The Jupiter Symphony Players has always been an ensemble distinguished by the high caliber of the musicians who play at its recitals. Never was this more true than at yesterday's sold out matinee at Good Shepherd Church. There were two special guest artists on hand - the virtuoso pianist Seymour Lipkin and violinist Miriam Fried - for a program that featured works by Ernst Krenek, Mendelssohn and Mozart.
The program opened with Krenek's Serenade, Op. 4 (1919). Krenek was one of the many twentieth century composers whose work and name are now almost forgotten but whose biography provides a fascinating glimpse into the turbulent times in which he lived. Originally a student of Franz Schreker in Berlin, Krenek began his career writing music that was clearly in the Romantic tradition. Later, after having married and divorced Mahler's daughter Anna, the composer became famous for his 1926 jazz opera Jonny spielt auf ("Jonny Strikes Up"), now considered a classic of Weimar culture. Unfortunately, this work brought Krenek to the attention of the Nazis who went so far as to use a racist caricature of the opera's protagonist on a poster for the party's 1938 Entartete Musik exhibit. Like so many other victims of Nazi persecution, Krenek was forced to emigrate to America where he held several teaching positions and experimented with the composition of twelve tone, electronic, and even aleatoric music before passing away in Palm Springs in 1991 after a long and eventful life.
The present serenade for clarinet, violin, viola and cello was an example of Krenek's early period while he was still very much under the influence of the Romantics. It consisted of six movements and ran about 25 minutes in length. Written when the composer was only age 19, it was a graceful charming piece but one that gave little hint of the radical directions Krenek's music was later to take.
The Krenek was followed by Mendelssohn's String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13 (1827). This work was actually the composer's first quartet (his Op. 12 was written in 1829) but he was already quite experienced, at only age 18, in the composition of chamber music; he had already completed two years previously his famous Octet. Though the quartet is Romantic in character, Mendelssohn was in writing it heavily influenced by Beethoven's late quartets which were at the time generally misunderstood and unappreciated even by musicians. Numerous quotes from the Beethoven works can be found throughout the Op. 13. Mendelssohn also quoted his own song "Ist es wahr?" in all four movements.
After intermission came the best part of the program, Mozart's Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478 (1785). It was with this work that Mozart more or less invented the piano quartet genre. He wrote it as the first of a set at the request of his publisher who then, however, found the work too difficult and canceled Mozart's contract for the remaining pieces. Notably, the quartet is in the key of G minor, the same that the composer used so powerfully three years later in his 40th Symphony, K. 550. This key seemed to have a special meaning for Mozart and, though he was sparing in its use (of his entire oeuvre, only four of his works are in G minor), he employed it quite purposefully when he wished to achieve a highly emotional or dramatic effect.
Seymour Lipkin was the pianist in this performance of the quartet. He is truly what one could term a "musician's musician." I had the opportunity to hear him in recital last season at Paul Hall and thought myself very lucky to have been there. Yesterday, he was joined by three extremely able partners - Miriam Fried, who had done a stellar job on first violin on the Mendelssohn quartet, violist Dmitri Murrath and cellist David Requiro. The resulting performance was, without exaggeration, among the finest I've ever heard of Mozart's chamber music. At its conclusion, everyone in the packed house rose from their seats to give the musicians a standing ovation.
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