Chamber Music Northwest presents two world-premieres plus Mozart and Messiaen

The graceful and effortless motion of birds taking flight and swirling upward into the heavens was artfully conveyed in Kenji Bunch’s “Vesper Flight” by flutist Tara Helen O’Connor and pianist Monica Ohuchi in its world premiere performance on Saturday, July 10th, at Kaul Auditorium as part of the Chamber Music Northwest summer festival. Inspired by the common swift, a species of bird noted for its evening ascent to very high altitudes where it flies for long periods of time, “Vesper Flight” exuded a series of climbing runs that evoked a flock on its way into the skies. As a kind of underlayment against the rising, fluttering tones, Ohuchi would lay down a bass line that may have been quoting Purcell’s “Evening Hymn.” (In his introductory remarks, Bunch said that he would quote from that Purcell piece), nicely tying a bow around the idea of a vesper prayer, which typically takes place at sundown. A rhapsodic passage ended with a loud, high sound from the flute followed by a whispery whistle that faded wonderfully into the distance, like swifts disappearing beyond the clouds.

“Vesper Flight” was preceded by a mesmerizing performance of “Louange à l’immortalité de Jésus” (“Praise for the Immortality of Jesus”) from Olivier Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time.” Violinist Bella Hristova and pianist Gloria Chien (who is CMNW’s co-artistic director) created a soulful yet refined sound that transcended time and space. Absolutely ethereal!

David Ludwig’s “Les Adieux,” written in honor of David Shifrin, who helmed CMNW for 40 years and is now its Artistic Director Emeritus, featured clarinetist Shifrin as the soloist surrounded by a chamber orchestra of 17 musicians under the baton of Earl Lee. Divided into three movements: The Farewell, The Absence, and The Return, “Les Adieux” started with Shifrin modulating above and beyond his colleagues, who created a sound that was muffled and clouded in descending lines. This overall concept persevered into the next movement as well with Shifrin flawlessly executing a number of sustained runs and notes that he seemed to hold forever while the orchestra finally got to play an optimistic rising series of notes. In the last movement the pace quickens for a while but again settled into another slow dance that ended with Shifrin exhibiting incredible breath control with several long notes. Overall, it seemed that the piece didn’t really go anywhere, but it did showcase Shifrin’s amazing virtuosic talent.

An all-star ensemble gave a superb performance of Mozart’s “Viola Quintet in C Major” (K. 515) to close out the concert. Violinists Soovin Kim (who is also CMNW’s co-artistic director) and Rebecca Anderson, violists Paul Neubauer and Paul Laraia, and cellist Fred Sherry polished this gem of a piece with verge and terrific artistry. Highlights included the lovely conversational quality between Kim and Sherry in the first movement, the refined ebb and flow of the second with Sherry masterfully finishing phrases, Neubauer’s poignant viola solo and elegant duet with Kim in the third, and the robust and joyful playing by the entire ensemble – with pinpoint pauses – in the final movement. Kudos to the musicians for outstanding balance and dynamics throughout. Bravi!

Still, for this reviewer, it was the Messiaen piece that stuck with me the most and makes me want to hear it again and again and again.

Chamber Music Northwest delves into Romanticism in works by Del Tredici and Schubert

Photo credit: Tom Emerson

Chamber Music Northwest showed that Romanticism is alive and well in a program consisting of a newly composed “Bulllycide” for Piano and String Quintet by David Del Tredici and the “Octet” in F Major for Winds and Strings by Franz Schubert. Both pieces, played on Monday, July 21st, at Kaul Auditorium, were imbued with strong harmonic lines, and they received intense performances by the CMNW musicians and enthusiastic applause from all corners of the concert hall, which was fairly full.

“Bullycide” was commissioned by Chamber Music Northwest in a consortium that included the La Jolla Music Society and Peak Performances at Montclair State University. The piece honors five gay men who were victims of bullying. After reading newspaper accounts of the bullying, Del Tredici felt moved, in part by reflections on his own experience, to write “Bullycide.” It is a piano sextet that is split into two parts with four movements for each part. The movements flow into one another without pause, and the music follows a trajectory that runs from a spirited beginning to a tragic ending.

For the past 25 years, Del Tredici (age 77) has been the Distinguished Professor of Music at The City College of New York. In the 1970s, he pioneered neo-Romanticism as a direct counterweight to the prevailing atonal style and never looked back. Completed in 2013, “Bullycide” is a continuation of Del Tredici’s journey into the landscape of complex harmonies.

The performance that I heard featured pianist Orion Weiss, violinists Ani Kavafian and Bella Hristova, violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama, cellist Sophie Shao, and bass violinist Samuel Suggs. Weiss was the only member of the ensemble who had performed the piece before (at the premieres at La Jolla and Montclair), and his playing seemed to be the glue that made this piece very engaging. Often the Weiss created a sonic presence that cascaded over and around the strings. Lots of sweeping arpeggios and scintillating ornamentation gave the piece a lush sonority that reminded me of Tchaikovsky at times. The strings played with conviction, sometimes in conversation with each other and at other times in distinctly different corners. A muted and aggressive pizzicato section effectively suggested the violence against the five men and after two brief pauses the musicians used loud stage whispers to recite (I think) the names of each man. One of the highlights of the piece was a lovely solo violin part that Kavafian played while the other strings created a soft, undulating background. Towards the end, the music picked up tempo and later relaxed into a simple tune that was childlike and hopeful. Del Tredici was in the audience and came up on stage to join the performers in accepting the heartfelt and sustained applause.

Photo credit: Tom Emerson

After intermission, the stage was given over to the famous “Octet,” which Schubert wrote during a time in which he was depressed because he was suffering from syphilis. The six movements of this hour-long extravaganza received an incisive performance from the ensemble, which consisted of violinists Hristova and Kavafian, violist Ngwenyama, cellist Fred Sherry, bass violinist Suggs, clarinetist David Shifrin, bassoonist Julie Feves, and hornist William Purvis. The group played with an élan, and the mood bounced with a light foot during the dance-like sections. The liquidy-smooth sound of Shifrin’s clarinet was superb and in the last movement, his fleet fingers made several crazy runs sound like the easiest thing in the world. The rumbling tremolo from Sherry’s cello was another outstanding passages that fortunately was repeated. He seemed to inspire the entire ensemble, and, again the audience rewarded the music making with heartfelt applause.

Photo credit: Tom Emerson

Bella Hristova, Ani Kavafian, and Nokuthula Ngwenyama - photo credit: Tom Emerson