San Francisco Classical Voice

Saturday's performances by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, under the aegis of San Francisco Performances, raised some serious questions about what constitutes the pleasure of attending live concerts. The group presented two very well-known works: Brahms' Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100, and the "Trout" Quintet, Op. 114 by Schubert, and in between, Edgar Meyer's New Work for Clarinet, Cello and Double Bass.

In the Brahms, Daniel Phillips replaced violinist Cho-Liang Lin, who had canceled his appearances on the group's tour due to the birth of his first child. Together with pianist Andre-Michel Schub, Phillips gave an accurate, but uninspired reading of the familiar A Major Brahms Sonata.

The main drawback was the absence of dramatic tension in the melodic and harmonic material and the lack of a plan, or the sense of a significant journey through the piece. The players seemed content to play for surface sheen, never probing the more complex layers beneath the music's largely sunlit exterior. With the exception of a few lapses in intonation, this was a professional reading, but hardly more than that, not the more serious and committed vision expected of seasoned musicians.

Edgar Meyer's Trio was baffling as music for a formal concert hall. The first movement consisted of 12-measure groups in increasing acceleration, each doubling the tempo of the previous and, as Meyer explained in introductory remarks, returning to a slower pace when the tempo got too fast. The second movement featured a largely cantilena, singing style, with the third movement returning to more lively dance rhythms. Occasionally the bass broke away in a series of pizzicato glissandi, which suggested a jazz combo solo. Meyer was joined by Artistic Director David Shifrin, clarinet, and Gary Hoffman, cello, in this performance.

The problem with this work lay in its repetitive figurations and its completely casual mood. No sense of engagement, of challenge, or of serious artistic endeavor ever marred the moment or demanded undivided attention. The performers themselves seemed disengaged, as if they were providing background for a social get-together. Is this the stuff of a genuinely pleasurable concert experience? In fairness, however, it must be said that the large audience ate it up.

In the final work, the "Trout" Quintet, the group, minus clarinet, was joined by violist Paul Neubauer. The rhythmic figure in the coda of the second movement Andante caught exactly the right mood of the piece. In most other respects, however, this was a rambling performance, more akin to an informal chamber music reading than a serious concert presentation. The players were often at odds in matters of tempo and articulation. Most of the time they seemed to be going their own separate ways, even paying little visual heed to one another.

There was a singular lack of traction in the melodic lines. What shaping did occur seemed to come from a superficial showmanship rather than from the demands of Schubert's score. The performers were indulging their instrumental skills but not making the effort that could lead to a memorable listening experience.

With such easy access to multiple recordings of this very familiar work, are we not entitled to expect genuine artistry and a carefully thought-out, well-rehearsed, and professional approach to its presentation in a live concert? I believe we are. Less than this is probably not worth the trouble.

(Paul Hersh is a pianist and violist and, since 1972, the James D. Robertson Professor of Piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.)

©2001 Paul Hersh, all rights reserved