The Jerusalem Early Music Workshop, under the auspices of the Jerusalem Music Centre and run by Hed Sella, its director, was taking place for the 22nd time over the Succoth holiday of 2008. At Beit Shmuel, some twenty notable European, Canadian and Israeli musicians tutored 120 young Israeli players in an intensive course focusing on performance practice of the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical periods. Many of the students play conventional, modern instruments and this workshop was a chance for them to be exposed to period instruments and to the subtlety and sophistication of early repertoire. The workshop is known for its informal, warm and encouraging atmosphere. Students attend classes and concerts and play in ensembles. Clarinetist Lorenzo Coppola feels the importance of such a workshop is not just to produce professional performers but to encourage playing for pleasure and a future concert-loving audience. Tutors I talked to praised the excellent organization of the course.
I spent the morning of Sunday October 19 wandering around Beit Shmuel and Hebrew Union College visiting just a few of the many ensemble groups. The students, impressive in their competence, disciplined and serious, were preparing works to be performed at the students’ concert. Canadian soprano Ann Monoyios was working on a cantata by A.Scarlatti with a female singer, two recorder players, harpsichord and ‘cellist. Monoyios was discussing ornaments, the importance of eye contact and the role of the ‘cello in bringing out the many hemiolas of the piece.
In another room, Israeli harpsichord player, Yizhar Karshon, himself at the harpsichord, was guiding three flautists and a bassoonist through a Boismortier quartet. Karshon was talking about expression, tonguing, textures and contrasts, the role of the flutes as regarding that of the harpsichord-bassoon continuo. He went on to talk about the authentic “Baroque sound”. The transition from a slow movement to a fast one needed more work; Karshon showed the young players the importance of the break between movements, followed by fresh energy and a mood change in store to surprise the audience in the movement to come.
Baritone Assif Am-David was working on a Telemann cantata with a soprano, violinist, flautist, harpsichordist and ‘cellist. He was giving tips regarding Baroque performance practice and encouraging the singer to ornament her line.
German ‘cellist Rainer Zipperling’s young musicians, playing flute, oboe, bassoon, ‘cello, violin and harpsichord, were working on Vivaldi’s Concerto in g minor. The ensemble sound was rich and pleasing. Addressing each player by name, Zipperling discussed dynamics, the varying of each phrase and advised the players not to “warn” the audience of an approaching subito forte! He advised the ‘cellist not to drag and that he should “sing” more. There was work done with the violinist on a tricky rhythmic passage. “The forte makes you throw the bow, distracting yourself from the actual rhythm.”
British baritone, Peter Harvey, no newcomer to the workshop, told me he was enjoying the high standard of singing but felt that more male singers should attend the course. His ensemble, - consisting of violin, Baroque flute, ‘cello and harpsichord and two soprano singers, was working on Louis-Nicolas Clerambault’s cantata “Leandre et Hero”. Alternating in the solo role, the two singers gave expression to the drama and emotion of the work, ‘cellist and harpsichordist kept constant eye contact; violinist and flautist presented some well-coordinated, poignant moments.
British violinist, Margaret Faultless, was enjoying the serious attitude shown by the students and appreciated having the chance to spend time talking “shop” with other tutors between lessons. Her ensemble, made up of recorder, two violins, ‘cello and harpsichord, was playing Mancini’s Concerto in g minor. Faultless, addressing her students by name, spoke about live performance of Baroque music –suggesting it should include “loud whispering” and “quiet shouting”. She discussed various approaches to continuo playing around 1700. The session ended with Faultless taking the ensemble through the routine of how to bow at the end of a performance. Faultless will be conducting and soloing with the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra November 15 and 16, 2008.
Shut your eyes and, in all the classes I audited, you might forget you were hearing such young players, many of them teenagers. However, in the leafy, tranquil Beit Shmuel courtyard, a ping-pong table offered participants relaxation from concert preparation. In Matthew Halls’ room, a blond, still smooth-faced, jeans-clad, youth was holding up the rehearsal, looking for his bassoon score. Once it was found, Halls told him never to leave his music around again….a gentle reminder that the players here, highly gifted as they may be, are young. This larger ensemble of 14 players included two oboes and two horns for an invigorating performance of Handel’s “Water Music” Suite. Halls, in his relaxed, humorous manner, talked about musicianship. “Once we have a clear pulse, we can be free”, he said. “Watch me for rubato. Let’s go the extra meter to achieve superb artistry. Do get your heads out of the score and look at me.” “By standing, you can be flexible and freer. How about playing this as the most joyful piece you have ever played!” Halls suggested the horns turn the bell of their instruments towards the audience, the idea being to “thrill them”. One player asked about dynamics. Halls’ answer was “We don’t make plans for dynamics. Watch me”. I talked to Halls about the workshop. He felt he had invested a lot of energy in his classes but that the young players were responsive and gave much energy back.
Concert I
The three tutors’ concerts – “Bach and Beyond” - took place in the Hirsch Theatre of Merkaz Shimson and were open to the general public. In the first, Matthew Halls, a well-known conductor and harpsichord player, performed J.S. Bach’s (1685-1750) Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 on the beautiful Michael Johnson harpsichord which belongs to the JMC. Halls has performed the Goldberg Variations frequently of late and has recently recorded them;this year he will record all the J.S.Bach keyboard concertos. He sees the Goldberg Variations as a journey (or a map) which becomes clearer as the player proceeds. His playing is beautifully measured and accurate, his journey is one of energy and contrasts, of entertaining dances, of virtuosity, textural complexities and also humor. Halls is articulate and takes time to spell out the melodic, harmonic and expressive content of each variation. The concert ended with a poignant Sarabande, a subject which has a set of variations, probably an early J.S.Bach piece.
Matthew Halls (UK)-harpsichord
J.S.Bach – The Goldberg Variations
The Hirsch Theatre, Mercaz Shimshon
Beit Shmuel, Jerusalem
October 15, 2008.
Concert II
In the second concert, we heard works from the Baroque to the Romantic period. The evening began with J.S.Bach’s Suite in d minor for ‘cello solo, BWV 1008, performed by gamba-player and ‘cellist, Rainer Zipperling. A professor at the Frankfurt- and Cologne Conservatories, Zipperling’s recent recording of the six Bach Suites for Violoncello Solo has received glowing critiques. In the opening Prelude of the d minor suite, Zipperling breathes temperament into the melody, using vibrato to embellish it. In the Allemande, his caressing tone poignantly guides the listener through each different key. Following the hugely energetic Courante, the broad Sarabande is ornamented and conversational, with the artist taking his time to convey the personal character of the piece. The Minuets are technically complex; however, Zipperling places emphasis on the entertaining aspect of these court dances. In the Gigue, the short, eighth-note upbeat and following downbeat were a charming touch and contrasted well with the many fast, sixteenth-note passages. It was a rich and thought-provoking performance.
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788), J.S.Bach’s second son, spent thirty years in the service of Frederick the Great, a flautist himself. His Sonata in C major, Wq 73, seems to have been written originally for violin and keyboard. We heard it performed on Baroque flute and fortepiano by Kate Clark and Zvi Meniker. Meniker was playing a Walter model fortepiano, built by Wolf (USA) and owned by Bar Ilan University’s Music Department. From the opening Allegro di molto, the artists delighted the audience with brightness and clean playing. The Andante was delicate and expressive, with charming ornamentation and a small flute cadenza. Following this, the elegant and demanding Allegretto movement was a vehicle for interesting stresses and much energy. Performer, researcher and lecturer Kate Clark was born in Sydney Australia and now lives in Amsterdam. She is a leading specialist on the Renaissance flute. Zvi Meniker was born in Moscow and raised in Israel. Today he teaches at the Hanover Conservatory and is visiting professor at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s (1770-1827) Trio opus 11 in B flat major for clarinet, ‘cello and fortepiano was composed in 1797. Beethoven dedicated it to Countess Wilhemine von Thun and chose to include the clarinet because of the novelty and popularity of woodwind instruments at the time. Clarinetist Lorenzo Coppola, who emceed the evening with much humor, talked about opera buffa, referring to this trio, with its special effects, as an “opera without singers”. For this work, Coppola was playing a copy of a 1790’s Heinrich Grenser clarinet. The work was a myriad of beautifully shaped phrases, crisp, accurate motifs and lush textures. Coppola’s tone and expression are gorgeous. “Pria ch’io l’impegno” (a humorous song claiming that before starting anything important, one must first eat) was a currently popular tune from Joseph Weigl’s opera “L’Amor Marinaro” (The Corsair). Using the song in the third movement of the trio – Thema con variazione - , Beethoven dismembers Weigl’s ditty and reconstructs it in nine different ways, ending with a dancing 6/8 Allegretto coda.
Joseph Haydn’s (1732-1809) Trio in D major for flute, ‘cello and fortepiano was one of three piano trios composed in 1789 or 1790 at the behest of London publisher John Bland, with the flute replacing the violin due to the request of some of Bland’s clients. From the opening Allegro, Clark, Zipperling and Meniker presented the audience with the joy of articulate, Haydnesque lines and gestures. The second movement - Andante piutosto allegretto – was touching, delicate and singing and the final Vivace assai, pleasing in its lightness and intense moments. There was clearly fine collaboration between the artists.
Composed in the last year of his life, “The Shepherd on the Rock” is very different to other Lieder composed by Franz Schubert (1797-1828) in that it falls into three sections, has texts by two different poets and is scored for clarinet in addition to soprano voice and piano. In fact, it is more like an operatic aria than a Lied. It calls for soprano voice although the words are those of a shepherd yearning through a long winter for his beloved.
……. “The further my voice travels,
The clearer it returns to me from below.
So far from me does my love dwell
That I yearn for her more ardently over there”.. (Translation: Lionel Salter.)
Canadian soprano, Ann Monoyios, Coppola and Meniker shape each phrase and nuance magically. Monoyios begins the vocal line with delicacy; her piano tone is controlled and bewitching as she takes us through the shepherd’s longing and sadness. Meniker and Coppola are with her all the way. Monoyios paints the last section of transcendent hope with the joy and color of spring.
“Spring is coming,
Spring, my joy;
Now I will make ready to go journeying.”
Monoyios, a Baroque specialist, performs, gives master classes and records widely, and is a member of faculty of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
The evening ended with Monoyios singing a gentle, caressing cradle song by Louis Spohr.
Ann Monoyios (Canada) –soprano
Kate Clark (Holland) –flute
Lorenzo Coppola (Italy) – clarinet
Rainer Zipperling (Germany) – ‘cello
Zvi Meniker (Israel-Germany) – fortepiano
The Hirsch Theatre, Mercaz Shimshon,
Beit Shmuel, Jerusalem
October 16, 2008
Concert III
Concert III was an evening of Baroque music, opening with J.F.Fasch’s (1688-1758) Sonata in F major for oboe, violin, horn & basso continuo. In this ensemble we heard Dutch oboist Peter Frankenberg, British violinist Margaret Faultless and British horn player Andrew Clark. Clark performs on a variety of different horns, according to the historical context of repertoire being performed. In this concert, he played a large natural horn (no valves), making no use of hand-stopping, for the Fasch and Telemann works. Fasch, admired by J.S.Bach, marks the transition from the Baroque-, through the Roccoco-, to the early Classical style. The players, delighting the audience with the mix of their different timbres, presented the various characteristics of the work – the majestic, jovial, the flowing and lyrical – with a fine ensemble sound as well as plenty of personal expression.
Practical knowledge of various instruments is one of the most important keys to understanding G.Ph.Telemann’s (1681-1767) works. His aim is to give “each instrument that which suits it” while “exploiting the potential of each to the utmost”. In his Concerto a 3 in F major for horn, recorder & basso continuo, we heard Clark on horn and Han Tol (Holland) on recorder. Johannes Tol has performed, recorded and taught in Europe, America and the Far East and, from 1999 to 2007, was a member of the outstanding Flanders Quartet. His performance in this concert was expressive and brilliant. In the F major concerto, following the Allegro molto movement, the Loure, in keeping with Telemann’s love of the French style, was played with the elegance of lovely ornaments on recorder, harpsichord (using the lute register) and ‘cello. The Tempo di menuet movement, heavy in its beats, reflects Telemann’s taste for Polish, Moravian and Hanakian folk music, acquired on his travels between 1705 and 1708.
The recorder is featured in only a handful of Antonio Vivaldi’s (1678-1741) concertos, but where it does appear, the result is a concerto of virtuosic technique and musical variety. In his Concerto in g minor, RV 105, written in the typical Vivaldian form of three movements – fast, slow, fast –, we hear Tol on recorder, Peter Frankenberg (Holland) –oboe, Margaret Faultless-violin and Marc Vallon (bassoon) as well as basso continuo. The first movement is lively, giving all players melodic expression. The second movement – Largo –, given much expression by Tol, is, indeed, an aria for recorder, accompanied by bassoon and harpsichord. In the third movement, all instruments play once more; the bassoon is now given renewed, demanding solo duties. This rhythmic, colorful Allegro molto movement was inspiring in its energy. Marc Vallon (France), an orchestral- and chamber music player, has taught modern and Baroque bassoon at the Paris and Lyons Conservatory, gives master classes and is an arranger and composer. Musicologist and Baroque oboist Peter Frankenberg tours and records with several European ensembles, tutoring at a number of summer courses.
In Vivaldi’s Trio Sonata in a minor for recorder, bassoon and basso continuo, we had the pleasure of hearing Israeli recorder player Lara Morris. A member of several European consorts, Morris currently teaches recorder at the Jerusalem Academy of Music. From the opening Largo, one is lured into the fascinating combination of recorder and bassoon, certainly strange bedfellows, but how articulate and intense they are! Morris’ playing is expressive and brilliant; Vallon, too, no less, as we heard in the Allegro, which they presented with verve. In the Largo cantabile, the bassoon joins accompanying instruments, giving the recorder the stage. In the Allegro molto, with the two conversing once more, the audience enjoyed the energy and joy resulting from fine, communicative playing.
An interesting and moving item on the program was a group of pieces from two J.S.Bach cantatas, forming what baritone Peter Harvey called a “fake cantata”. “Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn” (Walk in the Way of Faith) BWV 152, composed in Weimar in1714, calls for a small ensemble of players, thus creating an intimate chamber piece. “Wer sich erhoehet, der soll erniedriget warden” (Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he who gains humility shall be exalted over.), BWV 47, was composed in Leipzig in 1726. The lush and interesting opening sinfonia, scored for recorder (Tol), oboe, violin, ‘cello and organ, issues in the “Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn” aria, with its opening motif depicting the stepping movement of “Tritt”, with its superb oboe obbligato. Peter Harvey’s voice boasts a rich mix of light and dark and his study of and interest in the verbal text are clear. In the aria “Der Heiland is gesetzt in Israel” (The Savior is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel), we enjoy the intimacy and delicacy of voice, organ and ‘cello. In “Jesu, beuge doch mein Herze” (Jesus, humble my heart), violin and oboe interact and intertwine beguilingly. Harvey sings the final chorale as a solo:
“Perishable honor I will gladly reject,
If only You reserve the eternal for me,
That You have won through Your harsh, bitter death.
This I pray to you, my Lord and God”.
Peter Harvey (UK)-baritone
Kate Clark (Holland)-flute
Peter Frankenberg (Holland)-oboe
Marc Vallon (France)-bassoon
Rainer Zipperling (Germany)-‘cello
Margaret Faultless (UK)-violin
Han Toll (Holland)-recorder
Lara Morris (Israel)-recorder
Andrew Clark (UK)-horn
Matthew Halls (UK)-harpsichord
The Hirsch Theatre, Mercaz Shimshon,
Beit Shmuel, Jerusalem
October 18, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Barrocade Ensemble,Vanhal and Vivaldi
The Barrocade Ensemble, the Israeli Baroque Collective, performed a short concert in Jerusalem prior to its tour abroad to take part in the “VBE Baroque Evenings Festival” in Varazdin, a town of cultural and historical interest on the Drava River in northwestern Croatia. Established in 1971, this international festival offers a variety of Baroque concerts of all kinds in churches and picturesque venues around the town. This will be Barrocade’s first guest appearance at the festival.
The concert opened with Jan Krtitel Vanhal’s (1739-1813) “Salve Regina” for soprano and strings. Details of Vanhal’s life are sketchy but it is thought he was born of a Czech peasant family and was taken under the wing of a certain Countess Schaffgotsch, who sent him to study in Vienna. He eventually became a prolific composer, writing two or three operas, 100 quartets, at least 73 symphonies and 95 sacred works. The original manuscript of the “Salve Regina” we heard is today in Varazdin, where it was written at a time Vanhal was court composer there. The performance we heard, with soprano Ye’ela Avital singing the solo, was the Israeli premiere of the work. The opening Cantabile is paced in slow, heavy beats. Avital’s voice glides with ease, she is warm and communicative. The Allegro movement, though joyful, was taken at a controlled pace. The sudden pauses, typical of Vanhal’s style typical of the “Sturm und Drang” movement, add dramatic effect.
The next work on the program was Antonio Vivaldi’s (1678-1741) Mandolin Concerto in D major, with Jacob Reuven playing the solo. We know from a letter of Vivaldi’s that his protector, the Marquis Guido Bentivoglio, played the mandolin but there is no evidence that the mandolin concerti were written to be performed by him. Scored for strings, theorbo and harpsichord, the work began with energy and joy. Reuven was articulate, with brilliant solo passages, much “conversation” with the orchestra as well as moments where he joined instruments reinforcing harmonies. The Largo movement, with thinner orchestration, was intimate and delicate and taken at a relaxed enough pace for all nuances and ornamentation to be heard. The Allegro was spirited, with Reuven adding brilliance and excitement. The audience loved it. Israeli mandolin artist Jacob Reuven (b.1976) has performed with many local orchestras and ensembles. In addition to being a classical artist, he is a member of “Mactub”, an international ensemble performing classical, Arabic and Middle Eastern music.
Over the course of three centuries, more than 150 composers have used the La Folia theme in their works. Vivaldi used the popular melody and chord progression in 1705 for his La Folia Variations Opus 1, no.12, scoring it for two violins and basso continuo. We heard the Barrocade’s arrangement of it for strings, harpsichord, theorbo, mandolin and flutes. The ensemble’s version of it is a work in progress, developing and changing in time as the result of much discussion of ideas among the players. After a well-defined exposition of the short theme, we were treated to twenty variations of it, each differently orchestrated, each different in color… from flutes playing in parallel rhythms in the first, to a variation of only bowed and plucked instruments, to a mellow, darker texture, to abrasively bowed, intense textures, to a variation of virtuosity on the part of the mandolin, to serene, lyrical variations, to vehement, stormy ones, to ones of sudden dynamic changes, to running triplets. Violinist Shlomit Sivan was expressive and touching in her solos in two of the variations. This was a fine example of Barrocade’s rich palette of instrumental color.
The concert ended with Vivaldi’s motet “Laudate Pueri Dominum” in G, RV601, for soprano and orchestra, a joyous yet serene setting of Psalm 112. Israeli Ye’ela Avital is known to many as a performer of Baroque music, but her repertoire actually includes works from early- to contemporary music; she teaches and performs widely in Israel and Europe. This Vivaldi motet is an excellent vehicle for the Barrocade group; Avital delights the audience with the sheer melodic beauty of the piece, with her flowing melismas and her ornamenting, together with the fact that there is much to interest the players, too. The work is a series of short, contrasted movements. The Gloria was especially lovely, opening with Kimberly Reine’s moving cantabile flute solo. Flute and voice blended well against delicate orchestration. The florid Amen was rich and well phrased, bringing a very pleasing concert to an end. Barrocade’s concerts offer concert-goers the joys of live music, inspiring and involving the audience.
The Barrocade Ensemble’s concert series begins in November, details of which can be viewed on http://www.barrocade.co.il/ .
"Barrocade"
Slomit Sivan, Yasuko Hirata-violins
Katia Polin-viola, recorders
Boaz Berney, Kimberly Reine-flutes
Alexandra Polin-‘cello
Amit Tiefenbrunn-violone
Rinat Avissar-double bass
Eitan Hoffer-theorbo
Yizhar Karshon-harpsichord
St Andrews Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem
September 18, 2008
The concert opened with Jan Krtitel Vanhal’s (1739-1813) “Salve Regina” for soprano and strings. Details of Vanhal’s life are sketchy but it is thought he was born of a Czech peasant family and was taken under the wing of a certain Countess Schaffgotsch, who sent him to study in Vienna. He eventually became a prolific composer, writing two or three operas, 100 quartets, at least 73 symphonies and 95 sacred works. The original manuscript of the “Salve Regina” we heard is today in Varazdin, where it was written at a time Vanhal was court composer there. The performance we heard, with soprano Ye’ela Avital singing the solo, was the Israeli premiere of the work. The opening Cantabile is paced in slow, heavy beats. Avital’s voice glides with ease, she is warm and communicative. The Allegro movement, though joyful, was taken at a controlled pace. The sudden pauses, typical of Vanhal’s style typical of the “Sturm und Drang” movement, add dramatic effect.
The next work on the program was Antonio Vivaldi’s (1678-1741) Mandolin Concerto in D major, with Jacob Reuven playing the solo. We know from a letter of Vivaldi’s that his protector, the Marquis Guido Bentivoglio, played the mandolin but there is no evidence that the mandolin concerti were written to be performed by him. Scored for strings, theorbo and harpsichord, the work began with energy and joy. Reuven was articulate, with brilliant solo passages, much “conversation” with the orchestra as well as moments where he joined instruments reinforcing harmonies. The Largo movement, with thinner orchestration, was intimate and delicate and taken at a relaxed enough pace for all nuances and ornamentation to be heard. The Allegro was spirited, with Reuven adding brilliance and excitement. The audience loved it. Israeli mandolin artist Jacob Reuven (b.1976) has performed with many local orchestras and ensembles. In addition to being a classical artist, he is a member of “Mactub”, an international ensemble performing classical, Arabic and Middle Eastern music.
Over the course of three centuries, more than 150 composers have used the La Folia theme in their works. Vivaldi used the popular melody and chord progression in 1705 for his La Folia Variations Opus 1, no.12, scoring it for two violins and basso continuo. We heard the Barrocade’s arrangement of it for strings, harpsichord, theorbo, mandolin and flutes. The ensemble’s version of it is a work in progress, developing and changing in time as the result of much discussion of ideas among the players. After a well-defined exposition of the short theme, we were treated to twenty variations of it, each differently orchestrated, each different in color… from flutes playing in parallel rhythms in the first, to a variation of only bowed and plucked instruments, to a mellow, darker texture, to abrasively bowed, intense textures, to a variation of virtuosity on the part of the mandolin, to serene, lyrical variations, to vehement, stormy ones, to ones of sudden dynamic changes, to running triplets. Violinist Shlomit Sivan was expressive and touching in her solos in two of the variations. This was a fine example of Barrocade’s rich palette of instrumental color.
The concert ended with Vivaldi’s motet “Laudate Pueri Dominum” in G, RV601, for soprano and orchestra, a joyous yet serene setting of Psalm 112. Israeli Ye’ela Avital is known to many as a performer of Baroque music, but her repertoire actually includes works from early- to contemporary music; she teaches and performs widely in Israel and Europe. This Vivaldi motet is an excellent vehicle for the Barrocade group; Avital delights the audience with the sheer melodic beauty of the piece, with her flowing melismas and her ornamenting, together with the fact that there is much to interest the players, too. The work is a series of short, contrasted movements. The Gloria was especially lovely, opening with Kimberly Reine’s moving cantabile flute solo. Flute and voice blended well against delicate orchestration. The florid Amen was rich and well phrased, bringing a very pleasing concert to an end. Barrocade’s concerts offer concert-goers the joys of live music, inspiring and involving the audience.
The Barrocade Ensemble’s concert series begins in November, details of which can be viewed on http://www.barrocade.co.il/ .
"Barrocade"
Slomit Sivan, Yasuko Hirata-violins
Katia Polin-viola, recorders
Boaz Berney, Kimberly Reine-flutes
Alexandra Polin-‘cello
Amit Tiefenbrunn-violone
Rinat Avissar-double bass
Eitan Hoffer-theorbo
Yizhar Karshon-harpsichord
St Andrews Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem
September 18, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
The Golden Age of Judeo-Spanish Music,Beit Avi Chai,Jerusalem
The main auditorium at Beit Avi Chai was crowded to overflowing on the evening of August 21. The occasion was “Sounds from the Golden Age” – an evening of Ladino songs from the Golden Age of Sephardic music, interspersed with instrumental pieces from the Middle Ages. The concert was under the musical direction of recorder player and flautist Michael Melzer, who saw this as an opportunity to breathe new life into existing material by way of his own musical arrangements. People attending the concert represented different groups of Jerusalem communities. An instrumental ensemble of recorders, oud, percussion, double bass and a specially constructed viol combination instrument - was seated on the stage. The players were joined by singers Ofer Khalaf and Esti Keinan.
With a startling, buzzy barrage of driving rhythms, the concert opened with Francisco de la Torre’s (beginning 16th century) “Danza”, after which a jaunty early Saltarello was played mostly in parallel octaves, providing solos for several of the players. We heard an Estampie, the text of which was found in France, one of the few written for two voices. “Tre Fontane” (Three Wellsprings), a dance from the Middle Ages, representing the three monotheistic religions which had joined forces till the Jews’ banishment from Spain, was energetic, with recorders and oud placed against an ostinato of bowed instruments and drum – a virtuosic piece. Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro (Benjamin Guglielmo) was a Jewish dancing master in the 15th century in Pesaro, Italy. He served many European courts and wrote a treatise on dancing – “De pratica seu arte tripudii vulgare opusculum (On the Practice or Art of Dancing) (1463) – which included both tunes and choreography. In his reading of Guglielmo’s “La Spagna”, a basse dance (i.e. all steps close to the floor with no leaps) Melzer creates a tranquil, beautifully crafted solo to the accompaniment of double bass and percussion. The last dance played was “Cho min ciamento di gioia” (The Start of a Game), a homophonic, set of long, intricate phrases, each ending simultaneously.
Singer Ofer Khalaf did not grow up hearing songs in Ladino at home, but has made a serious study of the repertoire under the guidance of Rubic Simantov. Khalaf presented a number of Ladino romances, the first of which was “La rosa enflorece”, (The Rose Blooms in May) a 16th century love song of the Judeo-Spanish oral tradition, as passed on from generation to generation by Jewish women. In a superb and heart-rending performance of this much-loved song, Melzer’s arrangement was introduced by viol and double bass – double bass player Chagai Bilitsky had much to say melodically - it was expressive and mournful, with Ralli Margalit skillfully “singing” and ornamenting the melody on her viol-combination instrument in oriental, fragrant idiom. Khalaf began the song itself with humming, then adding the words, with his own expressive interpretation. The viol brought the piece to a poignant close.
‘The rose blooms in May
But my soul wilts from love sickness;
Nightingales sing with sighs of love.
In your hands are my soul and my fate.
Come quicker, dove, hurry and save me.’
The Romance “Porque IIorax, blanca nina” (Why Should You Cry?) exists in a number of versions. The whispering effects at the outset of the piece belie undertones of a complex domestic plot, whereby a man leaves his young wife, advising her to find a new husband after eight years of his absence. Melzer gives his instrumentalists individual melodic roles and expression, the combination of which resulted in a mesmerizing collage; Khalaf’s singing is full of feeling, from the gut. The next song he performed was probably in existence before the Jews were banished from Spain. Another tricky family situation unfolds here: a young man, released from prison, arrives at his mother’s home with a girl who is, as fate would have it, his mother’s daughter. In this strophic song, Oren Fried’s percussion sets the scene together with Chagai Bilitsky on double bass. We become aware of a military march in the distance. Khalaf sings the emotional text in a strident, uncompromising, heart-rending manner.
Melzer has clothed the touching, cantabile Ladino lullaby “Durme, durme” in Renaissance dress, beginning with an instrumental version of it, with delicate percussion bell effects creating an air of magic. Recorder solos were lyrical and pleasing. Khalaf’s sung verses were sandwiched between lilting instrumental sections. The instrumentalists joined the singing, too
‘Sleep, sleep, Mother’s little one,
Free from worry and grief.
Listen, my joy, to your mother’s words,
To the words of “Shema Yisrael”.
Sleep, sleep, Mother’s little one,
With the beauty of “Shema Yisrael”’.
Esti Keinan-Ofri is a singer, dancer and instrumentalist who performs ethnic music, in particular, Ladino songs, into which she shows great insight. At this concert, she presented four songs in Ladino, each being a performance in the true sense! Keinan sang two versions of “Tres hermanicas” (Three Sisters), opening with a duet with Margalit. Keinan’s alto voice is rich, boasting a large range; however, her strength lies in her dramatic presence and total involvement in her texts. In her second song, “Maldicha tripa” (A Cursed Belly), oud player Luai Chilifi plays a beguiling, meditative solo. The plot tells of a young daughter who goes to war to save her father from conscription. Keinan, with her large palette of gestures and vocal color, is expressive and spontaneous, taking the listener into the depths of his or her soul. In “La mujer de Terach” (Terach’s wife, mother of Abraham) Keinan accompanying herself with the utmost of delicacy with the help of a small gong, is eventually joined by Fried’s voice and percussions. (They perform together as the “Kol-Toff” [Voice-drum] Duo.)Beginning with a somewhat Sprechgesang (speech in song) technique, Keinan’s reading of the piece takes her into strident sounds of the most vehement expression. Her fourth song, the wedding song “Ay, que Buena” (Oh, How Beautiful), was also performed with Fried – a percussionist whose hallmark is good taste and delicacy. The song is sensitive, sensuous and earthy. Keinan is free and spontaneous in her use of the stage, her face and body. She and Fried communicate well, complementing each other in understated nuances.
The evening ended with Ofer Khalaf singing “Yo menamore d’un aire” (I Fell in Love), one of the most popular and best-known Ladino songs. To this joyful, flowing melody Melzer has added independent melodic lines for recorders. As in some of the texts above, we are once again reminded that the domestic scene is fraught with problems! The audience savored every moment of it.
‘I fell in love with a breeze,
A breeze of a woman so pretty,
Dearer to me than my heart.
I fell in love during the night,
The moon deceived me-
Were it daytime, I would not have found love.
If I fall in love ever again
I will do it in daylight.’
This concert was the outcome of much research, work and artistic creativity on the part of Michael Melzer and his fellow musicians. The combination of Ladino songs and Renaissance dances was interesting and certainly refreshing. Melzer’s instrumentalists are hand-picked, his singers outstanding; performance was polished, at the same time leaving room for freedom and spontaneity. Considering the wealth of material covered in the concert and the audience’s interest and involvement, a detailed printed program would have been helpful. The auditorium at Beit Avi Chai is a pleasing venue for events of this kind.
“Sounds of the Golden Age”
Michael Melzer-artistic direction, musical arrangements, recorders
Yael Melzer-recorders
Ofer Khalaf-tenor
Ralli Margalit-“Hu-Tar” ‘cello
Luai Chilifi-oud
Chagai Bilitsky-double bass
Oren Fried-percussions
Guest artist Esti Keinan-Ofri-alto
Beit Avi Chai, Jerusalem
August 21, 2008
With a startling, buzzy barrage of driving rhythms, the concert opened with Francisco de la Torre’s (beginning 16th century) “Danza”, after which a jaunty early Saltarello was played mostly in parallel octaves, providing solos for several of the players. We heard an Estampie, the text of which was found in France, one of the few written for two voices. “Tre Fontane” (Three Wellsprings), a dance from the Middle Ages, representing the three monotheistic religions which had joined forces till the Jews’ banishment from Spain, was energetic, with recorders and oud placed against an ostinato of bowed instruments and drum – a virtuosic piece. Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro (Benjamin Guglielmo) was a Jewish dancing master in the 15th century in Pesaro, Italy. He served many European courts and wrote a treatise on dancing – “De pratica seu arte tripudii vulgare opusculum (On the Practice or Art of Dancing) (1463) – which included both tunes and choreography. In his reading of Guglielmo’s “La Spagna”, a basse dance (i.e. all steps close to the floor with no leaps) Melzer creates a tranquil, beautifully crafted solo to the accompaniment of double bass and percussion. The last dance played was “Cho min ciamento di gioia” (The Start of a Game), a homophonic, set of long, intricate phrases, each ending simultaneously.
Singer Ofer Khalaf did not grow up hearing songs in Ladino at home, but has made a serious study of the repertoire under the guidance of Rubic Simantov. Khalaf presented a number of Ladino romances, the first of which was “La rosa enflorece”, (The Rose Blooms in May) a 16th century love song of the Judeo-Spanish oral tradition, as passed on from generation to generation by Jewish women. In a superb and heart-rending performance of this much-loved song, Melzer’s arrangement was introduced by viol and double bass – double bass player Chagai Bilitsky had much to say melodically - it was expressive and mournful, with Ralli Margalit skillfully “singing” and ornamenting the melody on her viol-combination instrument in oriental, fragrant idiom. Khalaf began the song itself with humming, then adding the words, with his own expressive interpretation. The viol brought the piece to a poignant close.
‘The rose blooms in May
But my soul wilts from love sickness;
Nightingales sing with sighs of love.
In your hands are my soul and my fate.
Come quicker, dove, hurry and save me.’
The Romance “Porque IIorax, blanca nina” (Why Should You Cry?) exists in a number of versions. The whispering effects at the outset of the piece belie undertones of a complex domestic plot, whereby a man leaves his young wife, advising her to find a new husband after eight years of his absence. Melzer gives his instrumentalists individual melodic roles and expression, the combination of which resulted in a mesmerizing collage; Khalaf’s singing is full of feeling, from the gut. The next song he performed was probably in existence before the Jews were banished from Spain. Another tricky family situation unfolds here: a young man, released from prison, arrives at his mother’s home with a girl who is, as fate would have it, his mother’s daughter. In this strophic song, Oren Fried’s percussion sets the scene together with Chagai Bilitsky on double bass. We become aware of a military march in the distance. Khalaf sings the emotional text in a strident, uncompromising, heart-rending manner.
Melzer has clothed the touching, cantabile Ladino lullaby “Durme, durme” in Renaissance dress, beginning with an instrumental version of it, with delicate percussion bell effects creating an air of magic. Recorder solos were lyrical and pleasing. Khalaf’s sung verses were sandwiched between lilting instrumental sections. The instrumentalists joined the singing, too
‘Sleep, sleep, Mother’s little one,
Free from worry and grief.
Listen, my joy, to your mother’s words,
To the words of “Shema Yisrael”.
Sleep, sleep, Mother’s little one,
With the beauty of “Shema Yisrael”’.
Esti Keinan-Ofri is a singer, dancer and instrumentalist who performs ethnic music, in particular, Ladino songs, into which she shows great insight. At this concert, she presented four songs in Ladino, each being a performance in the true sense! Keinan sang two versions of “Tres hermanicas” (Three Sisters), opening with a duet with Margalit. Keinan’s alto voice is rich, boasting a large range; however, her strength lies in her dramatic presence and total involvement in her texts. In her second song, “Maldicha tripa” (A Cursed Belly), oud player Luai Chilifi plays a beguiling, meditative solo. The plot tells of a young daughter who goes to war to save her father from conscription. Keinan, with her large palette of gestures and vocal color, is expressive and spontaneous, taking the listener into the depths of his or her soul. In “La mujer de Terach” (Terach’s wife, mother of Abraham) Keinan accompanying herself with the utmost of delicacy with the help of a small gong, is eventually joined by Fried’s voice and percussions. (They perform together as the “Kol-Toff” [Voice-drum] Duo.)Beginning with a somewhat Sprechgesang (speech in song) technique, Keinan’s reading of the piece takes her into strident sounds of the most vehement expression. Her fourth song, the wedding song “Ay, que Buena” (Oh, How Beautiful), was also performed with Fried – a percussionist whose hallmark is good taste and delicacy. The song is sensitive, sensuous and earthy. Keinan is free and spontaneous in her use of the stage, her face and body. She and Fried communicate well, complementing each other in understated nuances.
The evening ended with Ofer Khalaf singing “Yo menamore d’un aire” (I Fell in Love), one of the most popular and best-known Ladino songs. To this joyful, flowing melody Melzer has added independent melodic lines for recorders. As in some of the texts above, we are once again reminded that the domestic scene is fraught with problems! The audience savored every moment of it.
‘I fell in love with a breeze,
A breeze of a woman so pretty,
Dearer to me than my heart.
I fell in love during the night,
The moon deceived me-
Were it daytime, I would not have found love.
If I fall in love ever again
I will do it in daylight.’
This concert was the outcome of much research, work and artistic creativity on the part of Michael Melzer and his fellow musicians. The combination of Ladino songs and Renaissance dances was interesting and certainly refreshing. Melzer’s instrumentalists are hand-picked, his singers outstanding; performance was polished, at the same time leaving room for freedom and spontaneity. Considering the wealth of material covered in the concert and the audience’s interest and involvement, a detailed printed program would have been helpful. The auditorium at Beit Avi Chai is a pleasing venue for events of this kind.
“Sounds of the Golden Age”
Michael Melzer-artistic direction, musical arrangements, recorders
Yael Melzer-recorders
Ofer Khalaf-tenor
Ralli Margalit-“Hu-Tar” ‘cello
Luai Chilifi-oud
Chagai Bilitsky-double bass
Oren Fried-percussions
Guest artist Esti Keinan-Ofri-alto
Beit Avi Chai, Jerusalem
August 21, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra - Junge Philharmonie
The evening of August 9th was wet and blustery in Cornwall but inclement weather did not prevent local people and summer visitors from attending a concert played by a few members of the Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Penzance. The present church was built in 1833-5, becoming a parish church with its own vicar in 1871.TheCologne New Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Volker Hartung, is the only independent orchestra in Germany and its members come from many countries: the eight performers that evening were from Germany, Poland, Spain and Belgium. Hartung himself was not present.
The evening’s concert began with W.A.Mozart’s (1756-1791) Violin Concerto in G Major, KV 216.Composed in Salzburg in 1775, the work is in three movements. Soloist was Marek Dumicz, the orchestra’s concertmaster, with a string sextet playing the orchestral parts. The opening Allegro movement was fresh-sounding, with much interaction between the players. The cadenza was expressive and personal without being showy. The Adagio movement was given a personal, rich reading. Here, the cadenza was well paced and thought-provoking. The Rondeau:Allegro was joyful but measured, Dumicz’ phrases were finely shaped and melodic subjects nicely contrasted. The work ended with a touch of Mozartean humility.
Also by Mozart, we heard the aria “Nel Sen mi Palpita”, with the young Belgian soprano Astrid Defauw as soloist. The aria is from Act one of “Mitridate, re di Ponto”, an opera written by Mozart in 1770 (the composer was 14 years of age!), when he was touring Italy. In this aria, Aspasia, who is engaged to Mitridate, awaits her fiance’s return, grieving the fact that he is parted from her. Defauw’s performance was exciting and dynamic; her understanding of the role was supported by her vocal ease and musicality. Her diction was not always distinct.
The ensemble performed a selection of pieces from Henry Purcell’s (1658-1695) opera “Dido and Aeneas”. To a libretto by Nahum Tate, it was Purcell’s first opera, composed in 1689. In the Overture, the septet sets the gloomy scene. The aria “I am prest with torment” is sung to a ground (recurring) bass, a musical form frequently used by Purcell. Here, Dido tells her servant Belinda of her doubts about Aeneas’ intentions. Defauw’s performance of it was emotional and enriched by excellent instrumental support. The selection ended with Dido’s heart-rending “When I am laid in earth”. Defauw ornamented the piece tastefully as she let the aria unfold and breathe, her high notes rich and effortless. Her own involvement in the tragedy of the piece was convincing and moving.
Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) composed his six string sonatas in Ravenna Italy in the summer of 1804. He was only twelve years of age. They are often performed by larger ensembles; the CNPO players, however, performed his Sonata III in C major for strings in its original scoring, as a quartet. Based on the classical model of the generation preceding Rossini, the work conjures up the immediacy and sparkling cantabile melodic fluency present in Rossini operas! The opening Allegro was both cleanly played and delightfully entertaining, with its humorous moments and joy. The Andante painted a more serious scene, with the final Moderato movement presenting a dazzling set of variations, offering brilliant solos to players, double-bass player included.
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) composed the incidental music to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” opus 61 in 1843. Actually, he had written the Overture 17 years earlier! The CNPO chose to play the Scherzo from it; the ensemble’s lightness and agility, variety of color and textures were a keen reminder to us that the setting for the Shakespeare play was an enchanted wood.
The concert ended with Joseph Haydn’s (1732-1809) Concerto in C major for Violoncello and Orchestra, Hob. VII:1, with the ‘cello solo played by Dmitri Gornovski. Haydn composed the work around 1761-1765 to be performed by his friend Joseph Weigl, the principal ‘cellist of Prince Nicolaus’ Esterhazy Orchestra. The score calls for strings, two oboes and two horns. There is also a basso continuo line that might have been played by another ‘cellist or a bass string player or, possibly, by Haydn himself at the harpsichord. The Cologne ensemble made do with no wind instruments. The original ‘cello line, however, divides its time between playing solo and joining tutti sections, this dual role making great demands on that player. All the concerto’s movements are in sonata form. The first movement – Moderato – expounds Haydnesque joy. Gornovski’s richness of tone and expression made for interesting listening, his cadenza measured, communicating a sense of well-being. After a dramatic entry of two bars, the Adagio movement is tranquil, articulate and meditative, with Gornovski’s bow caressing and singing. The final movement - Allegro molto – is witty and joyful. The soloist’s energy and virtuosity had his audience involved and bright-eyed.
Johann Pachelbel’s much-loved, mellow Canon in D major was played as an encore, providing another chance to hear beautiful solo work.
The program was varied, with an appealing selection of works. The Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra has high standards of performance, its reading into works profound. Tempi are taken for what they are and never as a vehicle for showmanship. Performing these works with so few players creates playing that is more individual and expressive than often heard in larger ensembles. The audience was enthusiastic and appreciative.
Junge Philharmonie Koeln,
Violins: Marek Dumicz (concertmaster, Poland), Sabine Baron (Germany), Mateosz Zuzanski (Poland), Michal Rozek (Spain)
Viola: Alexandra Kiszka (Poland)
Violoncello: Dmitri Gornovski (Germany)
Double bass: Alexander Maar (Germany)
Soprano: Astrid Defauw (Belgium)
The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Penzance, Cornwall UK.
August 9, 2008
The evening’s concert began with W.A.Mozart’s (1756-1791) Violin Concerto in G Major, KV 216.Composed in Salzburg in 1775, the work is in three movements. Soloist was Marek Dumicz, the orchestra’s concertmaster, with a string sextet playing the orchestral parts. The opening Allegro movement was fresh-sounding, with much interaction between the players. The cadenza was expressive and personal without being showy. The Adagio movement was given a personal, rich reading. Here, the cadenza was well paced and thought-provoking. The Rondeau:Allegro was joyful but measured, Dumicz’ phrases were finely shaped and melodic subjects nicely contrasted. The work ended with a touch of Mozartean humility.
Also by Mozart, we heard the aria “Nel Sen mi Palpita”, with the young Belgian soprano Astrid Defauw as soloist. The aria is from Act one of “Mitridate, re di Ponto”, an opera written by Mozart in 1770 (the composer was 14 years of age!), when he was touring Italy. In this aria, Aspasia, who is engaged to Mitridate, awaits her fiance’s return, grieving the fact that he is parted from her. Defauw’s performance was exciting and dynamic; her understanding of the role was supported by her vocal ease and musicality. Her diction was not always distinct.
The ensemble performed a selection of pieces from Henry Purcell’s (1658-1695) opera “Dido and Aeneas”. To a libretto by Nahum Tate, it was Purcell’s first opera, composed in 1689. In the Overture, the septet sets the gloomy scene. The aria “I am prest with torment” is sung to a ground (recurring) bass, a musical form frequently used by Purcell. Here, Dido tells her servant Belinda of her doubts about Aeneas’ intentions. Defauw’s performance of it was emotional and enriched by excellent instrumental support. The selection ended with Dido’s heart-rending “When I am laid in earth”. Defauw ornamented the piece tastefully as she let the aria unfold and breathe, her high notes rich and effortless. Her own involvement in the tragedy of the piece was convincing and moving.
Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) composed his six string sonatas in Ravenna Italy in the summer of 1804. He was only twelve years of age. They are often performed by larger ensembles; the CNPO players, however, performed his Sonata III in C major for strings in its original scoring, as a quartet. Based on the classical model of the generation preceding Rossini, the work conjures up the immediacy and sparkling cantabile melodic fluency present in Rossini operas! The opening Allegro was both cleanly played and delightfully entertaining, with its humorous moments and joy. The Andante painted a more serious scene, with the final Moderato movement presenting a dazzling set of variations, offering brilliant solos to players, double-bass player included.
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) composed the incidental music to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” opus 61 in 1843. Actually, he had written the Overture 17 years earlier! The CNPO chose to play the Scherzo from it; the ensemble’s lightness and agility, variety of color and textures were a keen reminder to us that the setting for the Shakespeare play was an enchanted wood.
The concert ended with Joseph Haydn’s (1732-1809) Concerto in C major for Violoncello and Orchestra, Hob. VII:1, with the ‘cello solo played by Dmitri Gornovski. Haydn composed the work around 1761-1765 to be performed by his friend Joseph Weigl, the principal ‘cellist of Prince Nicolaus’ Esterhazy Orchestra. The score calls for strings, two oboes and two horns. There is also a basso continuo line that might have been played by another ‘cellist or a bass string player or, possibly, by Haydn himself at the harpsichord. The Cologne ensemble made do with no wind instruments. The original ‘cello line, however, divides its time between playing solo and joining tutti sections, this dual role making great demands on that player. All the concerto’s movements are in sonata form. The first movement – Moderato – expounds Haydnesque joy. Gornovski’s richness of tone and expression made for interesting listening, his cadenza measured, communicating a sense of well-being. After a dramatic entry of two bars, the Adagio movement is tranquil, articulate and meditative, with Gornovski’s bow caressing and singing. The final movement - Allegro molto – is witty and joyful. The soloist’s energy and virtuosity had his audience involved and bright-eyed.
Johann Pachelbel’s much-loved, mellow Canon in D major was played as an encore, providing another chance to hear beautiful solo work.
The program was varied, with an appealing selection of works. The Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra has high standards of performance, its reading into works profound. Tempi are taken for what they are and never as a vehicle for showmanship. Performing these works with so few players creates playing that is more individual and expressive than often heard in larger ensembles. The audience was enthusiastic and appreciative.
Junge Philharmonie Koeln,
Violins: Marek Dumicz (concertmaster, Poland), Sabine Baron (Germany), Mateosz Zuzanski (Poland), Michal Rozek (Spain)
Viola: Alexandra Kiszka (Poland)
Violoncello: Dmitri Gornovski (Germany)
Double bass: Alexander Maar (Germany)
Soprano: Astrid Defauw (Belgium)
The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Penzance, Cornwall UK.
August 9, 2008
Labels:
Church of St Mary the Virgin,
Cornwall,
Penzance,
UK
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Nicholas Clapton-countertenor and Jonathan Watts-piano
It was 10:30 p.m. and people were streaming into the Great Hall of Dartington Hall on a blustery summer evening to hear a recital of English songs performed by countertenor Nicholas Clapton and pianist Jonathan Watts.
Nicholas Clapton, born in Worcester, has pursued a wide-ranging career in opera, oratorio and recital, he writes and researches, records and teaches. Born in Wales, Jonathan Watts has embraced many styles of keyboard playing, exploring the huge repertoire of piano-, organ- and harpsichord accompaniment.
The evening’s concert began with an arrangement of “The Three Ravens” by John Ireland (1879-1962). Organist and teacher, Ireland has produced much great English art-song, his style influenced more by French and Russian style than by folk-song style in Britain of his time. “The Three Ravens”, a spine-chilling folk ballad printed in the Melismata Song Book, was compiled by Thomas Ravenscroft and published in 1611. It opens with three scavenger birds discussing their next meal – a recently slain knight. Ireland’s arrangement of the song is rich and dark, with Clapton and Watts quickly setting the scene. Ireland’s harmonies contain surprises and Clapton matches them with his strong, kaleidoscope of vocal color.
“Silent Noon” (1903) is one of six sonnets composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) to texts by the English poet, illustrator, painter and translator Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Complex, erotic and sensual, the sequence was known as “The House of Life”. Rossetti described the sonnet form as a “moment’s monument”.
‘Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragon-fly
Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky:--
So this wing’d hour is dropt to us from above.’
Evocative and lush, Clapton’s piani were magical set against the accompaniment Watts wove into the texture in shaped, nuanced phrases.
Organist, pianist, conductor and music critic W. Denis Browne (1888-1915) was a masterful songwriter. He fell in battle at age 27. His output consists of a handful of songs, a small quantity of choral, orchestral and piano music and an incomplete ballet. In his setting of Ben Jonson’s “Epitaph on Salathiel Pavey” (Salathiel Pavay was a child of Elizabeth I’s, chapel; he died very young) his dramatization is subtle, his writing for piano rich and beguiling.
Thomas Dunhill (1877-1946) was mainly a composer for the stage, also composing orchestral- and chamber music as well as piano- and vocal music for young musicians. His opus 30/3 setting of William Butler Yeats’ (1865-1939) “The Cloths of Heaven”, composed in 1910, is one of his best-known works performed by (adult) soloists. Clapton, his silken legato speaking the poem’s bitter-sweet text, brings out the humble and tender aspects of this touching piece.
‘I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.’
Violist and conductor Frank Bridge (1879-1941) composed orchestral- and chamber music as well as 45 songs. Clapton and Watts performed his ballad “Love Went A-Riding” (1914) written to words of Mary Coleridge (1861-1907), with energy and excitement, the effect of galloping horses urgent and vivid. I loved the piano part, which is every bit as interesting and challenging as the vocal line.
Pianist Nicholas Marshall was born in Plymouth in 1942 and has taught at the Dartington College of Arts. His “Five Winter Songs” is a descriptive and evocative group of miniatures, beginning with Shakespeare’s “Winter” – a moody, direct, almost theatrical piece. The composer draws a vignette of stealthy feline gestures in his setting of W.B.Yeats’ “The Cat and the Moon” and an uncompromising, icy, bleak picture in the setting of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “A Song”. Following Marshall’s intense setting of Thomas Hardy’s “A Sheep Fair”, John Drinkwater’s “January Dusk” paints a gloomy picture of winter’s grey bareness, however, reminding us that spring’s “buds”, “primrose airs” and “coloured retinue” offer hope.
We were privileged to hear Nicholas Clapton in the first performance of Robin Walker’s “The Names of the Hare” composed for unaccompanied counter-tenor, to an anonymous medieval text translated in 1981 by the Irish poet, writer and Nobel Prize laureate, Seamus Heaney. Walker, born in York in 1953, has taught and traveled widely and now spends his time mainly composing. “The Names of the Hare” is feisty, rhythmical and wordy, plying the listener with ideas and associations at a swift rate, the text presenting a startling description of the animal that symbolizes the untamable and the uncontainable as well as wild sexuality. Clapton’s performance of this unconventional work was brilliant.
Born in Sussex, Roger Quilter’s (1877-1953) reputation rests mainly on his oeuvre of light orchestral music and more than 100 songs. The concert concluded with Quilter’s “Five Shakespeare Songs” opus 23 for high voice and piano. The song cycle opens with the somewhat modal and flowing “Fear no more the heat o’ the sun” in a lovely cantabile, pensive mood, this being is followed by “Under the greenwood tree”, a canvas rich in movement and early 20th century English harmonies. “It was a lover and his lass” was given a lyrical, delightful performance, full of joy and sunlight, with delicate hints of bird calls in the piano part, after which it was contrasted by the more thoughtful miniature - “Take, o take those lips away”, its long, flowing phrases sung sensitively. The whimsical last song “Hey, ho, the wind and the rain” from Twelfth Night was lively and amusing, bringing this interesting, varied and inspiring recital to an end. It was now time to face the wind and the rain outside.
The Great Hall,
Dartington Hall,Devon,UK
July 31,2008
Nicholas Clapton, born in Worcester, has pursued a wide-ranging career in opera, oratorio and recital, he writes and researches, records and teaches. Born in Wales, Jonathan Watts has embraced many styles of keyboard playing, exploring the huge repertoire of piano-, organ- and harpsichord accompaniment.
The evening’s concert began with an arrangement of “The Three Ravens” by John Ireland (1879-1962). Organist and teacher, Ireland has produced much great English art-song, his style influenced more by French and Russian style than by folk-song style in Britain of his time. “The Three Ravens”, a spine-chilling folk ballad printed in the Melismata Song Book, was compiled by Thomas Ravenscroft and published in 1611. It opens with three scavenger birds discussing their next meal – a recently slain knight. Ireland’s arrangement of the song is rich and dark, with Clapton and Watts quickly setting the scene. Ireland’s harmonies contain surprises and Clapton matches them with his strong, kaleidoscope of vocal color.
“Silent Noon” (1903) is one of six sonnets composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) to texts by the English poet, illustrator, painter and translator Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Complex, erotic and sensual, the sequence was known as “The House of Life”. Rossetti described the sonnet form as a “moment’s monument”.
‘Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragon-fly
Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky:--
So this wing’d hour is dropt to us from above.’
Evocative and lush, Clapton’s piani were magical set against the accompaniment Watts wove into the texture in shaped, nuanced phrases.
Organist, pianist, conductor and music critic W. Denis Browne (1888-1915) was a masterful songwriter. He fell in battle at age 27. His output consists of a handful of songs, a small quantity of choral, orchestral and piano music and an incomplete ballet. In his setting of Ben Jonson’s “Epitaph on Salathiel Pavey” (Salathiel Pavay was a child of Elizabeth I’s, chapel; he died very young) his dramatization is subtle, his writing for piano rich and beguiling.
Thomas Dunhill (1877-1946) was mainly a composer for the stage, also composing orchestral- and chamber music as well as piano- and vocal music for young musicians. His opus 30/3 setting of William Butler Yeats’ (1865-1939) “The Cloths of Heaven”, composed in 1910, is one of his best-known works performed by (adult) soloists. Clapton, his silken legato speaking the poem’s bitter-sweet text, brings out the humble and tender aspects of this touching piece.
‘I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.’
Violist and conductor Frank Bridge (1879-1941) composed orchestral- and chamber music as well as 45 songs. Clapton and Watts performed his ballad “Love Went A-Riding” (1914) written to words of Mary Coleridge (1861-1907), with energy and excitement, the effect of galloping horses urgent and vivid. I loved the piano part, which is every bit as interesting and challenging as the vocal line.
Pianist Nicholas Marshall was born in Plymouth in 1942 and has taught at the Dartington College of Arts. His “Five Winter Songs” is a descriptive and evocative group of miniatures, beginning with Shakespeare’s “Winter” – a moody, direct, almost theatrical piece. The composer draws a vignette of stealthy feline gestures in his setting of W.B.Yeats’ “The Cat and the Moon” and an uncompromising, icy, bleak picture in the setting of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “A Song”. Following Marshall’s intense setting of Thomas Hardy’s “A Sheep Fair”, John Drinkwater’s “January Dusk” paints a gloomy picture of winter’s grey bareness, however, reminding us that spring’s “buds”, “primrose airs” and “coloured retinue” offer hope.
We were privileged to hear Nicholas Clapton in the first performance of Robin Walker’s “The Names of the Hare” composed for unaccompanied counter-tenor, to an anonymous medieval text translated in 1981 by the Irish poet, writer and Nobel Prize laureate, Seamus Heaney. Walker, born in York in 1953, has taught and traveled widely and now spends his time mainly composing. “The Names of the Hare” is feisty, rhythmical and wordy, plying the listener with ideas and associations at a swift rate, the text presenting a startling description of the animal that symbolizes the untamable and the uncontainable as well as wild sexuality. Clapton’s performance of this unconventional work was brilliant.
Born in Sussex, Roger Quilter’s (1877-1953) reputation rests mainly on his oeuvre of light orchestral music and more than 100 songs. The concert concluded with Quilter’s “Five Shakespeare Songs” opus 23 for high voice and piano. The song cycle opens with the somewhat modal and flowing “Fear no more the heat o’ the sun” in a lovely cantabile, pensive mood, this being is followed by “Under the greenwood tree”, a canvas rich in movement and early 20th century English harmonies. “It was a lover and his lass” was given a lyrical, delightful performance, full of joy and sunlight, with delicate hints of bird calls in the piano part, after which it was contrasted by the more thoughtful miniature - “Take, o take those lips away”, its long, flowing phrases sung sensitively. The whimsical last song “Hey, ho, the wind and the rain” from Twelfth Night was lively and amusing, bringing this interesting, varied and inspiring recital to an end. It was now time to face the wind and the rain outside.
The Great Hall,
Dartington Hall,Devon,UK
July 31,2008
Labels:
Bridge,
Dunhill,
Ireland,
Nicholas Marshall,
Quilter,
Robin Walker,
Vaughan Williams,
W.Denis Browne
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
"Sweet,stay a while" Dartington Hall,Devon UK
“Sweet, Stay a While” was the title of a concert performed in the Great Hall of Dartington Hall, featuring soprano Evelyn Tubb, Michael Fields-lute and theorbo, David Wright-harpsichord and organ and David Hatcher-viol. The ensemble calls itself “Sprezzatura”, (a term first used in Castiglione’s “Book of the Courtier”, published 1528, referring to the ability of a courtier to perform difficult actions nonchalantly, concealing any effort invested in them), promising a concert with a strong theatrical element. The program included music from the Renaissance and Baroque – mostly English, with some Italian music.
The concert included a number of pieces by Henry Purcell (1659-1695). Tubb performed the whimsical “Ye gentle spirits of the air” with playful ease. “The Plaint”, for voice, viol and lute, is a lyrical, moving piece built on an ostinato bass; Tubb outlined its various moods and mood changes with great artistry. In “The Blessed Virgin’s Expostulation”, a sense of despair made for an emotional, soul-searching performance. London-born David Wright, whose interests also lie in instrument building and restoration, gave an energetic and interestingly ornamented performance of Purcell’s Chaconne (Curtain tune from “Timon of Athens”). One of the highlights of the program was “Morpheus, thou gentle god” a work by Henry Purcell’s younger brother, Daniel Purcell (1664-1717). In her reading of this Baroque “mad song”, Tubb creates a gripping drama of desire and jealousy, coloring the work with many rapid ornaments and rhythm- and tempo changes. She uses the stage well and communicates with her audience in crystal clear diction, with her eyes, with her body. Evelyn Tubb, known to many of us from the Consort of Musicke, works closely with Michael Fields and today is vocal professor at the Schola Cantorum in Basel., Switzerland.
Michael Fields was born in Hawaii and has taken an interesting musical journey - from folk, rock and jazz, to coaching madrigal ensembles and directing medieval dramas. In this evening’s concert he played a complex and delicate lute Fantasia by John Dowland (1563-1626). This was followed by Dowland’s “In darkness let me dwell” for voice and lute, with Tubb weaving in the tragic text with rich melodic interest, her “piano” phrases rich and haunting.
‘In darkness let me dwell; the ground shall sorrow be,
The roof despair, to bar all cheerful light from me;
The walls of marble black, that moist’ned still shall weep;
My music, hellish jarring sounds, to banish friendly sleep.’
Henry Lawes (1595-1662) was a prolific song writer, composing more than 430 songs. His “Sweet, stay a while” for lute, viol and voice was declamatory and pensive. In Lawes’ “Slide soft you silver floods”, Tubb bewitches her listeners, inviting them to savor each word:
‘Slide soft you silver floods
And ev’ry Spring
Within these shady woods;
Let no bird sing,
But from this grove a turtle dove
Be seen to couple with his love:
But silence on each dale and mountain dwell,
Whilst that I weeping bid my love farewell.’
Also on the subject of Nature, the Vauxhall Gardens, opened in 1661, provided Georgian and Victorian Londoners with a summer-time retreat – a place to hear music, admire paintings, promenade, drink and flirt in a happy confusion of classes and media. We know that William Boyce’s (1711-1779) music was performed there. Wright (on harpsichord) and Tubb performed his “Spring Gardens”, with Hatcher joining them on viol in “Tell me ye brooks”, the latter rich in allusions to Nature’s beauty, including bird calls, but weighty in a young woman’s yearning for her lover. These songs were followed by John Weldon’s (1676-1736) lively, charming and melismatic “The wakeful nightingale”; the nightingale sings and takes no rest from the pains of love.
David Hatcher, back in Britain after ten years in Japan where he took a leading part in the country’s flourishing Early Music scene, gave a poignant, contrasted and finely crafted performance of “Whoope (Hope) doe me no harme” & Lachrimae (anonymous) from the Manchester Lyra Viol Book. Hatcher and Wright played two movements of Archangelo Corelli’s (1653-1713) Sonata in D major (originally scored for violin) opus 5, no.11, providing mellow, meditative respite from the drama and tortures of love.
It was an evening of superb performance, interest and variety, of humor, despair and tranquility. The audience sat at the edge of their seats.
“Sweet Stay a While”
Sprezzatura
Evelyn Tubb-soprano
Michael Fields-lute, theorbo
David Wright-harpsichord, organ
David Hatcher-viola da gamba
The Great Hall
Dartington Hall, Devon, UK
July 29, 2008
The concert included a number of pieces by Henry Purcell (1659-1695). Tubb performed the whimsical “Ye gentle spirits of the air” with playful ease. “The Plaint”, for voice, viol and lute, is a lyrical, moving piece built on an ostinato bass; Tubb outlined its various moods and mood changes with great artistry. In “The Blessed Virgin’s Expostulation”, a sense of despair made for an emotional, soul-searching performance. London-born David Wright, whose interests also lie in instrument building and restoration, gave an energetic and interestingly ornamented performance of Purcell’s Chaconne (Curtain tune from “Timon of Athens”). One of the highlights of the program was “Morpheus, thou gentle god” a work by Henry Purcell’s younger brother, Daniel Purcell (1664-1717). In her reading of this Baroque “mad song”, Tubb creates a gripping drama of desire and jealousy, coloring the work with many rapid ornaments and rhythm- and tempo changes. She uses the stage well and communicates with her audience in crystal clear diction, with her eyes, with her body. Evelyn Tubb, known to many of us from the Consort of Musicke, works closely with Michael Fields and today is vocal professor at the Schola Cantorum in Basel., Switzerland.
Michael Fields was born in Hawaii and has taken an interesting musical journey - from folk, rock and jazz, to coaching madrigal ensembles and directing medieval dramas. In this evening’s concert he played a complex and delicate lute Fantasia by John Dowland (1563-1626). This was followed by Dowland’s “In darkness let me dwell” for voice and lute, with Tubb weaving in the tragic text with rich melodic interest, her “piano” phrases rich and haunting.
‘In darkness let me dwell; the ground shall sorrow be,
The roof despair, to bar all cheerful light from me;
The walls of marble black, that moist’ned still shall weep;
My music, hellish jarring sounds, to banish friendly sleep.’
Henry Lawes (1595-1662) was a prolific song writer, composing more than 430 songs. His “Sweet, stay a while” for lute, viol and voice was declamatory and pensive. In Lawes’ “Slide soft you silver floods”, Tubb bewitches her listeners, inviting them to savor each word:
‘Slide soft you silver floods
And ev’ry Spring
Within these shady woods;
Let no bird sing,
But from this grove a turtle dove
Be seen to couple with his love:
But silence on each dale and mountain dwell,
Whilst that I weeping bid my love farewell.’
Also on the subject of Nature, the Vauxhall Gardens, opened in 1661, provided Georgian and Victorian Londoners with a summer-time retreat – a place to hear music, admire paintings, promenade, drink and flirt in a happy confusion of classes and media. We know that William Boyce’s (1711-1779) music was performed there. Wright (on harpsichord) and Tubb performed his “Spring Gardens”, with Hatcher joining them on viol in “Tell me ye brooks”, the latter rich in allusions to Nature’s beauty, including bird calls, but weighty in a young woman’s yearning for her lover. These songs were followed by John Weldon’s (1676-1736) lively, charming and melismatic “The wakeful nightingale”; the nightingale sings and takes no rest from the pains of love.
David Hatcher, back in Britain after ten years in Japan where he took a leading part in the country’s flourishing Early Music scene, gave a poignant, contrasted and finely crafted performance of “Whoope (Hope) doe me no harme” & Lachrimae (anonymous) from the Manchester Lyra Viol Book. Hatcher and Wright played two movements of Archangelo Corelli’s (1653-1713) Sonata in D major (originally scored for violin) opus 5, no.11, providing mellow, meditative respite from the drama and tortures of love.
It was an evening of superb performance, interest and variety, of humor, despair and tranquility. The audience sat at the edge of their seats.
“Sweet Stay a While”
Sprezzatura
Evelyn Tubb-soprano
Michael Fields-lute, theorbo
David Wright-harpsichord, organ
David Hatcher-viola da gamba
The Great Hall
Dartington Hall, Devon, UK
July 29, 2008
Labels:
David Hatcher,
David Wright,
Evelyn Tubb,
Michael Fields
Friday, August 15, 2008
Henschel Quartet at Dartington Hall,Devon UK
The Henschel siblings –violinists Christoph Henschel and Markus Henschel and violist Monika Henschel-Schwind – have been playing music together from a young age. In 1994, they were joined by ‘cellist Mathias Beyer-Karlshoj to form what has become the illustrious Henschel Quartet, an ensemble performing widely and the recipient of many prizes. Quartet members were tutors and performers at the 2008 Dartington Hall International Summer School.
The quartet’s concert in the Great Hall on the Dartington Hall campus in Devon UK, opened with Dmitri Shostakovich’s (1906-1975) Quartet no. 7 in f sharp minor, opus 108. Shostakovich composed the work, his shortest quartet, in 1960, dedicating it to the memory of his first wife Nina, who had died in 1954. Moving swiftly from the Allegretto to a Lento movement and on to the final Allegro-Allegretto, the Henschel Quartet outlined the melancholy character of this work, at the same time addressing other traits of the composer present in the work: the whimsical opening figure of the first movement, the almost visual bare, Russian landscape of the somber Lento and the somewhat devilish opening of the intense, sometimes cynical, contrapuntal third movement, a movement that includes thematic material from the previous two movements. The quartet ends on a major chord, a gesture of reflection rather than optimism. The players presented the drama of the piece with total involvement.
The next work on the program was Erwin Schulhoff’s (1894-1942) Quartet no.1. Born in Prague of German-Jewish parents, Schulhoff became a virtuoso pianist. His own composition absorbed both German and Czech idiom as well as that of Debussy, but was influenced by the jazz he had heard when in Weimar and Paris. Schulhoff perished in the Wuelzberg concentration camp. His Quartet no.1 was composed after his return to Prague in 1924. The opening Presto con fuoco is rich in texture, intense and energetic, certainly eastern European in character. The second movement – Allegretto con moto e con malinconia grotesca – sets bitter-sweet melodies against a pizzicato background. The Allegro giocoso alla Slavacca presents a fiery set of folk-type dances, one interrupting the other with a sense of urgency. Strangely enough, Schulhoff ends his quartet with a slow, somber movement. Here he creates a distant, hazy texture which develops into dark heaviness. The movement has a bleak message, with the ‘cello adopting a persistent “clock-ticking” motif. A work of virtuosity, color and originality, it was given a profound and moving reading by the players.
The concert ended with Franz Schubert’s String Quartet no.15 in G major, D887. Composed within ten days, in 1826, at a time when Schubert’s reputation in Vienna was gathering momentum, it was his last completed quartet. It opens with a highly contrasted Allegro molto moderato, with drama and melancholy juxtaposed, and the players brought out the strong dynamic contrasts of the movement. The second movement is intimate, singing and serene, disturbed, however, by two vehement outbursts. As in the first movement, the ‘cello plays a central role, with Beyer-Karlshoj’s sensitive bow weaving in each of the plaintive melodies. The Scherzo was light and whimsical, but not lacking in cantabile melodiousness. Schubert, leaving some surprises to the last movement, introduces abrupt changes from major to minor and plays with dotted rhythms and triplets. J.A.Westrup referred to this last movement as “a mad rondo, violent in rhythm and mad in harmony”. Schubert knew he was dying at the time he was writing the quartet; this work is surely a combination of defiance and resignation. The Henschel Quartet’s performance of it was motivated and sincere.
It was an interesting and balanced program. Playing was rich in color, articulate and expressive. This was string playing and musicianship at its finest.
The Henschel Quartet (Germany)
Christoph Henschel-first violin
Markus Henschel-second violin
Monika Henschel-Schwind-viola
Mathias D. Beyer-Karlshoj-‘cello
The Great Hall
Dartington Hall,Devon UK
July 27, 2008
The quartet’s concert in the Great Hall on the Dartington Hall campus in Devon UK, opened with Dmitri Shostakovich’s (1906-1975) Quartet no. 7 in f sharp minor, opus 108. Shostakovich composed the work, his shortest quartet, in 1960, dedicating it to the memory of his first wife Nina, who had died in 1954. Moving swiftly from the Allegretto to a Lento movement and on to the final Allegro-Allegretto, the Henschel Quartet outlined the melancholy character of this work, at the same time addressing other traits of the composer present in the work: the whimsical opening figure of the first movement, the almost visual bare, Russian landscape of the somber Lento and the somewhat devilish opening of the intense, sometimes cynical, contrapuntal third movement, a movement that includes thematic material from the previous two movements. The quartet ends on a major chord, a gesture of reflection rather than optimism. The players presented the drama of the piece with total involvement.
The next work on the program was Erwin Schulhoff’s (1894-1942) Quartet no.1. Born in Prague of German-Jewish parents, Schulhoff became a virtuoso pianist. His own composition absorbed both German and Czech idiom as well as that of Debussy, but was influenced by the jazz he had heard when in Weimar and Paris. Schulhoff perished in the Wuelzberg concentration camp. His Quartet no.1 was composed after his return to Prague in 1924. The opening Presto con fuoco is rich in texture, intense and energetic, certainly eastern European in character. The second movement – Allegretto con moto e con malinconia grotesca – sets bitter-sweet melodies against a pizzicato background. The Allegro giocoso alla Slavacca presents a fiery set of folk-type dances, one interrupting the other with a sense of urgency. Strangely enough, Schulhoff ends his quartet with a slow, somber movement. Here he creates a distant, hazy texture which develops into dark heaviness. The movement has a bleak message, with the ‘cello adopting a persistent “clock-ticking” motif. A work of virtuosity, color and originality, it was given a profound and moving reading by the players.
The concert ended with Franz Schubert’s String Quartet no.15 in G major, D887. Composed within ten days, in 1826, at a time when Schubert’s reputation in Vienna was gathering momentum, it was his last completed quartet. It opens with a highly contrasted Allegro molto moderato, with drama and melancholy juxtaposed, and the players brought out the strong dynamic contrasts of the movement. The second movement is intimate, singing and serene, disturbed, however, by two vehement outbursts. As in the first movement, the ‘cello plays a central role, with Beyer-Karlshoj’s sensitive bow weaving in each of the plaintive melodies. The Scherzo was light and whimsical, but not lacking in cantabile melodiousness. Schubert, leaving some surprises to the last movement, introduces abrupt changes from major to minor and plays with dotted rhythms and triplets. J.A.Westrup referred to this last movement as “a mad rondo, violent in rhythm and mad in harmony”. Schubert knew he was dying at the time he was writing the quartet; this work is surely a combination of defiance and resignation. The Henschel Quartet’s performance of it was motivated and sincere.
It was an interesting and balanced program. Playing was rich in color, articulate and expressive. This was string playing and musicianship at its finest.
The Henschel Quartet (Germany)
Christoph Henschel-first violin
Markus Henschel-second violin
Monika Henschel-Schwind-viola
Mathias D. Beyer-Karlshoj-‘cello
The Great Hall
Dartington Hall,Devon UK
July 27, 2008
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