|
Galatea Chamber Music Opening Concert The opening concert of the new Galatea Chamber Music featured music by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Both string trios were performed by violinist Johnathan Spence, violist Antony Minguez and cellist Jeff Phelps. Mr. Phelps has recently been working in professional arts management with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Dublin, while completing post-graduate study in cultural policy and arts management there. The opening piece was String Trio in G Minor, JS 210 by Sibelius, written in 1893-94. Sibelius did not complete the second and third movements but, my-oh-my, what fine music is the Lento first movement. His music has been described as "anti-modern modernism”- a personal style that stands outside the notion that there is perpetual progress in music composition. His “unearthly timbres” describes the striking open phrase, repeated several times by violin and viola in unison ending in a single, plucked cello string. The coordinated blend of the three instrumentalists was sweet but sometimes there were tears in the sound. Later, Sibelius created tangles of notes to be gradually unraveled, eventually coming to a somber end, all in nine minutes of playing. There was a brief moment when the playing wavered, seeming about to fall apart but it was a delinquency created by Sibelius and played by this fine trio, just as he wrote it. Another unearthly timbre, perhaps? With the three String Trios, Op. 9, published 1798, Beethoven brought his composing development to a new, higher level. The first movement, Adagio – Allegro con brio of String Trio, Op. 9, No. 1, had a sweet, warm sound in a dialogue between all three players. The energy was whimsical with a happy exuberance. Johnathan Spence played with great intensity while Minguez and Phelps appeared to be relaxed. Together their playing was precise and all the strings danced together. The slow, gentle opening of the second movement Adagio is in a smooth, consistent singing style but became more dramatic, only to return to the original relaxed energy. The Scherzo – Allegro offered quick, light playing and ended very soon. The final Presto movement was short with brilliantly played, very quick notes—a flashy ending but short on ideas. The receptive audience of seventy-five listeners was on its feet immediately in a hearty, standing ovation for Virginia Beach's newest chamber group. To cool us, the encore on this very warm evening was the song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Margin and Blaine in a string trio arrangement by Jeff Phelps. We enjoyed his arrangement as much as we had the first time we heard it several Christmases ago. Galatea Chamber Music was started by Dr. Johnathan Spence to show his gratitude and love for the Hampton Roads area and is off to an excellent start. Galatea's Autumn concert is scheduled at Galilee for November 5th and on November 6th they perform the Opening Concert for the Port Warwick Acoustic Concert Series in Newport News. For more information visit https://www.galateacm.com/events Acis String Quartet Galatea Chamber Music presented Acis String Quartet in concert at Galilee Church in the Virginia Beach oceanfront area. This was one of six concerts in southeast Virginia and the D.C. area in March of this year where they performed music of Haydn and Shostakovich. Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) composed eighty-three string quartets in his lifetime. In his early thirties he played an important role in establishing the string quartet literature as we know it, and eventually became known as "Father of the String Quartet." Before him the basso continuo was the notated bass line on which Baroque music was constructed. With Haydn's quartets, the four voices alone combined to create the necessary sonorities and harmonies to create the piece of music. In the last ten years of his life Haydn made two trips to London to introduce his music. After he returned to Vienna after his second English tour he completed the last of his twelve "London Symphonies." Then he turned his energies to a planned series of six string quartets as he approached his seventieth year. By this time Haydn's health was failing, he had less energy and only completed two. We heard his Op. 77 No. 1 in G major. It is a bit less than a half-hour of music in four movements. The critic Bernard Holland says of this music: "The humor never goes away; the unpredictability is as rich as ever; but now there is a tone of melancholy behind the decorum. Haydn may express his personal sadness, but unlike those who were to follow him, he never complains." My reaction to the vivid playing of the quartet's bright, lively first movement was followed by the longer, leisurely paced Adagio with its soulful cello that caught my attention in the constant dialogue of the four instrumentalists. I lost myself in the endless, unfolding melody of the Menuetto until its Presto end. The Finale continued the sparkle with a richer, more intense skipping tune. The first violin's edgier pace redoubled. We could even say it was ferocious! Brilliant playing by this well-coordinated ensemble. After intermission the quartet returned to play String Quartet Op. 117, No. 9 in E flat major by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975). Dated 1964, the music is very dramatic in contrasting moods. From section to section, the composer experiments with atonality and how this creates psychological changes in the listener. The opening had Dr. Hoorig Taline Poochikian as first violin and Dr. Johnathan Spence as second (switching their positions for the Haydn) in this monumental work that has been described as "one uninterrupted gesture from the mysterious opening to the heroic ending" (from Emerson Quartet CD notes by Paul Epstein). Dave Phillips was violist and Emma Hays Johnson was the cellist, as in the Haydn. The players' intense concentration in the opening Moderato con moto created the sense of momentum that pervaded the entire piece. In the first Adagio the dialogue has an operatic intensity, as does the second Adagio fourth movement. Brief finger strokes on strings by Poochikian, bow bouncing on strings of Spence's second and big, noisy plucks by Mr. Phillips on viola were all part of the experience. Screaming quietly, the first violin is backed by fiery playing by the others with large gestures. A Jewish-sounding tune marches along and leads to plucking of cello strings and then mellow, bounced bowing suggests a soundtrack for deeply, troubled times. Following this came unison string plucking with the melody passed around. All together once again, we had a country dance but trouble interrupts and gives the impression of a tune skating on the edge of a precipice with great intensity. There is a feeling of having won a great victory as the audience broke into applause at the end. |