A
word from John Montanari.............................................
John
Montanari
Artistic Director
As
the curtain goes up on the musical “Sunday in the Park with
George,” the painter Georges Seurat thusly contemplates
the tabula rasa that by the end of Act I will be covered with
his masterpiece Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
As composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim makes clear in his songs,
Seurat’s pointillist method of applying unmixed dots of
color to canvas, then allowing the viewer’s eye to blend
the colors, nicely analogizes to the music composer applying dots
to paper, then allowing the listener’s ear to blend the
separate tones into harmonies.
Seurat has been dead for 115 years. Nonetheless, the visitor to
the Art Institute of Chicago can today enjoy a direct, unmediated
encounter with Sunday Afternoon, much as its original 1886 viewers
had. A piece of music from the same year and place—César
Franck’s Violin Sonata, for instance—is not so accessible.
Perhaps an expert score reader may be able to make his or her
own silent music out of Franck’s dots. But for most of us,
the Sonata does not exist as a work of art until it is brought
to life in performance. Franck’s musical work can no more
be appreciated merely by its visual manifestation than could Seurat’s
painting have been understood merely by having heard the sound
of his brush applied to canvas.
Further, the act of musical recreation in classical music can
never be a neutral act, as if the dots on the page were just a
kind of musical Morse code. The story told by the music depends
not just on the author, but also on the teller. In the best recreations,
the performer or ensemble adds layers of meaning and nuance to
the composer’s original, making the performance itself into
a work of art.
Nowhere is the genius of the recreative art more apparent in classical
music than in the medium of the string quartet. With its perfect
balance of instruments, evenly distributed over the entire musical
range, the quartet provides all the tools necessary for complete
musical expression. But compared with the symphony orchestra,
with its four families of instruments, the quartet, by relying
just on strings, allows its composer comparatively little opportunity
for colorful display. The quality of the music had better be in
the notes of the quartet, otherwise it has no chance to be in
the sound. And the members of the performing quartet, each contributing
the whole, and with no one to hide behind, had better be able
to “bring it ” like the individual members of a basketball
team. Moreover, these unique personalities must cohere into a
musical organism that, through hours of rehearsal, every day over
many years, just might develop into a unified ensemble. Even then,
unless the quartet can tell a different story than has ever been
heard before, they add nothing to the musical universe.
That uniqueness is what Music In Deerfield listens for when auditioning
quartets for the series. There are more quartets currently performing,
and performing at an unprecedented level, than ever before. The
field gets more crowded, and the quality bar raised higher, every
day. Standing out among their peers is harder for a quartet to
do than ever before. The quartets who do are the quartets we choose
to present. Let’s take a look at the four very different
quartets that will perform in Music In Deerfield’s 2007-08
season.
Befitting their name the American String Quartet exhibits all
the hallmarks of the “American” quartet. The basic
sound, rich and sleek, opens with vigorous attack, sustains powerfully,
and finishes with an impeccable taper. If their sound were wine,
it would be a top-notch Napa cabernet. But that’s just the
basic. With a palette to match any painter’s, and turn-on-a-bar-line
flexibility, the American leaves no note uncolored, no phrase
unshaped, no piece uninterpreted. Also typically “American”
is the American Quartet’s voracious repertoire. Mozart,
Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Schoenberg, Bartók—you
name the composers; the American has performed them all, completely.
But do you want to hear what they can really do? Listen to them
play works with little or no performance tradition other than
their own, such as their knockout CD of Quartets by Kenneth Fuchs
(Albany Records). Then join us on November 30 to hear the same
thing in person.
If the American represents the best of the established tradition,
the Chiara String Quartet is among the group that has “got
next” on the classical court. Juilliard-trained like the
American, the Chiara does things a little differently than their
elders. They play club dates (such as last year’s gig at
the Montague Bookmill). They produce their own CD singles. They
have a page on “MySpace.” They blog. They champion
composers from their own generation—listen to their CD of
Gabriela Lena Frank’s “Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout”
for something fresh and appealing. They play Beethoven. Okay,
maybe that last one isn’t so different. In fact, it goes
back locally to MID’s first season, when Norman Fischer,
the father of Chiara’s first violinist Rebecca Fischer,
joined his colleagues in the Concord Quartet to play Beethoven’s
complete quartets. And on March 14, Rebecca Fischer and her colleagues
in the Chiara Quartet will perform an all-Beethoven program.
The string quartet was born in the eighteenth century, during
the years preceding the upheavals of the revolutionary era. Its
core repertoire dates from just before the beginning of the 19th
century up to the mid-20th. Now, in the early 21st century, a
number of young quartets started with a different assumption about
what is the core and what is fringe in their programming. For
them, the old European masters works provide the contrast and
context for their investigations of new and ethnically diverse
repertoires, rather than the other way around. In its devotion
to presenting such soloists and ensembles in each year’s
concerts, MID was initially attracted by the Harlem String Quartet’s
mission to “advance diversity in classical music while engaging
young and new audiences through the discovery and presentation
of varied repertoire, highlighting works by minority composers.”
Their unique repertoire also intriguing. But what sealed the deal
was an earful of the Harlem Quartet’s warm, appealing sound.
It will sound great coming from the stage of Sweeney Concert Hall
on February 9.
When the Shanghai Quartet was formed in the eponymous city in
1983, the classical world was unused to ensembles of Asian origin,
much less to works by Chinese composers. A quarter-century later,
the composers they champion, such as Zhou Long, Chen Yi and Bright
Sheng, have been embraced by the entire classical world. As for
the Shanghai, well, no longer are they or other Asian ensembles
to be regarded as exceptional. Rather, the Shanghai has established
itself as an upholder of the finest in quartet playing, as you
can hear for yourself on April 12. And its eclectic west-meets-east
programming exemplifies what Music In Deerfield enjoys presenting
to its open-eared audience—programs that stimulate, challenge,
and satisfy, each program unique, the programs together giving
us a taste of the richness of the classical tradition blended
with inexhaustible diversity.
A
word from John Montanari.............................................
John
Montanari
Artistic Director
Since
you’re taking the time to read Music In Deerfield’s
newsletter, and are therefore an interested and engaged fan of
chamber music at its best, you hardly need a lengthy promotional
preamble to my brief detailing of MID’s 28th season. So,
let’s dive right in…
Dmitri Shostakovich may have been the last composer whose every
new work was welcomed as a vital utterance by a large and engaged
audience, and whose life and art remain topics of hot debate beyond
the confines of music specialists. Our favorite Russians, the
St. Petersburg String Quartet, renowned for their thrilling interpretations
of Shostakovich, will help us celebrate the composer’s centennial
during MID’s season-opening concert on October 28 with a
performance of one of his most gripping chamber works, the Quintet
for Piano and Strings. Seth Knopp, pianist of the Peabody Trio
and artistic director of the Yellow Barn Music Festival, will
also participate.
From the earliest times to the present day, classical music has
had the capacity to absorb and to be enriched by musical vernaculars
from many traditions. In the mid-20th century, an Argentine composer
and musician named Astor Piazzolla married the earthy passion
of his country’s most famous dance, the tango, with the
classical techniques in which he was thoroughly trained. The result,
known as the “nuevo tango,” has attracted the attention
of an impressive and growing roster of classical performers. Among
them is the Cuarteto Latinoamericano from Mexico, who will perform
music by Piazzolla, Heitor Villa-Lobos and George Gershwin on
November 17. Joining them will be Daniel Bineli on bandoneón,
the accordion-like instrument on which Piazzolla was a virtuoso—a
Music In Deerfield first!
Early music for Christmas at the First Church of Deerfield may
not be the oldest tradition for the holiday season, but around
here, it’s one of the most anticipated—and one of
the toughest tickets. On December 15, our old friends, the Baltimore
Consort will cover the First Church stage with more old instruments
than you can imagine, then make them come to life in the hands
of five expert performers, joined by a jubilant voice for “olde
musicke” for the Yuletide celebration.
While cellist Matt Haimovitz has stood out from the classical
crowd with his unusual choice of performance venues (such as Northampton’s
Iron Horse) and eclectic repertoire (including works by rock icons
Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin), Music In Deerfield audiences have
come to admire the way that Matt’s committed and intense
performances of the standard classical repertoire also set him
apart from his peers. On January 26, Matt will join two Canadian
colleagues, violinist Jonathan Snow (concertmaster of the Montreal
Symphony Orchestra) and violist Douglas McNabney, for a program
highlighting Mozart’s Divertimento for String Trio, one
of the composer’s most luxurious and blissful chamber works.
The Talich String Quartet were so impressive in their MID debut
last season that we decided to engage them on-the-spot for our
upcoming season. On March 30, this foremost Czech quartet may
even top last year’s rendition of their countryman Leoš
Janácek’s Quartet No. 1 by performing his even more
highly-charged Quartet No. 2, “Intimate Letters,”
a work of white-hot passion like no other in the repertoire. The
elegance of Quartets by Haydn and Mendelssohn will provide a nice
contrast.
The parenthood of the Miró Quartet’s violinists prevented
their performance for MID last season. But it has also heightened
the anticipation of the return appearance by a group fully capable
of setting a new standard for their generation of American quartets.
Do you recall their shattering MID performance a few years back
of Schubert’s String Quintet? Take it from those who do—you’ll
want to be at Sweeney Concert hall next April 13 for the Miró
performance of Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden”
Quartet. Works by Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, a brilliant
but short-lived contemporary of Schubert, and Béla Bartók
complete the program—and help us look forward to Music In
Deerfield’s 28th season. Stay tuned!
A
word from John Montanari.............................................
John
Montanari
Artistic Director
You
never know what is going to spark someone's love for classical
music. Sometimes, if given the chance, even chamber music
can do the trick. Let me give you an example drawn from
my "real" life in public radio.
Even
though WFCR devotes a number of broadcast hours to classical music,
there are a few professionals roaming its hallways who have no
more knowledge of the classics than I would of, say the ins and
outs of social security reform or health care policy. I
say this without disdain; we
are
just a typical group of reasonably aware, well-educated people.
And among most such groups of people nowadays, classical music
usually lags distantly behind film, literature, and other cultural
pursuits in overall knowledge and appreciation. We may wish
this to be otherwise, but for the moment, that's the way it is.
So
it was to my utter surprise recently when an esteemed colleague,
one not at all known as a classical maven, went absolutely gaga
as she poured her soul out to me about a classical concert she
had recently attended. Folks, it would have done you good
to hear the quivering excitement in her voice as she recounted
the magical experience. And what, pray tell, was the music
that inspired such wide-eyed awe? Beethoven's Ninth?
Rach Third?
Nope,
It was, in fact, the Emerson String Quartet--chamber music, for
crying out loud. And not just any kind of chamber music,
but a string quartet. Their repertoire? Beethoven?
Mozart? Uh-uh. On this occasion, the Emerson played,
of all things a chilly Nordic program of Nielsen, Sibelius and,
her favorite, Grieg. In other words, it was a relatively
out-there program even for string quartets. And unless you
haven't noticed, quartets even of the stature of the Emerson have
not exactly been following Springsteen into sold-out football
arenas lately.
But
I knew right away what it was that knocked her out about the Emerson
Concert. It was the same that that left me almost too emotionally
drained to applaud after the Miró Quartet and Matt Haimovitz
played the Schubert Quintet last spring. It was the same
thing that had me on the edge of my seat as the Orion Quartet
somehow retained their equilibrium while racing through the perpetual
motion finale of Beethoven's Third "Razumovsky" Quartet
in '03. And it was the same thing that I look forward to
reliving in the remaining three concerts in MID's current season.
It's
the intense, immediate drama of great chamber music as it unfolds
before you, like Shakespeare without words. You don't need
to "know" or "like" classical music to appreciate
it. You just have to be human.
So,
if there's a culturally aware person in your life who claims ignorance
of classical music, but who you suspect is one spark away from
turning into a classical lover, we've got a virtual Roman candle's
worth of sparks at our next Music In Deerfield concert.
I'll
see you there.
A
to Z:
A
Quarter-Century of Music (ians) in Deerfield!
Dennis
Helmus
Secretary,
Board of Directors
On
this silver anniversary, you may ask: are we sure Music In Deerfield
has really hosted musicians from A to Z? Yes, we are!
(okay, we don't really have a Z--which makes 25 letters for 25
years.) When quadrupled it equals the number of artists
who have performed on the MID stage. Yes, a hundred artists
have brought you evenings of hauntingly beautiful, technically
brilliant, and memorably unique interpretations of the works of
great masters and modern compers. Our showcased artists
perform in halls that rival those around the world for intimacy
and acoustics--our neighorhood Brick Church Meetinghouse, Sweeney
Concert Hall, and Helen Hills Chapel.
Prove it, you say? Alright, here goes: Anonymous 4;
Borromeo String Quartet; Concord String Quartet; Daniel String
quartet; Eroica Trio; Fresk Quartet; Guarneri String Quartet;
Hilliard Ensemble; Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Jamie Laredo; Yeesun Kim,
Leningrad String Quartet; Miro Quartet; New England Bach Festival;
Orion String quartet; Peabody Trio; Empire Brass Quintet; Richard
Goode; Sharon Isbin; Turtle Island String Quartet; LUba Edlina;
MelVun Tan; Wu Han; Xoops (we lied); Ying String Quartet; Zeeee...end.
Yes,
we could do this again three more times with all different names.
Remember performances by the Ames Piano Quartet, An die Musik,
Annapolis Brass Quintet, Anthony Rooley, Apple Hill Chamber Players,
Artaria String Quartet, Baltimore Consort, Banchetto Musicale,
Borodin Trio, Boston Artists Ensemble, Boston Camerata, Boston
Chamber Music Ensemble, Boston Early Music Festival, Boston Museum
Trio, Brentano String Quartet, Calliope, Carol Wincenc, Castle
Trio, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Christopher O'Riley,
Concord Trio, Consort of Musicke, David Thompson, Diane Walsh,
Duo Geminiani, Eliot Fisk, Emerson String Quartet, Emma Kirkby,
Emmanuel Woodwind Quintet, Empire Brass Quintet, Gainsborough
String Quartet, Gilbert Kalish, Han-Frank-Kim Piano Trio, Hesperus,
Lafayette String Quartet, Leon Bates, London Baroque, London Early
Music Group, Los Angeles Piano Quartet, Maggini String Quartet,
Malcom Bilson, Matt Haimovitz, Muir String Quartet, Music from
Massachusetts, Musical Offering, Musicians of Swanne Alley, New
World String Quartet, Pamela Frank, Paul Galbraith, Pieter Wispelwey,
Rachel Barton, Ransom Wilson, Richard Savino, Ridge String Quaret,
Sergio and Odair Assad, Sharon Robinson, St. Lawrence String Quartet,
St. Petersburg String Quartet, Stephanie Brown, Tallis Scholars,
Walden Horn Trio, the Western Wind, Yeesun Kim. . .and there will
be many more to come!
Can
Classical Music Performance Survive?
John
Montanari
Artistic Director
Every
morning, as I prepare for my program on WFCR, I scour the Internet
for the latest news in classical music. I wouldn't want
to have missed out on some important happening, would I?
Now, some might think that "news" and "classical
music" are oxymoronic. But of course, classical music
does make news on a daily basis-bad news, mostly. Orchestras
teetering on the brink (if not crashing altogether), record
companies laying off staff, radio stations switching away from
classical music- the drumbeat of negative news at times becomes
so powerful (like the demented snare solo in Carl Nielsen's
Fifth Symphony-check it out if you haven't heard it),
it's a wonder the music isn't drowned out altogether.
But
on the other hand, I'm in a privileged position at WFCR and
at Music In Deerfield. I have rare access to evidence
that disproves the gloom and doom. I hear several times
a day on the radio, and after every MID concert, from the people
who will not ever let the music end. The presence of music
in these people's lives, and their devotion to it, are forces
too powerful to be stopped by a few momentary setbacks.
If you could read the enthusiasm of their words and hear the
emotion in their voices, then you would understand what I mean--but
I think you do anyway. So as you look forward to the remaining
three MID concerts, know that what you do to keep the music
going is appreciated over and above the monetary value of your
ticket. Your enjoyment is the sunshine that cuts through
the dark clouds that occasionally threaten the existence of
classical music performance in the valley.
