San Francisco Classical Voice

Daniel David Feinsmith's new solo piano work, El, inspired by psalms of King David, was the program's only work with an overtly theological basis. It also stood apart for its distinct language, an emotionally forceful style that brought 19th century aesthetics to mind. This piece also displayed elegant counterpoint and ornamentation and an ability to create compelling lines moving in many voices at once. Feinsmith's tonal language was also marked by a rapid freedom of movement away from and back to tonality, and an equally open approach to rapidly emergent dissonance as a marker for sudden turns in the emotional tone of the music. Pianist Sarah Cahill's characteristically strong direction, clarity, and beautiful tone were enormously valuable in elucidating Feinsmith's sometimes dense work. But with almost no points of rest in the piece, the composer's lack of interest in silence had the paradoxical effect of lessening the emotional and spiritual force of the music.

A very different solo piano work by Feinsmith, Leviathan, played by a very different pianist, David Holzman, was a late addition to the program. A Lisztian sort of keyboard clamor, splashed with more modern dissonance, drove much of the work, and at times its storminess proved intriguing by suggesting a mercurial internal dialogue. But Holzman seemed so focused on the work's grandiosity that the more this forceful bravura was overemphasized by both composer and performer, again with a conspicuous lack of respite, the less impact it had.

Composer/performer Amy X Neuberg infused her work for this program with an original approach to the voice, to composition, and to finding musical perspectives on Jewish identity. Her Beliebig Füllen ("Fill As Desired"), in eight movements for a women's vocal septet, sets the texts of eight recipes recorded by women imprisoned in the Terez“n concentration camp. Using the original texts as both centerpiece and springboard, she also added her own texts liberally to the work, utilizing the qualities of desire, comfort, and sensual escapism embedded in the recipes to inspire lyrical tangents that were alternately biting, funny, thoughtful, and surreal.

Neuberg's understanding of the voice and interest in its possibilities led to some excellent writing here. There was liberal use of microtones, extended techniques, and the sort of close harmonies and sliding dissonances found in Eastern European and Balkan folk music. The compositional approach to the texts had an organic flow, both playing with and honoring the language. A frequent use of rounds was made more potent by turning them into recorded accompaniments to the singers through live sampling, which had a compelling effect despite occasional technical problems. The singers were well rehearsed and committed, with a refreshing lightness in their stage presence, and Neuberg's occasional solo role highlighted her affecting, cabaret-style voice and her ability to put a lyric across. It's fortunate that the festival was able to bring a special work like this into being, and I hope it will have a life beyond its premiere.

John Schott, a formidable presence on the Bay Area's jazz and improvised music scenes, performed with his own trio, Dream Kitchen, in his Three Examples of Jewish Music and One Example of Non-Jewish, a continuous four-part work. What stood out most here was the sensitive group dynamics between Schott on electric guitar, Marc Bolin on bass trombone and tuba, and John Hanes on drums. The music alternated between sparse, open textures, more driving, rock-oriented sections, and some slower stretches that came across as half mournful, half ironic. In the freer moments, the group was able to stretch out while the music still felt anchored, a credit to the group's collective sensitivity and the thoughtful structure of the work. Schott's refined sense of harmony was also a potent element, in progressions that were both exploratory and finely controlled, much like the piece itself.