Cleveland Chamber Music Society: Linden Quartet (Benefit House Concert)

Bartok: Quartet No. 3, Sz. 85 (1927)
Beethoven: Quartet in E minor, Op. 59 No. 2
Sarah McElravy, Catherine Cosbey, violin; Eric Wong, viola; Felix Umansky, cello.
At the Luke Residence, Cleveland.

After the concert, I was asked by an anonymous patron, "You must be related to one of the musicians." "No, I've just head the Quartet play before," was my response. "I can see why you would want to hear them again. That was phenomenal," declared the patron as she walked away. I have to agree.

Particularly with the announcement that the Linden Quartet is moving to New Haven as Yale's Graduate Quartet-in-Residence--literally, as it turns out, hitting the road tomorrow--and the programs that this concert was to benefit--I didn't want to miss the opportunity to hear them again.

While I enjoyed the concert, I'm not sure how I felt about Bartok's quartet--the instruments were used in unconventional ways to generate unconventional sounds (plucked strings, playing near the bridge, tapping the strings with the back side of the bow) it was hard for me to really dig into the piece.

When I'm truly enjoying listening to a piece of music I have a tendency to involuntarily close my eyes and just let the notes play on my ear; with this concert--particularly the Beethoven piece--the reflex was so strong that I had to force my eyes open lest anyone think that I had fallen asleep. Ms. McElvray's introduction deserves particular note based on her clear familiarity with the with the background to the music.

The concert raised funds to benefit the Cleveland Chamber Music Society's Outreach programs--putting live classical music in primary schools--a general cause (including CityMusic Cleveland's programs, and the Cleveland Orchestra's Community Music Initiative) that I've become increasingly passionate about, and that I wish I had exposure to while growing up.

Safe travels to the Linden Quartet as they embark on their next journey...

Lincoln
(p.s. anyone who wants to make use of my roughly 20x30 living room in Cleveland Heights for a house concert... send me an email.)

Cleveland Chamber Music Society: Schubert Piano Trios

Schubert: Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 99, D898
Schubert: Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 100, D929
Wu Han, piano; David Finckel, cello; Philip Setzer, violin
at the Fairmount Temple Auditorium, Beachwood.

Schubert is a composer who I feel guilty about not knowing more about, so combined with the relatively dismal concert schedule this week, I made a spur of the moment decision to attend the Cleveland Chamber Music Society's concert this evening. I think his Trout Quintet remains my favorite of his works that I have heard performed.

I am still, in a way, rolling the concert around on my tongue, to figure out if I like the taste. To a large extent yes, but in many ways I want to compare it to eating pizza 3 days in a row* -- The motifs which caught my ear initially started to grate on it by the umpteenth repetition.

Generally well played, there were moments where I felt that the balance was off, specifically, that Ms. Han's piano was unnecessarily overpowering and drowning out Mr. Finckel's cello and/or Mr. Setzer's violin. The E-flat trio featured some beautiful cello playing on the part of Mr. Finckel.

The B-flat trio, and the scherzo movement in particular sounded frightenly familiar: Upon checking my iTunes Library I realized that not only was this one of the few classical pieces in my collection** [In a bit of a paradox, I can rarely stand hearing popular music live, yet there is very little classical I can listen to in recorded form], but the 3rd movement had come up on shuffle while I was listening in the office earlier today. In a somewhat creepy coincidence triangle, the copy I have features pianist Yefim Bronfman...who will be giving a concert as part of CIM's Masters Series tomorrow evening.

Yet despite the relatively sparse concert schedule this week, I find myself conflicted about plans for Saturday evening: Here in Cleveland I really want to give the Linden Quartet a whirl, for reasons I can't pinpoint; though not a Beatles fan, in Akron I'm intrigued by the Akron Symphony Orchestra/Classical Albums Live: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, particularly because of my affection for the London Symphony Orchestra's Symphonic Rock Series, which includes renderings of some of the tracks that appeared on that album. Anyone want to cast votes?

Lincoln
*- Which I happen to be finishing off the last of right now. You really don't want to see me attempt to cook: The EPA gets involved, there's hazardous waste disposal... it's not pretty.
** Entering said collection while I was attempting to court a Schubert-loving a cellist a year or so go. You can see how well that went.

Cleveland Chamber Music Society: Daedalus Quartet

Beethoven: String Quartet No. 10 in E-Flat Major, Op. 74 ("The Harp")
Lerdahl: Third String Quartet (2008) (World Premiere)
Dvorak: String Quartet No. 11 in C Major, Op. 61
At the Pilgrim Congregational Church, Shaker Heights.

For personal reasons entirely unrelated to CCMS, the venue, or the performers this concert was unusually awkward for me.

This is the second time this week I've heard Beethoven's Quartet in E-Flat Major (the first time being here)... I have to say that I enjoyed the piece far more when extracted from the Beethoven sandwich that I first heard it in. Perhaps because my ear was already used to the major motifs and flow of the piece I was more easily able to pick out "short-short-short-long rhythmic outline" -- despite having it pointed out the first time I heard the quartet, I didn't notice it in that rendition. In both versions I enjoyed the pizzicato traveling its way around the quartet. For simple pleasures.

It's also intresting to note that both groups went to great lengths to point out that this piece was not titled The Harp by Beethoven and that title didn't have his approval.

In learning to play the violin, the E string is my least favorite to spend more than one or two bows on because it's screechy to my ear. Lerdahl's Third String Quartet had some interesting themes -- and a great introduction by the composer ("An introduction...a coda...and some stuff in the middle") -- but the violins spent too much time on the E-string -- and the so-insanely-high/sharp-that-it-would-never-come-through-on-a-recording-E-string for me to really enjoy it.

Finally Dvorak's String Quartet No. 11 in C Major... I don't know how I feel about the piece. I don't have the instant attraction that I did to From the New World, but I wasn't put off by it either. There were some themes in the 2nd movement that seemed familiar but I couldn't place them; I'm relatively certain I haven't heard the piece previously.

Lincoln