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Concert at Weill Hall, November 25, 2003

Concert at Weill Hall, November 25, 2003

The viola sings, at first slowly, in a style reminiscent of ancient melody (such as the Andalusian-Hebraic Kol Nidre); and, then, with the piano dancing in a Skryabin-like waltz; then, varying in tempi, balances and textures, but with extraordinary sensitivity to melodic line and sound; moreover, with the most artful variation of intense passion and delicacy. And that was just the first movement (I had wished that the violist did not stop to tune). The second movement, in contrast, is a scherzo–a rough-sewn, visceral dance that eventually segues into first a ghostly, then a passionate revival of favorite figures, served verbatim or disguised.

This composer understands his palette, and like a Velazquez, he is unafraid to portray a full spectrum of emotion, and is a consummated craftsman. This is not, however, music for the faint-hearted. At times, the music is genuinely mad, and indulgent, wonderfully so.

Violist Viacheslav Dinerchtein (who is recording the 44 duets for two violas by Bartok) is an extraordinary player. Pianist Eldar Nebolsin is excellent enough to have substituted for Martha Argerich, playing in Germany with Ashkenazy.

The three-movement trio, for flute viola and cello, allows for solo voices, as well as interplay among the instruments, tweaking new harmonics out of seemingly traditional trialogues. Flutist Jennifer Bleick, newly moved to New York, plays with beautiful flair; violist Nicholas Cords (who plays in Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, and is on the Princeton faculty) is phenomenal; and cellist Daniel Gaisford (a former first-prize winner of Juilliard's Schostakovich Competition) plays with mastery. The music intermingles the familiar with some washes and tempests of stunning sonorities.

There is electricity in the air when composer-pianist Octavio Vazquez plays with violinist Jonathan Gandelsman. This 1993 sonata for violin and piano is stunning, with a sound board between high romanticism and a Piazzola tango. It's as charming and accessible as it is challenging to play.

To call the pair superb doesn't even begin to characterize the musical impression they made, in this tour de force of old and new, as I wrote previously.

Mark Greenfest
Mark Greenfest is editorial contributor to the New Music Connoisseur

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