Concert recalls Parisian salon
Friday night in Lippes Concert Hall was an audio flashback to the Paris salon of Nadia Boulanger, the noted pedagogue whose students included Aaron Copland, Astor Piazzolla, Irving Fine and Paul Chihara. Compositions from all those notables were on the resulting program called “Afternoons in Paris.”
Pianist Michael Boriskin and clarinetist Derek Bermel were the only musicians present from the quintet known as Music From Copland House, but they brought along four young and talented string players to help augment the lineups for the program.
Piazzolla, the Argentine tango master of the bandoneon, wrote “Primavera Portena” as part of his “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.” This composer’s works are usually adaptable to a variety of arrangements and this was no exception to that rule. Boriskin, violinist Tim Fain and cellist James Wilson showcased some beautifully sensitive interplay. It first became apparent in the dialogue between the cello and piano, but when the violin joined the mix, the heart-on-the-sleeve type of emotion so typical of the tango idiom was revealed in all its glory.
Boulanger’s contribution to the evening was a lovely three-movement brief for cello and piano. In addition to being a teacher and sounding board for world-class composers-to-be, Boulanger was also a skilled composer with an interest in Monteverdi and possessed of a sly wit and penetrating manner. Anyone paying close attention to what was being played could have received a momentary shock at the fleeting quote of the first six notes from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor before the duo moved into more modern territory.
Stravinsky’s six-minute-long hornets’ nest of typically spiky lines, the Concertino for String Quartet, allowed the four string players to shine as they wove their way through this unforgiving score.
Chihara’s “Shogun” Trio for clarinet, piano and violin featured, in the second and third movements, thematic material lifted straight from the orchestral score for his musical of the same name. Bermel and Boriskin were wonderful.
After the intermission came Fine’s “Fantasia” for String Trio. The second movement was brisk and it looked as if the musicians were having a great deal of fun playing it. The work ended with something that was less of a fantasy than a lament.
Copland’s rarely heard Sextet brought all the players together for what proved to be the most substantial work of the evening, well worth the standing ovation.
Concert Review
Music From Copland House
Friday night in Lippes Hall in Slee Hall, University at Buffalo, Amherst
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