A classical Irish soirée at the American Colony Hotel (Jerusalem)

Rita Manning,Deidre Brenner,Tara Erraught (Petra Klose)

Marking St. Patrick’s Day (March 17^th), a classical Irish concert soirée took place on March 18^th 2017 in the Pasha Room of the American Colony Hotel, Jerusalem.  On their first visit here, the three artists – pianist Dierdre Brenner, mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught and violinist Rita Manning – are Irish, all with international careers. Words of welcome were offered by Jonathan Conlon, representative of the Office of Ireland in Palestine. Addressing the international audience, which included members of the Irish Parliament and the diplomatic community, Mr. Conlon spoke of St. Patrick’s Day as when Irish people all over the world gather to celebrate Ireland and “Irishness”. He also thanked Ms. Petra Klose (K und K, Wien) for her organization of the concert.

The program opened with W.A.Mozart’s Sonata for piano and violin in E-minor, K.304 (1778), the only of the composer’s violin and piano sonatas written in a minor key; in keeping with most in the set published in Paris, it consists of two movements. Manning and Brenner gave intensity and expression to the work’s wistful mood. In the Tempo di Menuetto (2^nd movement) also serious (a far cry from its light-hearted courtly ancestor) the artists’ small hesitations allowed for a feel of spontaneity, its splendid dolce E-major middle section played with charm and tranquillity. Then to Erraught and Brenner’s performance of Joseph Haydn’s “Scena di Berenice”, a single scene the composer set to the text from Metastasio’s libretto for “Antigono”. In her presentation of the work’s dramatic recitatives, short ariosos and a final powerful aria, Erraught gave a gripping and convincing portrayal of Berenice, overwhelmed and delirious in her desire to accompany her lover to the underworld. The various aspects of Berenice’s emotional plight were displayed not only in her strategic use of vocal colour but also in the singer’s body language.  Brenner’s piano accompaniment formed an integral part of the passionate and impactful performance.  The first section of the program concluded with Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Violons dans le soir” (1907) to a text by a young contemporary of the composer – Comtesse Anna de Noailles. The text describes the sobbing evening music of the violin as disturbing the calm of the natural world. In the quite different five short stanzas of this “mini-cantata”, Erraught, Brenner and Manning struck a fine balance, with voice and violin obbligato engaged in dialogue, the violin echoing (at times, uttering strident comments) as interaction between the two took on vivacity, the two alternating or joining to present independent agendas. Brenner ‘s attentive piano accompaniment was subtle and sensitive. A challenging work to perform, and one seldom heard here on the concert platform, the artists created its bewitching mood, offering a satisfying performance.

Following intermission, all the works the works performed were Irish, beginning with two movements of Charles Stanford’s Six Irish Fantasies, op.54. In addition to his time spent studying with German masters, honing his compositional art, Stanford had made contact with some of Europe’s greatest violinists. The Irish Fantasies display his skill at writing miniatures, but they were also composed as a response to the interest in Irish music at the time, this not just within Ireland. Manning and Brenner’s vigorous and wholehearted performance of “Caione”, a concert piece bristling with temperament, was followed by the Jig:  opening with the spirit of this Irish folk dance and with traditional fiddling, the piece deviates from the jolly dance to proceed as a set of variations, to return to the jig only in the coda. Fine solo fare not just for the violinist, Brenner’s playing of the piano part attested to Stanford’s own competence at the piano. In “Molly on the Shore”, Kreisler’s arrangement of a piece Percy Grainger wrote in 1907 featuring two authentic Irish reels, Brenner and Manning’s buoyant playing challenged some members of the audience to remain seated, as the artists tossed it off with the wink of an eye. This was followed by Tommy Laurence’s arrangement of “Danny Boy”, a version seasoned with some discretely different harmonies.

Then to Hamilton Harty’s settings of Irish texts for voice and piano. The first was “Sea Wrack”, (wrack meaning seaweed) to a poem of Moira O’Neill. With Brenner’s playing no less dedicated to the song’s content, Erraught re-created its tender narrative and resulting tragedy:
‘There' a fire low upon the rocks to burn the wrack to kelp,
There' a boat gone down upon the Moyle, an' sorra one to help!
Him beneath the salt sea, me upon the shore,
By sunlight or moonlight we'll lift the wrack no more.
The dark wrack,
The sea wrack,
The wrack may drift ashore.’
Set to a traditional Irish air from County Donegal and discovered by Herbert Hughes, “My Lagan Love” (The Lagan: an Irish river) presented Erraught’s warm, poignant rendition of the tender love-song and her rich palette of vocal colours, complemented by Harty’s poetic piano part.

Tara Erraught introduced the last bracket of songs as favourites of hers from a young age. Her gently droll performance of “The Stuttering Lovers” was followed by the rapt, captivating mood she inspired for “I will walk with my love” and the understated heartbreak almost whispered in “She moved thro’ the fair”. A fitting conclusion to the program was “The Leprechaun”, a song about the most important Irish fairy, the little imp dressed in green, of course!

 

 

 

 

 

Ensemble William Byrd (France) closes the 2011 Felicja Blumental International Music festival

The 2011 Felicja Blumental International Music Festival ended with a concert performed by Ensemble europeen William Byrd (France) and pianist David Selig on April 16th 2011 in the Recanati Hall of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The festival, dedicated to the memory of Polish-born pianist Felicja Blumental, was directed by Blumental’s daughter, soprano Annette Celine together with Avigail Arnheim. One focus of the festival, in cooperation with the Australian Embassy, was on the music of Australian pianist and composer Percy Grainger, marking 50 years of his death.

For almost 20 years, Ensemble europeen William Byrd has been performing Renaissance and Baroque vocal music, with particular emphasis on music of the 17th century, the six singers presenting it in a one-to-a-part setting. The ensemble is directed by Australian singer and musicologist Graeme O’Reilly.

The concert began with works by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), the first being “Si ch’io vorrei morire!” (Yes, I would prefer death) from the composer’s Fourth Book of Madrigals, to an anonymous text depicting the state of abandoned lovers. The group lavished it in pathos and drama. And to “Lamento d’Arianna” (Arianna’s Lament): a work that was so significant that it created the “lament” as a recognizable genre of vocal chamber music. Monteverdi completed the five-voiced madrigal setting of the text based on his opera of the same name to a text by Rinuccini, publishing it in his Sixth Book of Madrigals, with the monody reworked into the madrigal settings. Here again, we are presented with the drama of the soul – mostly suffering and despair - sketched in chromaticism and dissonant leaps. At the end, in the final stages of Arianna’s despair, when nobody hears Arianna’s tears, Monteverdi takes the voices into the low register to express this. Ensemble William Byrd’s performance of it was expressively crafted, capricious and theatrical, the effective use of dark and light vocal colors providing contrast, the power of words being “the master of the harmonies”.

Thomas Tomkins’ (1572-1656) died 13 years after Monteverdi. His “When David Heard” is surely among the most tragic and moving works of the genre of the English sacred madrigal. The Byrd Ensemble presented the work’s blend of polyphonic- and harmonic writing, leaning into the dissonances that speak of David’s state-of-mind, stressing key words (in authentic pronunciation) and clothing them in clear resonance.

In “Thule, the Period of Cosmography”, a six-part madrigal from Thomas Weelkes’ (1576-1623) collection of “Madrigals of Five and Six Parts” (1600), the amazing travelogue of an Andalusian merchant returning “with cochineal and china dishes”, Weelkes paints volcanoes, sulphurous fire, frozen scenery (Iceland also being an allusion to the end of the world) and flying fish in musical notes and gestures rife with underlying symbolism. An interesting choice, sung with as much descriptive variety as its text boasts, the audience would have gained more insight into this fascinating work by having the text printed on the program to follow.

The second half of the concert presented works by Australian composer Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961.) It began with the composer’s piano arrangement of his orchestral piece “Blithe Bells” (1930-1931), titled “Ramble on Bach’s ‘Sheep May Safely Graze’ for theater, massed or small orchestra”, “ramble” being the composer’s term for “transcription, arrangement or creative thinking”. A free fantasia, its naïve melody set in a richly polyphonic setting, the title “Blithe bells” refers to sheep bells. Australian-born pianist David Selig challenged the local audience to enter this musical maze inspired by the great Bach - a piece that is grand, delicate and humorous, perhaps bearing cynical undertones. Selig also played the piano version of “Molly on the Shore”, a delightful setting of two Cork Reel tunes, energetic and charming in its dance rhythms. Composed originally as a string quintet as a birthday present for his mother in 1907, it has also undergone several transformations; Grainger’s “elastic scoring” was in keeping with his aim to make pieces available to many players and instrumental combinations. Selig played Grainger’s “Walking Tune”, outlining its inner voices together with its expressive, direct melodiousness. This piece was played in its original form by the Hindemith Wind Quintet (April 14th 2011, Felicja Blumental International Music Festival.)

Percy Grainger was a collector of folk tunes in England and Denmark. In fact, he was an avid collector of plenty of good song melodies. Ensemble europeen William Byrd sang a representative selection of the composer’s song arrangements, many of them a cappella. Folk song settings from the British Isles included the saucy “I’m Seventeen Come Sunday” (British Folk Music Settings no.8) (its piano accompaniment a little too loud) the unaccompanied energetic, homophonic “Agincourt Song” after a 15th century song and “Lord Maxwell’s Goodnight”. In the latter, arranged by David Tall, the text of the first half is from Sir Walter Scott’s “Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border” with the second half added by Grainger himself. Here the solo was sung by soprano Edwige Parat.

In his quest to collect and set what might be called “world music”, Grainger was one of the first ethnomusicologists to record on the wax cylinder. His interest lay in melody and harmony, but also in the timbre, inflections and performance style of folk music. Grainger showed much interest in Scandinavian folksongs; he spoke Swedish, Danish and Norwegian. (He knew Grieg and Delius.) The strophic, homophonic, pleasantly asymmetrical “Song of Varmeland” was representative of the phase during which he collected these songs.

Another genre used by Grainger was the “wordless” song, an idea in which he had dabbled from 1899. He spoke of it as carrying “its own special message to the soul” and as being a “natural musical instinct”; he contended that singing in that manner “proves that choirs develop a purer, richer and more voluminous sonority”. We heard the “Australian Up-Country Song”, based on a melody Grainger had composed in 1905 and set for unaccompanied choir in 1928. Grainger wrote: “In that tune I had wished to voice Australian up-country feeling as Stephen Foster had voiced American countryside feelings in his songs”.

The Ensemble europeen William Byrd boasts some fine singers, its signature sound forthright and individual rather than French in elegance. O’Reilly places much emphasis on words and diction. Of his work with the William Byrd Ensemble he writes: “Any performance …stands or falls by the extent to which it makes apparent the relation between the words and the notes, particularized in the context of its period, and universalized into ours.” In this unusual and daring program, presenting Monteverdi, Tomkins, Weelkes together with Grainger in one evening, O’Reilly has introduced did the Israeli concertgoer to Percy Grainger – his diversity, originality and accessibility. With Grainger’s reputation sadly damaged by the details of his personal life, the 50th anniversary of his death is a fine opportunity to remember, appreciate and enjoy the Australian composer’s music.

The Hindemith Wind Quintet (Germany) performs in the Felicja Blumental International Music Festival

The Felicja Blumental International Music Festival and Guitar Week took place at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art from April 11th to 16th 2011. It presented a selection of concerts, movies and theatrical productions and featured performers from many countries. One focus of the festival was on the works of Australian composer Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961), in collaboration with the Australian Embassy, on the 50th anniversary of his death.

The Hindemith Wind Quartet hails from Germany, its members all principal players from the Frankfurt Opera Orchestra, each originally coming from a different country. Flautist Clara Andrada de la Calle (Spain), oboist Nick Deutsch (Australia), clarinetist Johannes Gmeinder (Germany), horn player Sybille Mahni (Switzerland) and bassoonist Richard Morschel make up this select group. The quintet performs only works written originally for this specific combination.

The Hindemith Wind Quintet opened its concert, in the Assia Gallery April 14th 2011, with Samuel Barber’s (1910-1981) “Summer Music for Wind Quintet” opus 31, a work composed and premiered in Detroit in 1956. Barber’s only work for wind ensemble, the opening section of the work, the first of 11 continuous sections, is marked “slow and indolent”. A mood piece, evocative, poetic and nostalgic, its sections varied, it is characterized by its exquisite oboe solo (Deutsch) and haunting, long notes on the horn (Mahni). The Hindemith Quintet’s reading of it was sensitive, creating a richly colored canvas. This was followed by German Jewish composer Hanns Eisler’s (1898-1962) “Divertimento opus 4” for wind quintet. This early chromatic and harmonically dense work, composed in 1923, before the composer’s unhappy move to the USA, bears the influence of Schonberg and Webern, both of whom had been Eisler’s teachers. Offering many solos, the work is restless and capricious.

Czech-born Antoine-Joseph Reicha (1770-1836), the most significant pioneer of the woodwind quintet, composed 24 of them, each in four movements; they constitute some of the finest repertoire composed for winds, sometimes being referred to as “symphonic” in scope. The Quintet in E flat major opus 88 no.2 (1817) is the most famous of them. In the extended bassoon solo in the opening movement, Morschel’s cantabile playing was a treat. The quintet’s playing of the work was fresh, direct, unmannered and a delight to the audience.

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) composed his “Kleine Kammermusik” (Small Chamber Music) opus 24 no.2 in 1923, this, yet another work showing the composer’s predilection for wind instruments, being clearly influenced by Stravinsky’s neo-classical language. The first movement expounds a rakish clarinet theme (Gmeinder), setting the scene for the piece with its characteristically Hindemith ostinato figures. The players skillfully guide the audience through the sinewy score, its bitter-sweet and sardonic moments, its lyrical, buffoonish and terse moments. Hindemith’s economy of writing (the fourth movement gives each instrument a solo within its mere 23 bars) and sophistication were molded into a brilliant and interesting performance. Deutsch’s playing in the third dirge-like movement was soul-searching and compelling.

Of his “Walking Tune” for Wind Five, Australian-born pianist and composer Percy Grainger writes of this, his only work for winds (it subsequently underwent many transcriptions): “I composed the little tune on which this piece is based as a whistling accompaniment to my tramping feet while on a three days’ walk in West Argyleshire (Scottish Highlands) in the summer of 1900. At that time – I had just turned 18 – I was deeply in love with thoughts of the Celtic world…” Indeed British in flavor, this short, tonal piece abounds in lush hues and lovely melodies, ending on the thoughtful added sixth major chord.

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) began his Wind Quintet opus 26 in April 1923 and finished it in July 1924 after having worked on the twelve-tone method for ten years, a period in which time he published nothing. The quintet is a milestone in that sonata-rondo forms once more present the possibility to compose in the light of atonal music, the composer thus reinventing himself as a neo-classicist. Here he demonstrates the versatility of his new system in a lengthy, large-scale work. The Hindemith Wind Quintet ended its concert with the final movement of it, the Rondo. The players presented the virtuosic movement in its inherent energy and variety, its individual lines ever apparent to the listener.

The Hindemith Wind Quintet is an ensemble of five superb musicians, whose in-depth performance is intelligent, thorough, convincing and moving. The audience was clearly appreciative of their high quality playing. Attending the concert in the Assia Gallery, surrounded by European oil paintings, added to the evening’s enjoyment; exhibited were two paintings of Felicja Blumental, one by Irwin Dom O-Sen, the other by Kees van Dongen, both paintings being part of the Mizne-Blumental Collection.