Antonello Hall, MacPhail Center for Music
| SCHOENBERG | Wind Quintet, Opus 26 | 40' |
| Adam Kuenzel, flute and piccolo Basil Reeve, oboe Gregory T. Williams, clarinet Norbert Nielubowski, bassoon Herbert Winslow, horn | ||
| DVORÁK | String Quintet in G major, Opus 77 | 42' |
| Sarah Kwak, violin Céline Leathead, violin Matthew Young, viola Katja Linfield, cello Matthew Frischman, bass | ||
"The other 'Super' event of the night," Reeve, the oboist announced on this Super Bowl evening. He followed with a short explanation of the piece, Shoenberg's Wind Quintet Op. 26, humorously commenting on its difficulty and the wackiness of the composer. I wondered how many people in the audience really knew about Schoenberg - that Op. 26 was composed just as he was getting the hang of his 12-tone technique, that the "emancipation of dissonance" can be heard in this piece perhaps because other musical factors like rhythm and form remain traditional, and that the emotion of the piece is in something that might feel distant from the gushing swells of the Romantic texture, but in the sparse yet intensifying patterns.
The performance, though not perfect, was very very good. The wood winds carried through with poise. There were some missed notes by the French horn, but those 7th leaps are not friendly for the instrument to begin with. I only wished for solid program notes on this piece, describing the form of each movement and examples of certain intervals and rhythmic patterns the audience could hang onto to make their listening experience more comprehensible.
A 10 minute intermission - or half-time. Then, the Dvorak.
I later learned from my friend, the bassist Matt Frischman, that the group only rehearsed this piece twice.
Twice.
And it was magnificent. All the performers are top-notch. Sarah Kwak plays this extremely difficult piece - the 1st violin has a part equivalent of a concerto soloist's - energetically and beautifully. In fact, the upper four parts have a soloistic quality. The second violin stands for her voice in a stately fashion. The viola doesn't have a subordinate or an accompaniment. The cello - oh, the cello - sings out tunes so vibrant and sensitive at the same time. Finally, the bass holds all these soulful parts together in a sense of calculated restraint.
Restraint does an emotion some magic.
Just as it is more touching to see someone hold back the tears than a loudly weeping drama queen, the bass makes the emotional quality work all together. The result is triumphant.
My conclusion: Chamber Music 1, Football 0.
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