn’s “String Quartet Op. 64, No. 6 in E-Flat Major.” The opening movement’s sweet, flowing melodies made one wonder why this particular piece was, as second violinist Rachel Shapiro called it, “one of the lesser-performed works of his opus 64 set.” First violinist Nicholas Tavani seemed to be enjoying himself on stage. On more than one occasion, while deftly finding his way through Haydn’s winding melodies, he could be seen nearly removing himself from his seat.
The jaunt of the first movement was contrasted by the slow, delicate harmonies of the second – that is, before a sudden and stressed change of tempo added a sense of urgency to an otherwise peaceful proceeding. Aeolus’ ability to show both restraint and abandon was just one sign of the group’s musical maturity.
Shapiro described the fourth movement as “a lot of fun to play,” and it was easy to see why. Its reel-like pacing and infectious melodies seem as joyful to play as they are to hear. Challenging though it was, the young musicians never appeared to be performing for the purpose of displaying their formidable chops.
Bela Bartok’s “String Quartet No. 2” provided a counterbalance to Haydn’s joyous aplomb. Written during the horror of World War I, its dense, dreary and disjointed structure felt as though it was modeled after the chaos that surrounded its creation. As Tavani explained to the audience, the piece relies on heavy use of the minor third interval, which lent a sense of anxiety and dread to its three movements.
Frayed and frantic, the work’s second movement was a highlight of the evening. Its ever-changing pace was punctuated with intervallic leaps and tempo changes. Were it not for Aeolus’ virtuosity and vision, it may have fallen apart at any moment.
As Aeolus launched into Dvorak’s “String Quartet Op. 105 in A-Flat Major,” the mood in the auditorium shifted from dour to triumphant. In a lengthy explanation prior to the performance, violist Gregory Luce explained that the piece was written toward the end of the composer’s life, and expresses “the feeling of coming home after a long journey.” Indeed, it was easy to imagine the first movement playing as someone arrives home after a tour abroad, greeting old friends and familiar faces.
Things moved from excited to regal for the second movement, which maintained a ballroom-friendly waltz for most of its duration. It was here that the quartet seemed most at ease, allowing Dvorak’s brilliance to carry them along. Following the soft stroll of the third movement (Aeolus had more than once proved itself skillful at shifting gears), the quartet moved through the hurried intro to the fourth movement, which gave cellist Alan Richardson the chance to take the spotlight for a few moments. Jumping from pastoral nostalgia to fleet-fingered flights of fancy, it showcased Aeolus’ talents perhaps more suitably than any of the evening’s previous pieces. A fitting choice for a closer.
Violinist Jessica Lee and pianist Reiko Uchida teamed up for a crowd-pleasing night Feb. 19 at this season’s second Harker Concert Series performance, which featured the works of composers from a variety of eras.
As the first piece of the evening began, Lee stood still with her instrument at her side while Uchida marched through the solemn opening chords. A slow uplift gave way to a weepy melody, accentuated by Lee’s superb vibrato and interpretive clarity. Their interplay soon drifted into a jaunt of arpeggios, tempo changes and volume swells. Lee’s and Uchida’s mastery of tone and technique served them well through these challenging sections, maintaining astonishing accuracy without losing the emotional impact. This was most apparent just past the midway point of the piece, with Lee’s melodies sweeping across the tapestry created by Uchida’s colorful piano work.
Sergei Prokofiev’s “Five Melodies” – “beautiful little jewels,” as Lee called them – began with a plaintive melody and chords that were written in sunny California but sounded more akin to a rainy day. Lee’s animated, dramatic interpretation lent a kind of imagery to Prokofiev’s melodies. The busy second movement brought to mind a busy city street, perhaps the kind the composer encountered while in 1920s Los Angeles. Speaking of busy, the frantic and anguished third movement called back to a Prokofiev quote Lee cited just before the piece began: “I am as ecstatic about California as it is about me.”
Lee prefaced her performance of Leoš Janáček’s “Sonata for Violin and Piano” with a personal anecdote about her visit to the composer’s home in the Czech countryside. The piece, she said, contained “explosive fragments,” a result of Janáček’s interest in speech patterns, the various inflections of which found their way into this particular piece. Certainly, the piece often played out like a heated conversation between various parties, shifting moods, coming in fits and starts. It was unconventional material, rhythmically challenging and thematically complex, but Lee and Uchida were up to the task. The transition from the anxiety-fraught first movement to the more organized, daydream-like “Balada: con moto” was no trouble at all.
The pleasant, strident melodies of Beethoven’s “Sonata for Violin and Piano in Major” welcomed the audience back from the intermission, Lee and Uchida going back and forth with delightful flurries and strolling melodies before drifting into the thoughtful and reflective adagio. Though Lee’s violin was center stage, Uchida shined in the space provided with her steady rhythms and playful interpretation.
Ever the entertainer, Lee elected to close the evening with Pablo de Sarasate’s “Introduction and Tarantella,” displaying the not only the technical ability of both musicians, but also their flair for theatrics, sending a very appreciative crowd smiling into the drizzly evening. But not before stopping in the atrium for an autographed CD.
When a group of academics got together to play at Nichols Hall recently, the results were anything but academic. The four veteran musicians of the Eastman School of Music Faculty Jazz Quartet opened the 2015-16 season of the Harker Concert Series on Nov. 6. Prior to the evening show, the quartet gave a wonderful morning performance for students and, the next day, held a three-hour master class for students.
The group, as its name indicates, comprises faculty members at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music. All masters in their own right, their credentials have led them to stints with the likes of Tito Puente, Chet Baker and Buddy Rich. They have been playing together for more than 15 years.
Having played with quite a few of them, the quartet harbor a healthy respect for the greats, evident in the choice to begin with the evening with Duke Ellington’s “I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart,” immediately elevated by trumpeter Clay Jenkins’ buoyant melodies and pianist Harold Danko’s tasteful comping, drummer Rich Thompson quietly dominating his space on the stage. Danko’s bluesy solo cleared the way for an effortless bass solo by Jeff Campbell, with the trumpet returning for the outro.
The next tune, the Thompson-penned “Less is More,” saw the band cruising through an infectious three-four stride, driven along by Campbell’s strolling bass, providing what might be a delightful soundtrack to an afternoon walk through the city at twilight, preferably after a good rain.
Danko opened the next number with an extended intro of unaccompanied chords that fell in sheets, making way for a Campbell bass solo that had Jenkins wearing one of many trance-like expressions he showed during the evening. He followed with a virtuosic and tuneful solo that led gracefully into another Danko-led section, this one less busy, gathering momentum for a thrilling finish that Jenkins punctuated with a sustained note.
The band would return to the greats later in the set, treating Thelonious Monk’s “Holiday in San Francisco” with the delicacy and experimentation unique to the beloved prodigy, as Danko took a number of mid-solo detours, in line with the Monk canon. Jenkins’ trumpet solo wavered between plaintive and explosive as Campbell provided sparse accompaniment. Campbell would add, after the song had concluded, “I often wonder what that trip was like,” eliciting some – perhaps unexpectedly loud – laughter from the audience.
The group closed the set with a Jenkins riff on a Tommy Dorsey chord progression, titled “Work First” (as it was based on Dorsey’s “Opus 1”), introducing stomping, upbeat drum rolls and a lively, playful melody. Each solo carried with it a distinct sense of fun and adventure, as well as a clear sense of one another’s abilities. Perhaps no one onstage was having more fun than Thompson, however, who traded solos with this bandmates en route to the finale, which ended with Jenkins holding the last note, possibly one of the softest exclamation points in recent memory.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2015 Harker Quarterly.
The final concert of The Harker Concert Series’ fifth season, featuring the Afiara Quartet, was a special one. Returning to Nichols Hall auditorium after their first performance here in 2012, the Canada-based group of elite players arrived with some special guests and surprises in store for the sizable crowd.
Afiara are an animated group of performers, an asset they employed throughout the flowing peaks and valleys of Anton Webern’s “Langsamer Satz,” moving in time with its contours and varying intensities, their expressiveness evoking Webern’s striking imagery. It proved equally effective as they frolicked through the opening movement of Haydn’s “String Quartet No. 37,” its darting melodies conjuring a bucolic atmosphere. The entire quartet took flight in the brisk final movement, effortlessly navigating the wilderness of complex harmonies.
The concert was part of a four-day residency during which the members of Afiara – violinists Valerie Li and Timothy Kantor, violist Eric Wong and cellist Adrian Fung – worked with Harker students, visiting the lower and middle school campuses in addition to preparing the students of the Harker String Quartet for a special sit-in performance. Joined by seniors Helen Wu and Eugene Gil on violin, Matthew Huang on cello and Austin Lai on viola, Afiara and company launched into the first movement of Felix Mendelssohn’s “Octet in E-Flat Major.” The students’ presence was immediate, the ensemble’s sound full, robust and locked in, especially during the more frenzied sections of the piece.
“We all had a lot of fun,” Wu said during the intermission. “It was one of those performances that was really energizing. I think their abilities definitely bolstered us up and I definitely think we improved as a quartet because of their being here.”
“One thing we immediately realized is that playing with them is so much fun,” Huang added. “We never really had that kind of experience, playing with a professional quartet. And they really did bring out the spirit in the music for us.”
Mendelssohn made another appearance on the evening’s program as Afiara came back from the break, sliding into the delicate harmonies of his “String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor,” which gave way to a significant tonal and rhythmic shift, as Afiara’s Li picked up and ran with the adagio’s tortured melody. A more subdued second movement followed as Afiara’s bodily movement slowed to match the mood and pace. The somewhat light- hearted intermezzo, featuring some of the evening’s most enjoyable playing, was countered by the fury of the presto movement, performed with both passion and mastery.
The extended standing ovation that followed was rewarded with an encore – an unexpected but fascinating rendition of “The Enemy Guns” by indie folk rockers DeVotchKa. The song, which recalled Romani folk music and Ennio Morricone, was well-suited to the quartet’s talents, in particular the latent whistling skills of Afiara’s Kantor.
This article originally appeared in the spring 2015 Harker Quarterly.
The Harker Concert Series brought back one of its heavy hitters on Jan. 28, and for good reason. Playing to a sold-out audience, the Taylor Eigsti Trio proved again why it deserves to be a big draw in the modern jazz landscape.
This band is comfortable. Bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Eric Harland were still twisting knobs and turning pages as Eigsti began setting the mood for the show opener, “Speaking Song,” with deep chords and flitting notes.
Eigsti then shifted gears to give his bandmates room to shine, as Raghavan drifted into an airy bass solo, with effective note choice, catching fire as Harland picked up steam for an effortlessly musical drum solo. Eigsti’s taste for texture served him well in the opening of Brubeck’s “Strange Meadlowlark,” sprinkling scale runs atop a layer of chords before casually strolling into a more subdued version of Brubeck’s often-overlooked 4/4 swing.’
Following “Meadowlark” and the afternoon-walk-after-heavy- rainfall quality of the trio’s version of Leonard Bernstein’s “Some Other Time,” the Eigsti original “Play with Me” felt like a splash of ice cold water.
During the intermission, attendees commented on the concert and the accompanying spread in the Nichols Hall atrium.
“We’ve had a great time because we arrived in time for some wine and hors d’oeuvres and then we went into the auditorium, which is lovely,” said Anna Ranieri. “We’re really enjoying the program, the wonderful ensemble.”
“I think it’s an excellent venue,” said Judy Busch, who had seen Eigsti’s previous Harker Concert Series performances. “It’s just small enough to be intimate and yet the sound and everything is exceptional.”
In the second set, Eigsti kicked things off with a pair of standards, one of which transitioned from a marvelous Raghavan bass solo to an irresistible groove, heralded by Harland’s rattling snare.
For the final two pieces, Eigsti invited his longtime friend Dave Hart, Harker middle school music teacher, to sit in on trumpet. Performing as a duet on “Body and Soul,” Eigsti and Hart beautifully captured the hope and heartache of the jazz classic, with Hart showing that his neither his improvisational chops nor his interplay with Eigsti have waned since the two began pursuing different careers.
The band got back together for the closing number, a rendition of “Caravan” that riffed on Duke Ellington’s standard with time changes, wild syncopation and rhythms slightly reminiscent of Latin jazz. After a dazzling intro from Eigsti, they careened into the mix as Hart capably took the lead, showing no sign of being overwhelmed by the act he had to follow. Meanwhile, Eigsti continue to show his gift for finding beauty in nearly any sound, flirting with atonality and what others might even call noise.
As the end approached, Harland was due. Taking the cue from Eigsti, the Grammy-nominated drummer launched into the final solo of the evening, which included an extended drumroll that showcased Harland’s astonishing endurance and control. This review has been edited for space. To read the full review, go to news.harker.org and search “Eigsti.”
The final concert of The Harker Concert Series’ fifth season, featuring the Afiara Quartet, was a special one. Returning to Nichols Hall auditorium after their first performance in 2012, the Canada-based group of elite players arrived with some special guests and surprises in store for the sizable crowd.
Afiara are an animated group of performers, an asset they employed throughout the flowing peaks and valleys of Anton Webern’s “Langsamer Satz,” moving in time with its contours and varying intensities, their expressiveness evoking Webern’s striking imagery. It proved equally effective as they frolicked through the opening movement of Haydn’s “String Quartet No. 37,” its darting melodies conjuring a bucolic atmosphere. The entire quartet took flight in the brisk final movement, effortlessly navigating the wilderness of complex harmonies.
This concert was part of a four-day residency during which the members of Afiara worked with Harker students, visiting the lower and middle school campuses in addition to preparing the students of the Harker String Quartet for a special sit-in performance. Joined by seniors Helen Wu and Eugene Gil on violin, Matthew Huang on cello and Austin Lai on viola, Afiara and company launched into the first movement of Felix Mendelssohn’s “Octet in E-Flat Major.” The students’ presence was immediate from the opening notes, the ensemble’s sound full, robust and locked in, especially during the more frenzied sections of the piece.
“We all had a lot of fun,” Wu said during the intermission. “It was one of those performances that was really energizing. I think their abilities definitely bolstered us up and I definitely think we improved as a quartet because of their being here.”
“One thing we immediately realized is that playing with them is so much fun,” Huang added. “We never really had that kind of experience, playing with a professional quartet. And they really did bring out the spirit in the music for us.”
Mendelssohn made another appearance on the evening’s program as Afiara came back from the break, sliding into the delicate harmonies of his “String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor,” which gave way to a significant tonal and rhythmic shift, as violinist Valerie Li picked up and ran with the Adagio’s tortured melody. A more subdued second movement followed as Afiara’s bodily movement slowed to match the mood and pace. The somewhat light-hearted Intermezzo, featuring some of the evening’s most enjoyable playing, was countered by the fury of the Presto movement, performed with both passion and mastery.
The extended standing ovation that followed was rewarded with an encore, an unexpected but fascinating rendition of “The Enemy Guns” by indie folk rockers DeVotchKa. The song, which recalled Romani folk music and Ennio Morricone, was well-suited to the quartet’s talents, in particular the latent whistling skills of violinist Timothy Kantor.
The Harker Concert Series brought back one of its heavy hitters on Jan. 28, and for good reason. Playing to a sold-out audience, the Taylor Eigsti Trio proved again why they deserve to be a big draw in the modern jazz landscape.
This band is comfortable. Bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Eric Harland were still twisting knobs and turning pages as Eigsti began setting the mood for the show opener, “Speaking Song,” with deep chords and flitting notes. Soon the song had begun in earnest as Raghavan and Harland settled into an infectious, unassuming groove while Eigsti’s plaintive melodies rose to the fore, punctuated by his famous improvisations, eliciting vocal approval from Harland. Comfortable.
Eigsti shifted gears to give his bandmates room to shine, as Raghavan drifted into an airy bass solo, with effective note choice, catching fire as Harland picked up steam for an effortlessly musical drum solo.
Dave Brubeck is often mentioned in the same breath as Eigsti, the jazz legend having been a mentor to the young, promising pianist. Eigsti’s taste for texture served him well in the opening of Brubeck’s “Strange Meadlowlark,” sprinkling scale runs atop a layer of chords before casually strolling into a more subdued version of Brubeck’s often-overlooked 4/4 swing. Despite the slower pace, Eigsti nevertheless made commendable use of the many opportunities to execute his trademark stylistic flourishes. Proving that his imagination extends beyond the keyboard, he put an exclamation point at the end with a mild slam of the key cover.
Following “Meadowlark” and the afternoon-walk-after-heavy-rainfall quality of the trio’s version of Leonard Bernstein’s “Some Other Time,” the Eigsti original “Play With Me” felt like a splash of ice cold water. Eigsti’s solo intro had him traversing the length of the keyboard with playful flurries, not unlike a rambunctious child chasing a butterfly around the front lawn. A few hits on the hi-hat by Harland signaled that it was go time, propelling the song into its decidedly danceable tempo. A stunning Eric Harland drum solo brought the song to its emotional apex before winding down for the intermission.
During the intermission, attendees commented on the concert and the accompanying spread in the Nichols Hall atrium.
“We’ve had a great time because we arrived in time for some wine and hors d’oeuvres and then we went into the auditorium, which is lovely,” said Anna Ranieri. “We’re really enjoying the program, the wonderful ensemble, and I had seen Taylor Eigsti play when he was a really young kid so it’s fun to see how he’s grown up when he’s playing with other people.”
“I think it’s an excellent venue,” said Judy Busch, who had seen Eigsti’s previous Harker Concert Series performances. “It’s just small enough to be intimate and yet the sound and everything is exceptional.”
Eigsti kept the between-song banter to a minimum in the second set, kicking things off with a pair of standards, one of which transitioned from a marvelous Raghavan bass solo to an irresistible groove, heralded by Harland’s rattling snare.
For the final two pieces, Eigsti invited his longtime friend Dave Hart, Harker middle school music teacher, to sit in on trumpet. Performing as a duet on “Body and Soul,” Eigsti and Hart beautifully captured the hope and heartache of the jazz classic, with Hart showing that his neither his improvisational chops nor his interplay with Eigsti have waned since the two began pursuing different careers.
The band got back together for the closing number, a rendition of “Caravan” that riffed on Duke Ellington’s standard with time changes, wild syncopation and rhythms slightly reminiscent of Latin jazz. After a dazzling intro from Eigsti, they careened into the mix as Hart more than capably took the lead, showing no sign of being overwhelmed by the act he had to follow. Meanwhile, Eigsti continue to show his gift for finding beauty in nearly any sound, flirting with atonality and what others might even call noise.
As the end approached, Harland was due. Taking the cue from Eigsti, the Grammy-nominated drummer launched into the final solo of the evening, which included an extended drumroll that showcased Harland’s astonishing endurance and control.
This article originally appeared in the winter 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Milwaukee Symphony concertmaster Frank Almond gave audiences a rare chance to see and hear one of the world’s most famous musical instruments at the first concert of the 2014-15 Harker Concert Series season. The centuries-old Lipinski Stradivarius, which briefly went missing earlier this year after Almond was attacked following a performance, has a long and storied history, one that figured into the evening’s repertoire.
Rather than start with the music, Almond opted first to address the crowd on the history of the Lipinski and its connection to two of the pieces he would be playing. Giuseppe Tartini’s Violin Sonata in G minor, commonly known as “The Devil’s Trill,” was a fitting choice as the first piece of the evening, he explained, as Tartini was the Lipinski’s first known owner.
When it came time for the sonata’s third movement, Almond proved more than up to the task of traversing it. Among the more impressive and moving displays of the evening was an unaccompanied section consisting almost entirely of treacherously difficult double stop trills, handled so well that any thoughts of the virtuosity involved all but vanished.
Impressive though it was, it seemed almost like a warmup for Almond’s rendition of J.S. Bach’s legendary Chaconne from Partita in D minor. A marvel of sheer creativity, the chaconne begins with a simple four-measure theme that is taken through dozens of variations, resulting in a piece that for centuries has been hailed for its emotional and structural depth. Bach’s vision was served well by Almond’s masterful hands, which beautifully manipulated the Lipinski to illustrate the uniqueness of each variation and how they combine into a brilliant whole.
Harker parent Prashant Fuloria (Anika, grade 6; Varun, grade 3) enjoyed the performance of the Bach piece in particular and said that the concert’s atmosphere was a good environment for many age groups. “It’s not too formal. Kids can go around and be kids and listen to some great music,” he said.
“It is breathtaking,” attendee Lynn Mitchell said of Almond’s performance. “I particularly enjoy the Röntgen piece.” She also enjoyed the “inviting” atmosphere of the venue, and said the food was “delicious.”
The final piece for the evening was Cesar Franck’s Sonata in A Major, which was chosen, Almond said, because “it’s fun to play.” Pianist Jeffrey Sykes set the tone with a soft bedding of chords before being joined by the violin, whose vulnerable melodies were gorgeously rendered as they swayed rhythmically with the piano, the two trading melancholic lines. An urgent, almost sinister assemblage of piano notes opened the next movement before bursting into a dazzling run. Almond expertly utilized the Lipinski’s warm lower registers to introduce the frantic, flowing melody, which both contrasted and played off of the panicked piano underneath. The slow and repentant third movement was beautifully anchored by Sykes’ emotive subtleties, punctuated by anguished outbursts. As if to make up for the anxiety and despair of the previous two movements, the sonata shifted into an uplifting and determined mood, bringing back the theme from the first movement for a rollicking finish.
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Frank Almond gave audiences a rare chance to see and hear one of the world’s most famous musical instruments at the first concert of the 2014-15 Harker Concert Series season. The centuries-old Lipinski Stradivarius, which briefly went missing earlier this year after Almond was attacked following a performance, has a long and storied history, one that figured into the evening’s repertoire.
Rather than start with the music straight away, Almond opted to address the crowd on the history of the Lipinski and its connection to two of the pieces he would be playing. Giuseppe Tartini’s Violin Sonata in G minor, commonly known as “The Devil’s Trill,” was a fitting choice as the first piece of the evening, he explained, as Tartini was the Lipinski’s first known owner.
That the sonata has a reputation for being technically challenging might not have been obvious from its somber, almost weepy first movement, as Almond brought out the warmth of the Lipinski before launching into the stately and quick second movement. Jeffrey Sykes’ precise (but not robotic) piano accompaniment may have been easy to miss amidst the note flurries and wide intervals, but it nevertheless provided the ideal backing for Tartini’s most widely known work.
When it came time for the sonata’s third movement, Almond proved more than up to the task of traversing it. Among the more impressive and moving displays of the evening was an unaccompanied section consisting almost entirely of treacherously difficult double stop trills, handled so well that any thoughts of the virtuosity involved all but vanished.
Impressive though it was, it seemed almost like a warmup for Almond’s rendition of Bach’s legendary Chaconne from Partita in D minor. A marvel of sheer creativity, the chaconne begins with a simple four-measure theme that is taken through dozens of variations, resulting in a piece that for centuries has been hailed for its emotional and structural depth. Bach’s vision was served well by Almond’s masterful hands, which beautifully manipulated the Lipinski to illustrate the uniqueness of each variation and how they combine into a brilliant whole.
The Röntgen family, Almond told the audience in his introductory talk, purchased the Lipinski Stradivarius after Karol Lipinski’s death. One of the sons, Julius, went on to become composer and pianist of some renown, with a close association to Johannes Brahms. The bittersweet first movement of his Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano feature Almond’s delicate playing floating atop Sykes’ dancing piano melodies, evoking a pastoral serenity. The frolicking second movement, with its playful call-and-response staccato lines, continued in this vein before making way for the contemplative third movement, which wavered between the solemn and triumphant, building momentum for a thundering emotional climax of crashing chords and piercing high notes, which the Lipinski sang beautifully.
Harker parent Prashant Fuloria (Anika, grade 6; Varun, grade 3) enjoyed the performance of the Bach piece in particular and said that the concert’s atmosphere was a good environment for many age groups. “It’s not too formal. Kids can go around and be kids and listen to some great music,” he said.
“It is breathtaking,” attendee Lynn Mitchell said of Almond’s performance. “I particularly enjoy the Röntgen piece.” She also enjoyed the “inviting” atmosphere of the venue, and said the food was “delicious.”
The ostensible final piece for the evening was Cesar Franck’s Sonata in A Major, which was chosen, Almond said, because “it’s fun to play.” Sykes set the tone with a soft bedding of chords before being joined by the violin, whose vulnerable melodies were gorgeously rendered as they swayed rhythmically with the backing piano, the two trading melancholic lines. An urgent, almost sinister assemblage of piano notes opened the next movement before bursting into a dazzling run. Almond expertly utilized the Lipinski’s warm lower registers to introduce the frantic, flowing melody, which both contrasted and played off of the panicked piano underneath. The slow and repentant third movement was beautifully anchored by Sykes’ emotive subtleties, punctuated by anguished outbursts. As if to make up for the anxiety and despair of the previous two movements, the sonata shifted into an uplifting and determined mood, bringing back the theme from the first movement for a rollicking finish.
Shortly after showing their immense appreciation for Almond’s performance, the audience was treated to an encore performance of one of Clara Schumann’s Romances, a double rarity in that Schumann’s pieces are not widely performed, much less on a legendary 300-year-old instrument. Almond and Sykes’ rendering of the piece by the legendary pianist and gifted (but unfortunately unprolific) composer was as lovely as one could have expected, its reflective melodies providing a fitting sendoff for the evening.