Sunday, May 28, 2023

Conducted by Avner Biron, the Israel Camerata Jerusalem performs Handel, Copland and Piazzolla. Soloists:Julia Rovinsky (harp) and accordionist Teodoro Anzellotti (Italy/Germany)

 

Julia Rovinsky (www.camerata.com)

Teodoro Anzellotti (www.camerata.com)

Attending "From the Peaks of America", a concert of the Israel Camerata Jerusalem's "Passion for Music" series in the Henry Crown Auditorium of the Jerusalem Theatre on May 23rd 2023, took the listener to America, but also further afield. The program, conducted by the Camerata's founder and music director Avner Biron, featured two soloists - harpist Julia Rovinsky and accordionist Teodoro Anzellotti (Italy-Germany).

 

The event opened with George Frideric Handel's Concerto for Harp and Orchestra in B flat major, Op.4 No.6. The British Library boasts an autographed score of the “Concerto per la Harpa” by G. F. Handel, written in 1736, a musical intermezzo for the premiere of “Alexander’s Feast” at Covent Garden. In the piece, the composer wished to evoke the minstrel Timotheus’ masterful playing of the lyre in the oratorio. "Alexander’s Feast", which tells the story of how a bard used music to manipulate Alexander the Great in the celebration after his conquest of Persia; hence the use of lavish displays of instrumental sounds. Handel wrote this concerto for the Welsh harpist Robert Powell, whom he admired for his virtuosity. Four of Handel’s full-scale concert pieces were heard at the festive premiere - his "Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day", the "Alexander’s Feast" Concerto Grosso, his Organ Concerto in g minor and, quite remarkable for its time, the Harp Concerto. The latter was later published as a work for organ and orchestra, and is most often heard today performed on the organ, but its pared-down orchestration, muted violins, and pizzicato bass parts still point to the fact that it was originally conceived for the harp. Julia Rovinsky's playing was radiant and beautifully poised, her sound fresh and rich in dynamic contrast as she created interest with each different gesture and mood of the opening Andante allegro. No less dynamic was the Larghetto, lyrical, noble and pensive, her playing of Grandjany's cadenza emerging as a rich canvas of ideas and harp techniques, to be followed by the sheer dancelike joy of the final Allegro moderato. Although the Camerata is not a period orchestra, the modest number of players chosen here for the work and their clean instrumental sound made for an ensemble favourable to Baroque music, the splendid balance of orchestra and harp calling attention to Rovinsky's bold sense of line, indeed, to the unique possibilities of the harp itself. For an encore, Julia Rovinsky gave an appealing and sincere rendition of "Chat without Words" by Israeli composer Al Ravin.

 

It was the legendary American music patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge who commissioned Aaron Copland to compose a ballet for dancer/choreographer Martha Graham. The composer was aware that this work - "Appalachian Spring" - was to reflect "the pioneer American spirit, with youth and spring, with optimism and hope,” in his own words. With neither the season nor the mountains on Copland’s mind when he composed the work, he collaborated with Graham to delineate the characters of the ballet, its storyline telling of the events of an entire day, from the morning of the young couple’s wedding (in one of the most effective musical evocations of sunrise ever composed) to the evening. From the ballet (1944), Copland extracted a suite and scored it for full orchestra, this earning him the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1945. The work, going beyond the world of dance, has remained a beloved icon of American culture. Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” marvellously evokes an idyllic sense of country and landscape, the folk element is strongly present (with reference to square-dance rhythms) as it features a set of variations on the Shaker song “Simple Gifts.” Maestro Biron's reading of the suite had a fine, natural flow, sensitivity to colour and to the shaping of phrases. At times, nostalgic, fleet and delicately textured, at others, exuberant and energetic, the leaping dance rhythms were taut and sinewy; hearty utterances emerged with some touches of humour. With many solos allotted to the woodwinds, these moments rose out of the orchestral weave with poignance and beauty of timbre. Although to some listeners certain movements might tend to sound a little drawn out without the visual aspect of dancers on the stage, the "Appalachian Spring" Suite is indeed a splendid concert piece, its score featuring the unique tonings of pandiatonic harmony (in which a tonal centre is created while avoiding traditional formulas) in charming, well-crafted and uncontrived writing. Signing out with a velvety cluster, the Camerata's performance was characterized by a sense of delicacy, sparkle and imagination.

 

Astor Piazzolla composed his Concerto for Bandoneón, Strings, Harp, Piano and Percussion in late 1979. It was a commission from the Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. The composer himself was soloist at the premiere on December 15th of the same year.  Also given the title of “Aconcagua” by his publisher Aldo Pagani, who considered the work the peak of Piazzolla's oeuvre (Aconcagua is the highest mountain peak in South America), the Concerto for Bandoneón garnered Piazzolla the title of “the Villa-Lobos of Argentina” .Although the bandoneón, a button accordion (invented in Germany by Heinrich Band in the 1840s), its sound described  by John Henken, the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Director of Publications, for its "moaning wheeze, seductive and sarcastic", characterising the quintessential sound of the tango, it is not unusual to hear this concerto performed on the accordion, as was the case at the Jerusalem concert. Collaborating deftly with Avner Biron and members of the Camerata, Italian-born accordionist Teodoro Anzellotti (known for integrating the accordion into the sphere of classical music) brought the spirit of Argentinean music and the palpable elements of Piazzolla's real-life- and musical world into the Henry Crown Auditorium. Setting the scene, the opening Allegro marcato burst into life with the typically Argentinean intensity of Piazzolla’s brand of tango, his complicated harmonies and stinging dissonances, sultry moments and melancholy. In solo sections and moving tastefully through the orchestral weave, lending a rich voice to the melody, Anzellotti expresses each turn of mood. Beginning with the accordion alone, ultimately joined by the harp (Julia Rovinsky) in an elegantly reflective duet, the Moderato movement's dream-like burgeoning also featured solo violin (concertmaster Natasha Sher) alongside the accordionist. The highly spirited final movement included some distinctive, intimate moments - as, for example, when the accordion engaed in duet with gentle percussion sounds. In this work, Piazzolla provides the soloist with ample opportunities for drama, pathos and virtuosity. Add to those the sophistication and subtlety Anzellotti infuses into his music-making. Teodoro Anzellotti then gave a touching rendition of “Chiquilin de Bachin” (The little boy at Bachin), a deliciously sentimental waltz-tango, also by Astor Piazzolla. 


The audience enjoyed the Israel Camerata Jerusalem's delightfully imaginative programming.




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