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two pretty good concerts
Sep. 27th, 2010 04:13 pmTwo ensembles of unpredictable quality came through pretty well this weekend.
The Ives Quartet was on its best technical behavior and gave clear, clean, artful but not overwhelming performances of Haydn's Op. 50 No. 1, plus Schumann's Piano Quintet with pianist Gwendolyn Mok stepping on the gas for them. Also on the program was the Quartet No. 2 of Dane Rudhyar (no relation, it may puckishly be added, to Rudhyar Kipling). I was curious about this, never having heard any Rudhyar, but knowing him as a composer deeply steeped in the likes of astrology and theosophy. Other Western composers with a mystical and/or Eastern view of the world are favorites of mine, but this quartet turned out to be determinedly expressionist, a rather antiquated musical style by 1979 (if that matters), and not much to my taste nor at all in the pleasing vein of modal placidity of Cowell, Harrison, Holst, Hovhaness, etc. Now I have to decide if I still want to go to this.
The Redwood Symphony played Shostakovich's Festive Overture on his birthday, and actually made it sound festive, not coldly brutal the way the San Francisco Symphony plays it. A short piece by Thomas Adès proved rather beyond them, though they gave it a good try, and after that, Copland's Rodeo was a doddle, and they didn't sound bored with it like some orchestras. For a Paganini concerto they just sat back and let the soloist carry the music. Redwood's soloists can be the mischief, but the sight of Stephen Waarts makes the eyes water as they do with some of the tiny children who play at Menlo. He's 14, looks about 8 and plays like he's at least 18. Rich tone, excellent senses of pitch and line, and enough maturity for a trivial little thing like a Paganini concerto. Kind of awe-inspiring. Full review.
The Ives Quartet was on its best technical behavior and gave clear, clean, artful but not overwhelming performances of Haydn's Op. 50 No. 1, plus Schumann's Piano Quintet with pianist Gwendolyn Mok stepping on the gas for them. Also on the program was the Quartet No. 2 of Dane Rudhyar (no relation, it may puckishly be added, to Rudhyar Kipling). I was curious about this, never having heard any Rudhyar, but knowing him as a composer deeply steeped in the likes of astrology and theosophy. Other Western composers with a mystical and/or Eastern view of the world are favorites of mine, but this quartet turned out to be determinedly expressionist, a rather antiquated musical style by 1979 (if that matters), and not much to my taste nor at all in the pleasing vein of modal placidity of Cowell, Harrison, Holst, Hovhaness, etc. Now I have to decide if I still want to go to this.
The Redwood Symphony played Shostakovich's Festive Overture on his birthday, and actually made it sound festive, not coldly brutal the way the San Francisco Symphony plays it. A short piece by Thomas Adès proved rather beyond them, though they gave it a good try, and after that, Copland's Rodeo was a doddle, and they didn't sound bored with it like some orchestras. For a Paganini concerto they just sat back and let the soloist carry the music. Redwood's soloists can be the mischief, but the sight of Stephen Waarts makes the eyes water as they do with some of the tiny children who play at Menlo. He's 14, looks about 8 and plays like he's at least 18. Rich tone, excellent senses of pitch and line, and enough maturity for a trivial little thing like a Paganini concerto. Kind of awe-inspiring. Full review.
