Masters' Concert No. 1
by
Lyn Bronson
Last night Hidden Valley
presented the first in its 2007 series of “Master’s Concerts” and it was a
knockout! Featured artist on this occasion was distinguished cellist Stephen
Geber from the Cleveland Institute of Music, who is in residence at Hidden
Valley Music Seminars presiding over a series of cello master classes.
Performing with Mr. Geber in the Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata was pianist Anita
Pontremoli, a fine musician and virtuoso of the highest order. But there was
more, much more, for after intermission we heard two new extraordinary
compositions by composer Charles Loos featuring saxophonist George Young in some
of the most exciting and moving jazz playing I have ever heard.
Anita Pontremoli & Stephen Geber
Rachmaninoff practically
invented the long continuous melody that keeps unfolding and developing a life
of its own. Like the clarinet solo in the slow movement of his Second Symphony,
the Andante third movement of his cello sonata is a prime example. Last night
Geber and Pontremoli played this slow movement with great intensity of feeling
and lovely dynamics and with the most exquisite shaping of phrases. The loving
way they built the long slow climax was truly masterful. It could be said that
this sonata is truly about melody, for even in fast moving passages, Geber and Pontremoli made these passages meaningful and more melodic than virtuosic. There
were some additional magic moments in the headlong Scherzo movement, where
Rachmaninoff stops the high energy flow and blows us away with more beautiful
long melodic lines.Geber played the great melodic moments with passionate
intensity and always with fine intonation. In the more technically demanding
passages he appeared to have plenty of power and technical control in reserve,
for he made difficult passages look and sound easy, but never glib. About
pianist Pontremoli, she turned in a world-class performance last night as she
navigated her way through some really difficult passages (as difficult as
anything found in Rachmaninoff’s solo works for piano) and with so much in
control that she never seemed to be straining her resources. She always was
sensitive to whether her part was foreground, background or as an equal partner.
George Young, Stephen Geber & Cello Ensemble
After intermission we heard
cellist Stephen Geber, George Young on soprano sax and an ensemble of eight
young cellists attending the master classes performing the premiere of “In C
(minor)” by Charles Loos, commissioned by Hidden Valley Music Seminars and
dedicated to Adrienne and Peter Meckel. There were no program notes for this
27-minute work, so as the work unfolded I had absolutely no idea what to expect,
except that I assumed it was written to showcase the talents of Stephen Geber
and George Young, and it certainly did this. Having just experienced a work by
the master of long melodic lines, Sergei Rachmaninoff, I was struck with how
similarly at times composer Loos gave long continuous melodies to both Young and
Geber. Because of the seriousness of these melodies (there was no fast moving
“Bebop” here), there was an elegiac character to much of this work, although
other elements, a suggestion of disco and Latin syncopations, often made their
presence felt. The most fascinating section of this work was toward the end as
an ostinato pattern (almost as insistent as the one in Ravel’s Bolero)
became a minimalist background element, always nagging at our awareness while
Loos managed to focus our attention on other elements interacting with the
ostinato in a powerful way. Young is a renowned master of his instrument,
and it was awesome to observe him in action. He produced sounds that I never
imagined could come from such an instrument, and they were used in a musicianly
way that emphasized the music than his virtuosity.
Charles Loos, George Young & Stephen Geber
The concert ended with
another work by Loos, “In C minor Again!” referring to the fact that all the
music heard on this program was in C Minor, although never for a moment did we
feel imprisoned in this tonal center. This six-minute work was scored for cello,
soprano sax and piano, with the composer joining Geber and Young for the
performance. It was interesting to hear Loos as a pianist and observe his rich
chordal style that complimented the cello and saxophone parts. So often in jazz
works we expect as accompaniment stand-up bass and drums (with brushes on the
cymbals), but these elements were missing here, although actually not missed,
since the scoring was very satisfactory as presented.
A large audience gave the
musicians several standing ovations.
