Holst, Hallman, Diamond & Elgar - 03/28/15

Conductor: Dongmin Kim 
Holst: St. Paul's Suite 
Hallman: Rhapsody Concerto for Violin and Piano with Strings ‒ Donald & Vivian Weilerstein 
Diamond: Rounds for String Orchestra 
Elgar: Introduction and Allegro for Strings, Op. 47 

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Another beautiful, sunny and unusually March Sunday afternoon, another inspirational concert by a tremendously talented string chamber orchestra. There should be more weekends like this. So there I was yesterday afternoon, back in the Upper East Side's Church of the Heavenly Rest with two like-minded friends of mine for another open to all and free for all performance of an appealing program by the New York Classical Players. 
And appealing it was. Book-ended by two renowned English composers, Holst and Elgar, were the world premiere of Joseph Hallman's "Rhapsody Concerto for Violin and Piano with Strings", which was commissioned by the NYCP and The Weilerstein Duo, followed by David Diamond's popular "Rounds for String Orchestra". Plenty of opportunities for the little orchestra that can to put their glorious strings to good use. 

Written as a thank you note to the St. Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith for letting him use their large soundproof studio, Gustav Holst's "St. Paul's Suite" started the concert with an assertively lively... jig! And why not? The fact is, the whole work features many attractive melodies, which the musicians kept on expertly unfurling with much sparkling energy under Dongmin Kim's insightful baton. 

The brand new piece on the program, Joseph Hallman's "Rhapsody Concerto for Violin and Piano with Strings", was composed with Donald and Vivian Weilerstein in mind, a power couple who has not only produced trail-blazing cellist Alisa Weilerstein, but has also taught some of the members of the orchestra. Needless to say, the string music world is forever in their debt. The concerto had a little bit of everything for everyone, including some lyrical lushness, fast-paced passages, as well as solo cadenzas for the violin and the piano, because when you have the Weilerstein Duo perform your composition, you make sure to showcase their talent. Mission accomplished. 

The story goes that Dimitri Mitropoulos, who was the commissioner and conductor of David Diamond's "Rounds for String Orchestra", asked the composer for a "happy work". Whether this is an apocryphal account or not, yesterday afternoon the result was undeniably cheerful, agreeable and light-hearted. The perfect breath of fresh air on this sunny Sunday. 

There's nothing in the world that my friend Ruth enjoys more than a healthy dose of premium schmaltz when it comes to music, and she finally got her fill of it with the last piece on the program, Edward Elgar's "Introduction and Allegro for Strings". A complex, multi-layered symphonic poem designed to highlight the virtuosic skills of the musicians performing it, it is also, and maybe first of all, a downright beautiful work. Needless to say that the NYCP's players have all the necessary chops to deliver a brilliant and moving rendition of it, and they did.

And then, just when we thought the concert was over, an irresistible set of variations on "Happy Birthday" filled up the church in celebration of Donald Weilerstein's 75th birthday. A totally unexpected but much savored bonbon for the road back across the park.

Written by Isabelle Dejean (March 30, 2015)

Vaughan Williams, Bark & Schubert - 02/22/15

Conductor: Dongmin Kim 
Vaughan Williams: Charterhouse Suite for Strings 
Bark: Let all the earth rejoice! for flute and string orchestra - Carol Wincenc 
Schubert: Quartet in D Minor Death and the Maiden (Mahler transcription)

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After a memorable Saturday night in more ways than one, a more subdued concert was unquestionably in order, and fortunately the New York Classical Players came to the rescue on Sunday afternoon on the Upper East Side. The main attraction of the program was of course the version of Schubert's dazzling "Death and the Maiden" that Mahler had written for a small orchestra, the kind of exciting adventure that the consistently excellent ensemble likes and can flawlessly handle. Add to that a curiosity by Ralph Vaughan Williams and a NYCP-commissioned world premiere by Elliot Bark, who made the trip to introduce it, and you could say that a decidedly satisfying musical afternoon seemed to be just waiting to happen. 

Moreover, the weather had cleared, the temperature had risen and the sun was shining, so it was high time to take a somewhat mushy but nevertheless extremely enjoyable walk across the Park and take a seat among an increasingly large and eclectic crowd in the grand Church of the Heavenly Rest, where I would eventually be joined by my friend Angie, an Upper East Side local, after she had eventually managed to get out of her obligations just in the nick of time for not-to-be-missed Schubert. 

British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was as versatile as they come, and it is always a pleasure to discover more works of his. And sure enough, while his Charterhouse Suite for Strings, which had been skillfully arranged from his original Suite for Six Short pieces for Piano by musicologist James Brown, may not be a ground-breaking masterpiece, it is an attractive set of six nuggets that offer a wide range of moods. In the expert hands of the NYCP, this little trifle turned into a lovely stroll in the bucolic English countryside. 

From early 20th century Albion we then jumped right ahead to the present time with Elliott Bark's brightly optimistic "Let all the earth rejoice! for flute and string orchestra", a work that cleverly combines all kinds of musical influences, some of them involving singing or dancing traditions, from around the world and throughout the ages. Although this evidently is an ambitious concept, the end result is immediately accessible and downright appealing, especially when performed by the NYCP's vibrant strings and special guest Carol Wincenc's high-flying flute. 

Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" needs no introduction and has remained one of my favorite strings quartets ever. So I was particularly curious to hear a larger scale version of it, all the more so as this one was coming courtesy of Gustav Mahler, who knew a thing or two about orchestral arrangements, and the NYCP ensemble, who know a thing or two about string playing. Inspired by Matthias Claudius' poem by the same name, the original "Death and the Maiden" quartet is famous for its dark overtones and infectious melodies. Mahler's transcription remains essentially faithful to the original, but shifted a few things around and added more texture and colors. Under the precise baton of their insightful conductor Dongmin Kim, the musicians jumped right in it and delivered a beautifully polished and powerfully alive performance of it, just as Schubert and Mahler would have liked it.

Written by Isabelle Dejean (February 24, 2015)