Music@Menlo’s introduces Winds of France, a nontraditional chamber concert focusing on music for wind instruments, as a part of its winter series. The concert features a repertoire entirely by French composers and will be performed by a wind quintet and piano combination of acclaimed artists, including Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center veterans David Shifrin and Alessio Bax.
“This program was centered on music of France, and when you look at music written for winds, there are a few really golden eras — notably the classic period of the 18th century when Haydn, Mozart, and a young Beethoven were writing for small wind bands,” said clarinetist Shifrin. “In the 19th century, chamber music that involved winds became more integrated with the strings, and sometimes piano. But in the early 20th century in France, there was such an amazing development of virtuosity among wind players that all the leading composers began writing more chamber music for winds and the literature really grew, particularly the diverse offering of French wind music. I think that for this program, some of the finest and most diverse offerings have been chosen.”
The quintet consists of Tara Helen O'Connor (flute), Stephen Taylor (oboe), Shifrin (clarinet), Peter Kolkay (bassoon), and William Purvis (horn), with Bax on piano. While it’s indeed a talented group, the mix is far from standard and makes for a unique, if not entirely rare, sound.
“Yeah, it’s unusual for a chamber music tour but I think that is the stock and trade, really, of the CMSLC. The type of programming that we are able to do and that David [Finckel] and Wu Han are able to put together draws on [many] possibilities of instrumental combinations rather than more of the standard groups of chamber music,” said Shifrin. “It is a challenge for us to match the way we articulate and the way we sustain and the way we blend with one another. But on the other hand, we have the great advantage of having such an enormous variety of colors that you don’t usually hear in one homogeneous setting.”
“We have the great advantage of having such an enormous variety of colors that you don’t usually hear in one homogeneous setting.” – David Shifrin, clarinet
The event is spearheaded by Wu Han and Finckel, who are also the directors of Music@Menlo, and who chose the repertoire and the performers. The evening includes standard wind pieces by Jean Françaix and Jacques Ibert plus a sonata by Maurice Emmanuel, as well as music by Francis Poulenc and a piece by the Moroccan-French composer Yan Maresz, written in 1995.
“I think it’s exciting to discover and to present works that have been unjustly neglected. Sometimes you’ll find a composer who’s written a gem whose music is not widely known, and it’s a particularly exciting experience to share that with an audience,” said Shifrin. “One can hear the expansion of what the wind instrument is able to do and, going into the future, the sounds that it is able to make, that Maresz has written, are like nothing you’ve heard before.”
For his part, Bax is just looking forward to working with what he calls this wind-music “dream team.” “I am really proud to be part of this concert. It is an unusual program, and each one of the works is incredibly original, fresh, and exciting,” said Bax. “I really believe it is music of the highest caliber, perfectly crafted and hauntingly beautiful. I look forward to showcase this amazing repertoire with the fantastic audience.”