Brahms: G major Sonata (Isabel Trautwein, violin; Patti Wolf, piano)
Mendelssohn: Trio in C minor (Isabel Trautwein, violin; Tanya Ell, cello; Patti Wolf, piano)
At the home of Charlie Cowap and Rachel Rawson, Shaker Heights.
While last night's season closing performance at the Cleveland Orchestra was delivered forcefully by a massive orchestra, today's season ending performance for Heights Arts' Close Encounters house concert series was no less impactful in an intimate setting with three extraordinarily talented musicians (two of whom --- Ms. Trautwein and Ms. Ell -- are also Cleveland Orchestra members)
All thiree pieces on the program were musically stunning and a pure delight to listen to, although they didn't evoke strong imagery in my mind, which makes describing it challenging -- for many of the movements I found myself just closing my eyes and enjoying the feeling of the notes -- particularly the cello through its end pin -- resonate up through my legs while simultaneously hitting my chest and ears. On the flip side, Ms. Trautwein's violin -- particularly in the third piece -- was less than a yard from my face and the precise dancing across the fingerboard provided a captivating visual.
The comment was made that Schubert's Arpeggione was composed not for the cello but for a "smaller instrument with more strings" -- however from the adept playing you would not have suspected (from Wikipedia it appears Arpeggione was the actual name of that instrument -- and it appears that instrument is essntially a "bowed guitar" -- and this piece had a very warm and tender air between Ms. Ell and Ms. Wolf
The second piece, featuring Ms. Trautwein and Ms. Wolf seemed a little bit more somber and delicate than the first. The third and final piece, Mendelssohn's Trio united all three musicians for a tour-de-force, and a wonderful end to what turned out to be one of my favorite Heights Arts programs.
Lincoln
No comments:
Post a Comment