Sunset from our dorm room at Bastyr University
Photo: © Charles Noble
It’s about 10:30 pm on Tuesday night – it’s been about a hour or so since the end of our penultimate faculty concert at the Max Aronoff Viola Institute. There was some major restructuring of the program tonight because our pianist, Duane Hulbert, took a fall while jogging and did some damage to his face and had to go to the ER. He’s ok, and he’ll be making a heroic effort to rehearse and play tomorrow night, which is amazing in and of itself!
The program opened with John Scanlon playing the G major cello suite of JS Bach on the viola, using a modern viola at baroque pitch and with a baroque bow. He played a sparkling account of the suite, with brisk tempi and lots of interesting and tasteful ornaments.
I followed with the Cadenza by Krysztof Penderecki. It’s a very atmospheric piece, dark and dangerous, perfect for the cathedral-like acoustics of Bastyr Chapel, and the polar opposite temperament of the Bach. I think it went well – no major snafus, and the audience responded well. It really is an audience pleaser, which is unusual for a piece that is modern and not super ear-friendly. But it has great structure, economy of ideas, and pacing. Plus it shows of the viola very well.
Last on this short program was the String Quartet No. 1 of Dmitri Shostakovich, played by violinists Marcia Ott and Nancy Roth, violist Betty Agent and cellist Richard Treat. It’s a delightful work, quite early in his output, and has strong associations both with Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev. You really can hear DSCH developing his own voice, and almost succeeding, but it isn’t until the Second Quartet that he really strikes out on his own, much like Béla Bartók. It was given a lively and exciting performance by the foursome, and very much appreciated by the audience in attendance.
This concert marked my last appearance for this year on the series, and it’s a relief to just look forward to a day and a half more of teaching and listening to concerts. As much as I love to play, it is nice to have a day free of the anticipation of an imminent concert.