We’re looking forward to catching the Cicely and Madelyn at the Maverick this summer.

In other Cello surprises, while at the Bard concert, we found a poster for Ashley Bathgate - who will be performing on Feb 27 at the Bard Chapel.  Its so difficult to keep up with whats going on!

Woodstock Chamber Orchestra—Concert, December 12-14, 2008

     One can always recognize a Rossini overture.  It begins with some catchy effect, continues to a “pastoral” moment followed by a series of pretty tunes, and ends up with a dramatic chase.  Leonard Bernstein followed this form in his Overture to Candide—brilliantly. 

     There are few better ways to open a concert.  And so Woodstock Chamber Orchestra’s director David Leighton chose Rossini’s overture to La Scala di Seta to open last weekend’s performance–the best 3-concert series I have heard the WSO play since my moving to Kingston three years go.  The early musical farce it is based on, “The Silken Ladder” (which is, of course, the ladder by which the hero climbs up to his beloved’s window), is a sillier than silly piece of operatic fluff.  However, under the excellent direction of Bard-Conservatory Masters-Degree student, Ian Garvie, and with some masterful work from the woodwinds (going at incredible speeds), the work came off excellently.      

     This was followed by another Bard Conservatory student—Shawn Moore—playing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D, and playing it beautifully.  The Concerto is a great work, gaining tension from (1) the interplay between the fate-like bass line (think the Fifth Symphony) and the liquidly beautiful solo, (2) the intrusion of strong minor chords in the midst of major-key playing, and (3) a number three-stress rhythmic bits set against regular two- and four-beat tempos. By these means, Beethoven is able to achieve a work that is at once a bit edgy and, at the same time, sublime.

     Such a work enhanced by David Leighton’s superlative conducting and Moore’s fine playing, produced a truly moving performance.  Moore hit it just right—neither over- nor under-dramatizing the music.  He (and the orchestra) were good at all three concerts—probably best at the Bearsville Theater.  There, he not only had a podium to play on, he had also changed his student-casual white shirt for a crisper black one. Yes, I know all about attending a concert for the music alone, but, much as I hate to say it, presentation does help and, in this case, helped put the music’s focus where it belonged.

     The Woodstock Variations are, more properly, African/African-American variations.  Reminiscent of bits of Kurt Weill’s score for Lost in the Stars and containing intervals that remind me of Aaron Copeland, the Variations—a genuinely original work–opens with high held notes in the violins, which suggest both the heat and the broad flat extent of the Cameroon Plateau.  As the sun rises over the scene, timpani suggestive of African drums begin and then, the scene shifts into a dance-like melody meant to suggest Ulster County’s famous former slave, Sojouner Truth.

     From here on out, other its of African rhythm led to a calmer scene suggestive of evening, which finds final resolution in a clarinet solo that rises gracefully to a final high fifth.

     It was a nice piece, but I feel it received somewhat short shrift from the orchestra.  The various sections needed to be more clearly defined and signaled, and the internal dynamics of these sections needed more drama.  There are great possibilities here, and bravo to Dr. Jackson!

     The concert closed with another delightful early-romantic piece, Schubert’s Symphony No. 6.  Filled with lovely little melodies and playful dance tunes (from waltzes to foot-stamping farmer dances), the Schubert was a perfect (and very nicely played) finale to a generally first-rate concert.

     And the MVP award?  No doubt there.  It goes to the oboe section (especially first oboists Nicole Golay and Bethany Slater), whose mastery of one difficult solo after another in an oboe-solo-heavy concert was outstanding.

–Sean Renehan, December 22.

         If, like me, you followed the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra through all three of its past-weekend concerts, you would have seen them steadily improve from adequate to excellent—to Bach at its best. 

         By the time they arrived at the Bearsville Theatre Sunday afternoon, even their concert-opening Brandenburg Concerto No. 1, which had started out a bit scrambled, was a joy to hear.

         The sad thing, one suspects, is that the WCO probably can’t afford the two extra rehearsals that would make its playing impressive from the get-go.  Money for such a group (and there are many others like them) is simply in short supply.  And extra rehearsals would mean paying their musicians for additional three-hour sessions.  It would also be nice if they could offer senior discounts, but these are tough times.

         So a great deal must be said for the players, who come and keep coming—principally because they believe in the orchestra.  Their playing is an act of love.

         The WCO was joined in this all-Bach series by the excellent Kingston High School Chorus, and their superlative director, Lawrence Lohman, as well as by two first-rate soloists, Lynette and Christopher Pfund, who sang in all three Bach Cantatas in the program. 

         Lynette Pfund has a wonderfully warm voice that simply flowed over turnarounds, jumps, and incredibly rapid passages in the first cantata, Jauchzet Gott in alle Landen (“Praise God in all the Lands”) without faltering or becoming staccato—lovely all the way.  Her husband, Christopher Pfund, started out the series with a cold (it lessened over time), and this made his upper notes (sung in remarkably clear German) a tiny bit strained in the second Cantata, Ich armer Mensch (“I, a Wretched Being’).  However, as the cantata’s words depict a man at the lowest depths of his relationship with God (“I, wretched being, I slave of sin/I go before the face of God/With fear and trembling to judgment”), Pfund’s slightly strained voice actually helped depict a mightily suffering and sin-filled man.

         The Kingston High Chorus, which added a final Chorale to Mr. Pfund’s gloomy Ich Armer Mensch, took center stage in the third cantata, a joyous Gloria in Excelsis Deo, for which they sang two choruses sandwiching between them a gorgeous Lynette-and-Christopher Pfund duet.

         Orchestra Conductor David Leighton deserves high praise for his intelligent programming—as do a number of orchestra soloists for their contributions: trumpeter Philip Leslie, rock-solid continuo cellist Betty Schoen-René, clarinetist Tony Penz, flutist Marisa Trees, and lead violinists Betty-Jean Hagen and Jonathan Chuzi.  I have surely left out others equally deserving.

         However, when it comes to kudos, the highest praise must be given to WCO Manager Al Sweet, who, along with his wife has given blood, sweat, hours and hours of labor, and brilliant guidance to the WCO for all thirty years of its existence.  Outwardly soft-spoken and self-effacing, Mr. Sweet has led this orchestra to greater and greater heights over the years.  This season’s series is dedicated to him. 

         The WCO’s next concert is the weekend of December 12^th to 14^th.  Come and hear what Al Sweet and his musician-friends have created!

                  –Sean Renehan

The student performers were all terrific in their own right. Lipkinds input was dead-on with each - helping to bring their performance to a deeper place.

I was still buzzing with excitement on this event for 3 days afterwards.  If only Bard had recorded the event!

After the concert, there was a masterclass for a few high school students.  I love masterclasses - not only do you get to hear a musician perform a bit (usually), but you get to hear their thoughts.  Bailey’s coaching  approach with students is animated  and entertaining.  His passion for the cello comes through.

That evening, it was ZB at the Bardavon, playing the Elgar with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic.  Another first for us, the Bardavon was a lovely space.   Again, we got to hear Bailey speak at a bit of a pre-concert talk.  If only audience members would quit asking him how much his cello is worth. Its an absurd question, but seems to follow him wherever he goes. 

So after a full day of Zuill Bailey, we were jazzed.  Bailey is a generous soul, always giving time to the young cellists.  When he returns to the Howland in April, we’re looking forward to getting there early and snagging some front-row seats.

But earlier this summer, I dusted off my predjudice, and along with my son, Joey, made my way back.  Only this time, we made a point of arriving a good hour early, and getting at the front of the queue so that we could sit smack dab in the front.  It worked.

It was the Ravel Trio that brought us out of the mountains, with Trio Solisti.  The Borromeo and the Amernet followed, each succeeding Sunday.  On Saturday, we went to hear Zuill Bailey at both the young person’s concert, and at the evening performance.  His Bach Suite #3 was really quite something… not sure I’ve heard it quite that dramatically before.  Simone Dinnerstein’s rendition of the Shubert Impromptus was fabulous. 

This past Sunday we wrapped up the season (for us) with the Miro Quartet.

No more depracations to the Maverick.  It will be on our schedule for the next season. 

www.acmp.net

http://www.chambermusicsociety.org/learning/161/edweb

• The Maverick:  August 23 2008
• Hudson Valley Symphony, November 8 2008 (doing the Elgar!)
• Beacon, NY, April 3 2009