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CONTEMPORARY MUSIC REVIEW A Program Without a Center November 5, 2001
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By Jules Langert
In a characteristic blend of new and older music the Left Coast Ensemble's concert last Monday provided variety and charm, if not a great deal of substance, The most original and memorable work, Heitor Villa Lobos' The Jet Whistle (1950), was last on the program. In a beautiful and well-integrated performance by flutist Esther Landau and cellist Leighton Fong, its three short movements seemed fresh and full of delightful surprises, with effective, idiomatic writing for both instruments.
The cello's opening florid melody is accompanied by a persistent, low, rhythmic chirping of two notes by the flute. Later, when the flute takes the lead, the cello becomes a rhythmically incisive supporting voice. In the slow movement, the cello plays double-stopped harmonies under an affecting melody in the flute's low and middle range. The finale contains the title's "jet whistle", a series of ascending runs for the flute, culminating in a few sharply accented, breathy high notes, which sound like steam escaping from a boiling kettle.
The other unusual offering was György Kurtág's Signs, Games, and Messages, a work still in progress containing movements for one, two, and three strings. The Left Coast players elected to perform the trio movements, eight brief pieces that display an enigmatic terseness suggestive of Webern's early Five Movements for String Quartet. Like Webern, this composer favors dramatic contrasts, the movements either very slow and attenuated or fast and strongly accented.
Kurtág's musical language also reminded me of Bartók in his use of octaves, open strings, modal scale patterns, and effects like the snap pizzicato. One important difference, however, is that in this piece, texture is often the prime ingredient rather than a colorful by-product used to enhance a striking musical idea. These pieces are slighter and more whimsical than anything by Webern or Bartók. Lee Hyla's Ciao Manhattan for flute, viola, cello, and piano (1990) was the other twentieth-century work on the concert. Lyrical.,and emotive, with the instruments often in close proximity to each other, it was a delicately moody, atmospheric opening piece, flowerlike in its gradual unfolding. Two eighteenth-century pieces completed the program. Haydn's "London" Trio in G major (1794-5) in three movements received an elegant, focused performance by violinist Phyllis Kamrin, flutist Landau, and cellist Fong. Beethoven's Duet "With two eyeglasses obbligato" for viola and cello was played with comic exaggeration, violist Kurt Rohde belaboring the figuration, indulging in frequent ritards, and impetuously swooping up to high notes. The music, being perfectly good early Beethoven, suffered under this barrage of eccentric mannerisms. The main thing lacking on this concert was an intensely rewarding musical encounter for the listener. The right piece might have been placed after the intermission, when instead they replayed the Kurtág composition. As a result, the evening seemed somewhat undernourishing and piecemeal in its effect. It was in need of a solid, substantial core around which the rest of the program could take shape. (Jules Langert is a composer and teacher who resides in the East Bay.) ©2001 Jules Langert, all rights reserved |
