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| Shir Semmel (www.jamd.ac.il) |
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| Tel Aviv Wind Quintet Ⓒ Dan Erez |
A flying musical visit to Europe via works spanning from the Baroque to the 20th century was the fare for a concert in The Best of Chamber Music series at the Eden-Tamir Music Center, Jerusalem, on January 25th 2025. Joining the Tel Aviv Wind Quintet - Hagar Shahal (flute), Nir Gavrieli (oboe, guest artist), Danny Erdman (clarinet), Itamar Leshem (horn) and Nadav Cohen (bassoon) - was pianist Shir Semmel.
The program opened with Mordechai
Rechtman's setting of J.S.Bach's Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 for wind quintet.
One of Bach's most popular organ fugues, it was written early in the composer's
career, probably when he was serving as organist in Arnstadt c.1707. Early
editors of Bach's work referred to it as the "Little Fugue" to
distinguish it from the later Great Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542. Principal
bassoonist of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra from 1946 to 1991,
Rechtman was also an acclaimed arranger. His more-than 200 arrangements
for wind ensembles have been performed around the world, often under his own
direction. Distributing the upbeat somewhat Italianate fugue's four voices
among five instruments gives freedom to spread its polyphonic play among
different timbral colour combinations, to provide "comments" and
create pared-down- and denser textures. Rechtman has written several
arrangements for the TLVWQ.
A member of Les Six, Darius Milhaud was
intensely involved in contemporary French stylistic musical development, as
well as in music for theatre. "La cheminée du roi René" (its title
alluding to a Provençal proverb playing on words for "fireplace",
"chimney" and "promenade") is one of the cornerstones of wind
quintet repertoire. Written for the film "Cavalcade d'amour", it
tells of King René, a 15th century ruler of Milhaud's native city,
Aix-en-Provence, who devoted himself to the well-being of his subjects, to
chivalry, to legendary tournaments and to cultivation of the arts. Milhaud, a
prolific composer, worked in a wide variety of styles, but this work stands
apart, being pastoral in flavour and infinitely simpler in texture. In
each of the small vignettes, the players created charming depictions of
activities of the court-Cortege - a procession, a morning serenade,
jugglers, jousting, hunting, etc. - in which some Renaissance
ornamentation could be heard, with Classical elements present in the restful nocturnal madrigal, which brings the work to a somewhat melancholy
close.
And, on the subject of music for
entertainment, W.A.Mozart wrote much music that was not intended for the
concert hall, theatre or church, but as an agreeable background to eating,
drinking and conversation on festive- or other social occasions, these often being
outdoor events. Most of this music dates from the earlier part of his
career, when the composer was based in his native city of Salzburg. From the
Five Divertimentos, K. 439b, originally scored for three basset horns, we
heard Divertimento No.4 in F major played by Gavrieli, Erdman and Cohen. Their
diligent, vivid playing of this clever, miniature masterpiece by the
27-year-old Mozart called attention to its contrasts, wit and charm.
Works for or with wind instruments (then
referred to as "Harmonie”) were a highly popular genre on the Viennese
Classical concert scene. L.van Beethoven's Piano Quintet Op.16 in E flat major
(1796) is one such work. Featuring clarinet, oboe, horn and bassoon alongside
the piano, it was written when Beethoven was pushing the boundaries of his
early Classical style to bolder and more expressive writing, yet still
embracing the elegance and refinement of the time. The artists' reading of the
work was tasteful, delicate and articulate, as they balanced its unique blend
of piano and wind instruments meticulously, allowing for the diverse range of
timbres and gestures to create a rich and dynamic soundscape. Introspective and
lyrical, the 2nd movement (Andante) was especially beautiful, with its array of
wind solos alongside the splendid integration of all the instruments. I enjoyed
Shir Semmel's understated, Classical-styled performance throughout, her clean
fingerwork and playing unburdened by excessive use of the sustaining pedal.
The Fantasiestücke Op 73 come from one of
the happier periods in Robert Schumann’s career. Penned hastily in Dresden in
February 1849, with the clarinet in mind, Schumann originally called the work
“Soiréestücke” (Soirée Pieces) before settling on "Fantasiestücke".
The pieces were first performed by his wife Clara and clarinettist Johann
Gottlieb Kotte. Making allowances for the burgeoning domestic market, Schumann
indicated that the Fantasiestücke might also be played by violin or 'cello,
(nowadays heard in several more configurations.) Playing them in their
originally-intended instrumental setting, Danny Erdman and Shir Semmel's
performance of one of the most poetic examples of Schumann’s lyrical
writing was spontaneous and communicative, indeed, rapt, showcasing the work's
creative vigour, its idyllic character, its Romantic longing and emotional
expressiveness. The artists connected with Schumann's capacity of capturing
deep and intimate feelings through each gesture and changing moment.
A new work in the TLVWQ's repertoire, and
probably new to most of the audience, was Dutch Jewish pianist/composer Leo
Smit's Piano Sextet. Dedicated to the Concertgebouw, the score was (fortunately)
retrieved from a rubbish heap after the Second World War. Written in 1932 and
premiered in 1933, the sextet is Classical in form and comprises three
movements. Shir Semmel and the wind players presented the audience with a fine
concert piece whose canvas is lyrical, witty, biting and rhythmically
compelling. Their playing of the outer movements revealed the influence of
Stravinsky's melodic angularity, with Smit's writing - urbane, blithe,
energetic, lush and threaded with extended harmonies - altogether reflecting
the composer's interest in jazz and other popular styles. The work
strongly recalls the eclecticism of the Paris musical world. (Smit lived and
worked in Paris from 1927 to 1936, and was greatly influenced by French
composers, including Les Six.) As to the 2nd movement (Lento), Nir Gavrieli
gave voice to its sentimental and hauntingly beautiful oboe solo. Skilfully
scored, the Piano Sextet's style is bold and complex, yet accessible to the
listener. Leo Smit (1900-1943) perished in the Sobibor extermination camp.
This was Shir Semmel's first collaboration
with the Tel Aviv Wind Quintet.
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