( Zemlinsky Quartet by Ilona Sochorová)
By Montague Gammon III
A prodigy composer and piano virtuoso, a crusty old alcoholic and a middle-aged deaf musician who turned the musical world on its figurative and maybe literal ear, are all one colossus who still bestrides the world of Classical music 198 years after his too early demise.
Beethoven. Who else?
The chamber music compositions with which the Virginia Arts Festival celebrates just that one facet of his multi-genre compositional genius from late May to mid-June range from a 12-year-old’s remarkable exercise in simple delicacy (OK Wolfgang, we know) to a richly intricate, often ferocious work penned by an economically and aurally beset 40-year-old.
These nine morning and evening concerts, in Norfolk, Williamsburg, Portsmouth and Suffolk are not all Beethoven all the time.
Franz Liszt, one of the pre-mass media musicians hailed as having “rock star” status is represented, as is Anton Dvořák, who briefly resided in tiny Spillville, Iowa and longer in New York City.
The late 19th and early 20 century Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen gets his musical say, and Arts Festival favorite Jessie Montgomery, perhaps America’s most celebrated contemporary composer, is represented. So are Ukrainian born flutist/composer Albert Franz Doppler and Gustave Samazeuilh, a Frenchman who was friends with Debussy and Ravel, yet lived long enough to work for Radio France.
The Zemlinksy Quartet joins pianist Olga Kern, the Festival’s Connie & Marc Jacobson Director of Chamber Music, to kick off the concert series with two evening performances in Williamsburg and Norfolk (7:30 p.m., May 21 and 22), and a Virginia Beach Coffee Concert I, (10:30 a.m. May 23).
Dvořák’s 1887 Piano Quintet No. 2, Op. 81, leads off all three events, followed by Beethoven’s 1810 String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor, Op. 95, nicknamed “Serioso.” That’s the forceful one Beethoven wrote 2 years after his 5th Symphony, and it’s easy to find similarities.
Next up are a couple of Coffee Concerts featuring Kern and, in various combinations, violinist Lana Trotovšek, cellist Nina Kotova and pianist János Balázs.
The June 4 Virginia Beach Coffee Concert II packs in three Beethovens and three Liszts. Beethoven’s contributions are his 1800 Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op. 24 “Spring,” his 1796 Cello Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 5, and the youthful 8 Variations on a Theme by Count Waldstein, from 1782 when he was 12.
“Spring,” earned its name after the composer died for its generally sunny, cheerful feel; the second movement is the lullaby to end all lullabies. The Sonata hints at that somber quality at which the cello excels, displays Beethoven’s fondness for rhythmical prominence, and adds both languorous precision and gleeful liveliness.
Franz Liszt is represented by three 1853 works: two Hungarian Rhapsodies No. 10 and No. 6, and his piano piece Bénédiction et serment, S.396, for Four Hands.
The June 5 Williamsburg Coffee Concert III is purely Beethoven: 1809’s Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70 No. 1, called “Ghost,” plus “Spring” and his Cello Sonata No. 2 again. The “Ghost” trio spans an emotional range from the melancholy, even mournful, to the hopeful and triumphant; its nickname, ca. 1842, is variously linked to an unfinished work about Macbeth, and/or the opening scene of Hamlet, with its apparition of the late king.
The Kern and friends team returns to Norfolk June 6 for an evening performance that duplicates the 3+3, Beethoven+Liszt Virginia Beach program of two days before.
Beethoven gets a break on the June 11 evening concert in Norfolk; Franz Schubert’s well known “Trout Quintet,” Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667, is first in this program. The far less familiar Souvenir du Rigi, Op. 34, a duet for horn and flute by flute virtuoso Franz Doppler (1876) and another flute-featuring work, but with piano, Gustave Samazeuilh’s 1914 Esquisse d’Espagne–Chant sans Paroles follow up. Kern joins the Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players, drawn from the ranks of the region’s best instrumentalists.
Four of Hampton Roads’ best: Brendon Elliot and Elizabeth Coulter Vonderheide on violins, Beverly Kane Baker on viola and Sterling Elliot on cello team up for Coffee Concert IV on June 12 in Portsmouth.
Their program features Haydn’s 1790 masterpiece, String Quartet No. 53 in D Major, Op. 64, No. 5, “The Lark,” Johan Halvorsen’s energetic string duet titled Passacaglia (after Handel), Jessie Montgomery’s Duo for violin and cello, a work written just 10 years ago. In her words it’s an “ode to friendship with movements characterizing laughter, compassion, adventure, and sometimes silliness.” The concert closes with 28-30 year old Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18., which, in less than 24 minutes, offers up just about every element, every emotion and bit of musical artistry, that chamber music can provide.
The Chamber Players, including Kern, come back on Friday the 13th of June one last time for Coffee Concert V, in Suffolk. The Players are made up of the Elliot brothers, Vonderheide, Kane Baker, Will Peters on bass, Deborah Cross on flute, and Jacob Wilder on horn. Their program is Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet, the Doppler and the Samazeuilh.
Unless you are in “the band,” live chamber music offers the most intimate, exquisite public concert experience anyone will ever have, no matter what the musical genre.
POSTLUDE: Beethoven, asked about a Viennese vogue for Italian opera, purportedly said that he had never agreed with the proverb, “Vox populi, vox dei,” i.e., “The voice of the people [is] the voice of God.”
Composer and teacher Johann Nepomuk Hummel and his 15-year-old student Ferdinand Hiller visited Beethoven several times during the great man’s final weeks. Their last visit was on March 23. On the 26th, the adult Hiller later wrote, he, Hummel, and others at a house party, “were surprised by a severe storm between five and six o’clock. A thick snow-flurry was accompanied by loud peals of thunder and flashes of lightning, which lighted up the room.”
Later, sad news arrived; Beethoven had died at a quarter to five.
“Vox dei?”
(IN A BOX)
Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Music Concerts
Zemlinsky Quartet with Olga Kern
7:30 p.m., Wed., May 21, William & Mary Concert Hall, Williamsburg
7:30 p.m., Thurs., May 22, Robin Hixon Theater, Clay and Jay Barr Education Center, Norfolk
Coffee Concert I
10:30 a.m., Fri., May 23, Miller Studio Theatre, Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach
Coffee Concert II
Lana Trotovšek, Nina Kotova, János Balázs with Olga Kern
10:30 a.m., Wed., June 4, Miller Studio Theatre, Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach
Coffee Concert III
Lana Trotovšek, Nina Kotova with Olga Kern
10:30 a.m., Thurs, June 5, William and Mary Concert Hall, Williamsburg
Lana Trotovšek, Nina Kotova, János Balázs with Olga Kern
7:30 P.M., Fri., June 6, Robin Hixon Theater, Clay and Jay Barr Education Center, Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players with Olga Kern
7:30 p.m., Wed., June 11, Robin Hixon Theater, Clay and Jay Barr Education Center, Norfolk
Coffee Concert IV
Brendon Elliott violin, Elizabeth Vonderheide, violin, Beverly Baker, viola, Sterling Elliott, cello
10:30 a.m., Thurs., June 12, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Portsmouth
Coffee Concert V
VAF Chamber Players
10:30 a.m., Fri., June 13, Towne University, Suffolk
