The last full 3-concert day, on Friday, also handed the audience the widest possible diversity of musical styles.
The day began with the monumental. If there's any greater monument of polyphonic ingenuity and skill than J. S. Bach's Musikalisches Opfer ("Musical Offering"), I have yet to encounter it. Faced with a tortuous melody, propounded (according to tradition) by Frederick the Great of Prussia, Bach composed a lengthy series of canons which treat the melody at different intervals. The various and ingenious versions include a crab canon (where the second part plays the theme in reverse order), a mirror canon (the second voice in the same order but with all intervals inverted), and a table canon (the second voice reversed and inverted). In addition, there are two ricercars, one in 3 parts and one in no less than 6 parts, and a beautiful 4-movement trio sonata for two violins and continuo.
Except for the sonata, there's no definitive instrumentation specified. For this performance, the Canadian Guitar Quartet joined forces with violinist Tibor Molnár and flautist Suzanne Shulman, in an arrangement prepared by Quartet member Louis Trépanier. This arrangement was itself a work of considerable skill (and effort), redistributing both continuo and melodic voices among the guitarists, and dividing the labour so that all took their turns at each aspect of the work. In all, he had to copy considerably more than 20,000 notes into the appropriate spots in the six separate parts.
The game was definitely worth the candle. The gentle, soft-edged tone of four classical guitars lifted some of the daunting aura of technical wizardry that hangs over the Musical Offering, supplementing it with a pleasing, harmonious atmosphere that was also carried into the violin and flute parts. The total sound picture was much less edgy than one would expect with a traditional harpsichord continuo, and the various canons gained musical interest to augment the skill involved. Nowhere was this more true than in the concluding 6-voice ricercar, where the complexity of the music never for a second obscured any of the individual lines. All of which left the audience free to enjoy the technical skill and heartfelt musicality of the playing from all concerned. A truly rewarding hour of fine music.
The second afternoon concert was a recital of piano music, involving multiple artists, and was simply titled, Great Melodies for Piano. The concert opened with the Bergmann Duo playing Marcel Bergmann's arrangement for 2 pianos of the andante movement from Mozart's Piano Concerto in C Major, K.467. Yes, that one -- the movement that rocketed to fame after being used as soundtrack in the 1967 Swedish film Elvira Madigan. Indeed, the reference is still nearly ubiquitous, and the concerto is often identified in many quarters as the "Elvira Madigan Concerto." Bergmann's unusual arrangement broke the solo and orchestral parts into smaller units, and then shared them out between the two pianos. With light touch, selective use of the pedals, and the gentlest of pulsing accompaniments, the Duo spun out a beautiful and evocative performance of this evergreen staple.
Speaking of "staples," Silvie Cheng next played a pair of night pieces which are ingrained in the minds of music lovers everywhere. First she gave a reading of Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2 which covered a wider range of tone than some pianists allow themselves in this work, rising to emphatic (but not over-loud) climaxes which seemed both inevitable and justifiable. She then followed with a haunting Clair de lune of Debussy, drawing together flowing lines and delicate arpeggios into sheer musical magic. In the process, she made me forget all about the dozens of times I'd heard these pieces played by conservatory students.
John Novacek then shifted the tone dramatically (said so himself, too: "Well, that was different, wasn't it?") with Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag and the much later Solace: A Mexican Serenade. Both of these well-known tunes he played with gusto and an innate sense of ragtime style. He then followed on with two rags of his own, Schenectady and Intoxication, in which his furious cascades of notes poured in torrents across the stage -- while still remaining completely clear to the ear.
The evening concert was the last one for the season to feature the Festival's artists, and followed a kind of "anthology" format often used here for weekend events. But don't confuse "anthology" with "lightweight"! The programme opened -- opened -- with the famous Mad Scene from Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti. Leslie Fagan tossed off a phenomenal performance as easily as if she were singing "Happy Birthday", no mean feat when you consider that she was hitting the stage cold. And it was a performance -- gestures, facial expressions, movement, all helped to tell the story behind the singing. She was ably supported by Lucia's "duet partner," Suzanne Shulmann on flute, with Elizabeth Bergmann providing the piano accompaniment.
An instrumental ensemble then took the stage to play the evocative adagio movement from the Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo. Julien Bisaillon played the complex yet still lyrical solo part with simple, affecting lyricism.
The first half ended with a suite of six excerpts from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, played with verve and exceptional clarity by the Bergmann Duo, and with singing in I Feel Pretty, Somewhere, and Tonight by Leslie Fagan and Koszika. Although the singing was beautiful (Somewhere bringing tears to my eyes as usual), the real highlights of this suite were the sharp-edged, crisply rhythmic playing of the Bergmanns in Mambo and -- especially -- in America.
After the intermission, there followed a series of varied more-or-less popular song from different composers, different countries, and different parts of the 20th century, with shifting ensembles at almost every single number. We heard from guitarists, strings, winds, singers (Koszika again demonstrating her unique and communicative style), and so on. The culmination of the programme was Graham Campbell's large ensemble arrangement of Astor Piazzolla's famous Libertango. All good fun, all great music, and all helping to bring the Festival closer towards its rousing conclusion on Saturday night.
The day began with the monumental. If there's any greater monument of polyphonic ingenuity and skill than J. S. Bach's Musikalisches Opfer ("Musical Offering"), I have yet to encounter it. Faced with a tortuous melody, propounded (according to tradition) by Frederick the Great of Prussia, Bach composed a lengthy series of canons which treat the melody at different intervals. The various and ingenious versions include a crab canon (where the second part plays the theme in reverse order), a mirror canon (the second voice in the same order but with all intervals inverted), and a table canon (the second voice reversed and inverted). In addition, there are two ricercars, one in 3 parts and one in no less than 6 parts, and a beautiful 4-movement trio sonata for two violins and continuo.
Except for the sonata, there's no definitive instrumentation specified. For this performance, the Canadian Guitar Quartet joined forces with violinist Tibor Molnár and flautist Suzanne Shulman, in an arrangement prepared by Quartet member Louis Trépanier. This arrangement was itself a work of considerable skill (and effort), redistributing both continuo and melodic voices among the guitarists, and dividing the labour so that all took their turns at each aspect of the work. In all, he had to copy considerably more than 20,000 notes into the appropriate spots in the six separate parts.
The game was definitely worth the candle. The gentle, soft-edged tone of four classical guitars lifted some of the daunting aura of technical wizardry that hangs over the Musical Offering, supplementing it with a pleasing, harmonious atmosphere that was also carried into the violin and flute parts. The total sound picture was much less edgy than one would expect with a traditional harpsichord continuo, and the various canons gained musical interest to augment the skill involved. Nowhere was this more true than in the concluding 6-voice ricercar, where the complexity of the music never for a second obscured any of the individual lines. All of which left the audience free to enjoy the technical skill and heartfelt musicality of the playing from all concerned. A truly rewarding hour of fine music.
The second afternoon concert was a recital of piano music, involving multiple artists, and was simply titled, Great Melodies for Piano. The concert opened with the Bergmann Duo playing Marcel Bergmann's arrangement for 2 pianos of the andante movement from Mozart's Piano Concerto in C Major, K.467. Yes, that one -- the movement that rocketed to fame after being used as soundtrack in the 1967 Swedish film Elvira Madigan. Indeed, the reference is still nearly ubiquitous, and the concerto is often identified in many quarters as the "Elvira Madigan Concerto." Bergmann's unusual arrangement broke the solo and orchestral parts into smaller units, and then shared them out between the two pianos. With light touch, selective use of the pedals, and the gentlest of pulsing accompaniments, the Duo spun out a beautiful and evocative performance of this evergreen staple.
Speaking of "staples," Silvie Cheng next played a pair of night pieces which are ingrained in the minds of music lovers everywhere. First she gave a reading of Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2 which covered a wider range of tone than some pianists allow themselves in this work, rising to emphatic (but not over-loud) climaxes which seemed both inevitable and justifiable. She then followed with a haunting Clair de lune of Debussy, drawing together flowing lines and delicate arpeggios into sheer musical magic. In the process, she made me forget all about the dozens of times I'd heard these pieces played by conservatory students.
John Novacek then shifted the tone dramatically (said so himself, too: "Well, that was different, wasn't it?") with Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag and the much later Solace: A Mexican Serenade. Both of these well-known tunes he played with gusto and an innate sense of ragtime style. He then followed on with two rags of his own, Schenectady and Intoxication, in which his furious cascades of notes poured in torrents across the stage -- while still remaining completely clear to the ear.
The evening concert was the last one for the season to feature the Festival's artists, and followed a kind of "anthology" format often used here for weekend events. But don't confuse "anthology" with "lightweight"! The programme opened -- opened -- with the famous Mad Scene from Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti. Leslie Fagan tossed off a phenomenal performance as easily as if she were singing "Happy Birthday", no mean feat when you consider that she was hitting the stage cold. And it was a performance -- gestures, facial expressions, movement, all helped to tell the story behind the singing. She was ably supported by Lucia's "duet partner," Suzanne Shulmann on flute, with Elizabeth Bergmann providing the piano accompaniment.
An instrumental ensemble then took the stage to play the evocative adagio movement from the Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo. Julien Bisaillon played the complex yet still lyrical solo part with simple, affecting lyricism.
The first half ended with a suite of six excerpts from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, played with verve and exceptional clarity by the Bergmann Duo, and with singing in I Feel Pretty, Somewhere, and Tonight by Leslie Fagan and Koszika. Although the singing was beautiful (Somewhere bringing tears to my eyes as usual), the real highlights of this suite were the sharp-edged, crisply rhythmic playing of the Bergmanns in Mambo and -- especially -- in America.
After the intermission, there followed a series of varied more-or-less popular song from different composers, different countries, and different parts of the 20th century, with shifting ensembles at almost every single number. We heard from guitarists, strings, winds, singers (Koszika again demonstrating her unique and communicative style), and so on. The culmination of the programme was Graham Campbell's large ensemble arrangement of Astor Piazzolla's famous Libertango. All good fun, all great music, and all helping to bring the Festival closer towards its rousing conclusion on Saturday night.
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