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2011 Reviews
VentiCordi, or 'wind strings,' ends its third season with
flair
Portland Press Herald
- August 19, 2011
Concert Review by
Christopher Hyde
WHEN: Aug. 18,
2011
WHERE: South
Congregational Church, Kennebunkport
VentiCordi,
literally "wind strings," is celebrating its third season this year. Founded by
violinist Dean Stein and oboist Kathleen McNerney, it explores chamber music
written for any combination of wind and stringed instruments, a literature that
is voluminous but seldom heard on the concert
stage.
Its final program of
the season, Thursday at South Congregational Church in Kennebunkport, was typical, including a fascinating
selection of works from baroque to contemporary, well performed by the
founders and noted guest artists, including Pamela Mia Paul, piano, Erin Lesser, flute, Mark Simons, clarinet, and Jennifer
Combs, cello.
The program opened
with a delightful piece by Madeline Dring (1923-77), a Trio for Flute, Oboe and
Piano with jagged but cheerful rhythms, a soulful andante, and a flair for
combining and contrasting instrumental textures. As the program notes point out,
it sounded rather like a combination of the classical Gershwin and Francis
Poulenc.
My favorite of the
evening was the only piece I had heard before, a raucous "Contrasts" for Violin,
Clarinet and Piano, by Bela Bartok commissioned by Benny Goodman in 1938,
and still full of surprises.
It opens
with Verrbunkos, a dance on the occasion of young men being recruited for
the military. It begins appropriately with a march, which is then deconstructed
into a taste of what the recruits are actually signing up for. The concluding
movement, Sebes, is a fast dance, introduced by a drunken peasant, portrayed by
an out-of-tune violin. It offers all sorts of wonders, including what seems to
be a barking dog. Simons did an amazing job with the showy clarinet
part.
Another gem was
Choros No. 2 for Flute and Clarinet by Heitor Villa-Lobos, based on a form of
Brazilian
street music. The complex rhythms and unusual
counterpoint between the two voices showed Villa-Lobos at his
best.
A baroque Trio
Sonata for Flute and Oboe with Cello by composer and flute-maker to Frederick the Great,
Johann Joachim Quantz, contrasted nicely with the Brazilian. If Frederick could manage the
flute part of that trio, it's no wonder that his father had him beaten for
playing too well.
The program
concluded with a Quartet for Piano, Oboe, Violin and Cello (H.315) by Bohuslav
Martinu, one of those neoclassical works, like Prokofiev's "Classical"
Symphony," that employs all of the techniques of a bygone era yet sounds
distinctly "modern."
One hopes that
VentiCordi can continue to mine its musical treasure-trove for a long time to
come.
Christopher Hyde's
Classical Beat column appears in the Maine Sunday Telegram. He can be reached
at:
classbeat@netscape.net
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Sophisticated
VentiCordi Pleases Kennebunk Fans
By Mary Elizabeth
Nordstrom Classical Voice of New
England
Kennebunk, ME. 4 August 2011. Against a verdant
background – pale green gilded harpsichord accented by a lush potted white
hydrangea – the two virtuosi who warmed up the audience were virtual silhouettes
in the ensemble’s uniform of orchestra black (Dean Stein, violin; William
Blossom, double bass). The sophisticated string players drew the attention of
the audience with ever-increasing intensity of a sensitive classic
interpretation of the opening work. The piece was billed as “Duet with two
obligato eyeglasses for Violin and Double Bass”, woo 32, by Ludwig van
Beethoven, (1770-1827). The movements were marked: 1.Minuet; Allegretto and 2.
Allegro. It was lovely. The audience let them know it immediately following the
first movement.
The other work prior
to Intermission was “Sonata for Oboe and Harpsichord with Basso Continuo” BWV
1030b, by J. S. Bach (1685-1750). Oboist Kathleen McNerney’s assertive
statement, with its plaintive urgency, changed the mood of the evening
artistically . The first movement was untitled, by Bach. Ray Cornils, known to
Mainers as Portland’s Civic Organist, played the
harpsichord. Cornils is a master of the instrument maintained by Friends of the
Kotzschmar Organ, fondly known as FOKO. His keyboard material, always
beautifully executed, enhanced the ensemble. However, he seemed less at home at
the harpsichord than the pipe organ, inasmuch as rather than the natural lift of
a follow-through, the right hand seemed self-consciously affected throughout
much of the piece. After intermission, that was not an issue. Cornils had
relaxed and continued to perform the keyboard material beautifully as a part of
the ensemble. The second movement of the “Sonata for Oboe and Harpsichord…”,
Siciliano, was more like a stately Bach organwerke, with the double bass
noticeably simulating organ tones on strings. In the third movement, the oboe
concluded its pleading above the harpsichord and double bass, all bringing the
piece to a delightful climax that justified a strong applause before
Intermission.
The work for flute, oboe and harpsichord that followed
intermission was introduced with a few words by Dean Stein. Although born in
Connecticut, composer Kelsey Jones (1922-2004)
grew up primarily in Portland Maine. He was taken to the Sunday
afternoon performances of the Portland Symphony Orchestra, which was at the time
a PWA project orchestra. He was a terrible student, but thanks to his very
accomplished violinist sister, he was able to enter conservatory in
Canada. Thankfully, he became a
composer and hence we have this wonderful piece, Sonata Da Camera.
The Jones Sonata for
flute, oboe and harpsichord offers four movements: Praeludium, Corrente,
Andante, and Giga. With the Praeludium, the ensemble delighted the audience with
a shrill modernistic sound contrasting artistically with the classics of Part I
of the evening’s program. It was extremely well played, immediately engaging,
although it must have been the first time most of the thirty-something (count)
audience had heard it. Listening to the first movement, one might imagine a
squeaky door; the second, a strong wind blowing. The Andante was a blur of sound
from the other two instruments above the significant harpsichord part that was
in this instance much more cerebral than continuum; the final movement, Giga,
must have resembled the dance because I didn’t make a note of it and must have
considered it obvious; I know I was intrigued by the entire work.
Erwin
Schulhoff (1894-1942) died in a German concentration camp during World War II.
Dean Stein came across his instantly fascinating music when he was performing
with the prestigious Eastern Music Festival at Guilford College near Greensboro, North
Carolina. Stein is rightfully proud to have brought this
Holocaust music to Maine, using it for the final work on this
VentiCordi program. Entitled “Concertino for Flute, Viola & Double Bass,”
its four movements are Andante con moto; Furiant: Allegro furioso; Andante and
Rondino; Allegro galo. Dean Stein, violin, William Blossom, double bass, Timothy
Macri, flute, were the three artists featured in this finale. They brought to
life the yearnings of the doomed composer. Picture the musicians standing in the
order just mentioned, left to right, with the huge double bass as the focal
point, itself an artistic arrangement.
VentiCordi is relatively new as an
ensemble, but they bring from tremendous life experiences a serious
professionalism that includes every aspect of presentation, from the graphics
and composition of the program, to the careful costuming and arrangement of each
ensemble, and even the touch of hydrangea! They do need a volunteer stage hand
to handle placement of stands and arrangement of music, when a union stage hand
is not available with the hall rental.
Pianist Pamela Mia Paul joins
VentiCordi in Program III, the final performance of the 2011 summer season
on August 18 at 7:30 p.m . Also playing that evening at South Congregational
Church, Kennebunk, are guests, Flutist Erin Lesser, Clarinetist Mark Simons, and
Cellist Jennifer Combs.
For further information, contact VentiCordi
directly through their web page, www.VentiCordi.org . Founders
and principals of VentiCordi are Kathleen McNerney and Dean
Stein.
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Pamela Mia
Paul’s Piano Enhances VentiCordi
By Mary
Elizabeth Nordstrom Classical Voice of New
England
Kennebunkport, ME, 18 August 2011. Pianist
Pamela Mia Paul’s alliterative name is more or less a household word among
musicians and members of the music business community. It was a pleasure to hear
her in person at last. Her unassuming yet assertive piano performance enhanced
the Thursday evening VentiCordi
program at South Congregational Church, Kennebunkport. The other outstanding
participants in various ensemble groupings were Flutist Erin Lesser, Oboist
Kathleen McNerney, Clarinetist Mark Simons, Violinist Dean Stein, and Cellist
Jennifer Combs. McNerney and Stein comprise the impresario team that presents
VentiCordi concerts, inviting
only highly proven concert artists from many locations in the
USA. This was their third and final
concert of the successful 2011 summer season.
A flippant wind duet above
a pleasant four-count pulse at the piano opened the evening’s program with “Trio
for Flute, Oboe & Piano” by Madeline Dring (1923-1977). The second
“simple slow” movement, Andante
Semplice, yielded an unhurried tune on oboe with response on flute,
becoming a trio with piano; Allegro
giocoso, the third movement’s brusque opening with scrapping wind
instruments joined by the piano was pulled off successfully after significant
time spent tuning and flushing out the oboe.
The Bela Bartok (1881-1945)
“Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet & Piano” opened with Verbunkos (Recruiting
Dance) featuring a brilliant clarinet solo above plucked violin strings and
embellished with colorful piano glissando. The second movement, Piheno (Relaxation) pleasantly fulfilled
its program music description and the third, Sebes (Fast Dance) opened loud and
jauntily with the insistent bow scraping, one after another, the open strings of
an un-tuned fiddle that Stein had reserved for this moment as specified by the
composer. Then a clarinet melody led the way to the end of this delightful
anti-climax prior to Intermission.
Always planned, but now added to the
printed program in first place following the break was “Choros No.2 for Flute
& Clarinet” by Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959), skillfully performed by
Lesser and Simons, both renowned concert artists.
“Trio Sonata for Flute,
Oboe and Cello” by Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773) introduced the accomplished
cellist, Jennifer Combs, for the first time during the evening. Her performance,
much anticipated by this writer and cello fancier, was musical and undoubtedly
perfect, but extremely reserved. It seemed as if she was a bit shy with her
lovely sound. It was nevertheless an enjoyable trio performance in four
movements: Affettuoso, Alla breve,
Larghetto and Vivace.
Dean Stein then dramatically lifted the piano lid to
be supported by the long stick and we knew we were in for a big finale. The
composer Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959) was well served with a performance of his
“Quartet for Piano, Oboe, Violin & Cello,” H. 315. The three movements are
Moderato poco allegro, Adagio and Poco allegro. VentiCordi has progressed from two summer
programs to three; audiences can only hope that they begin to garner support for
year around presentations.
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