Tuesday March 18th, 2014 - Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's co-Artistic directors David Finckel and Wu Han (above) took the Alice Tully Hall stage tonight along with the Escher String Quartet to perform works by Russian composers dating from the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Evoking the fall of the tsars and the setting of the sun on Russian romanticism, the music seemed to cast a spell over the full house at Tully.
Wu Han opened the evening with Scriabin's Five Preludes (Opus 16). The pianist, always so exuberant in her welcoming remarks at CMS concerts, moved into a more interior realm as she began to draw the exotic harmonies of the opening Andante from the keyboard. Wearing a pale rose robe and hot pink high heels, her score in a Kindle-style booklet, Wu Han seemed the epitome of contemporary style yet her playing magically summoned up visions of the long ago and far away in these Scriabin miniatures. As the music moved from delicacy to passion, Wu Han's ravishing dynamic control was something to savor.
Above: the Escher String Quartet, photo by Laura Rose. From left: Aaron Boyd, Dane Johansen, Pierre Lapointe, Adam Barnett-Hart
The members of the Escher String Quartet then appeared to play Rachmaninov's Two Movements for String Quartet, dating from 1889. The members of the Quartet are young but their playing - from both a technical and emotive standpoint - is remarkably seasoned. They opened the Romance in a soft harmonic halo of sound, moving through the sorrowful melodies so redolent of unhappy love. At one point they produced icey shivers, and gave supple energy to passages of plucked strings. The following Scherzo is both joyful and full-bodied, with touches of wit. A delightful cello waltz is later taken up by the violin, and the work ends on a charmingly delicate note.
David Finckel joined the Quartet's Adam Barnett-Hart, Pierre Lapointe and Dane Johansen for Anton Arensky's Quartet in A-minor (1894). The two cellos lend this piece an Autumnal resonance; from the gently mournful opening, Arensky lures the listener into his pulsing harmonic depths. Melodies pass from voice to voice in the first Moderato movement, and there is an interesting contrast of hesitancy and animation. A rich chorale evolves, which flows into a broad melody before a melancholic finish.
In the second movement, Arensky gives us Variations of a Theme of Tchaikovsky. Opening with a courtly minor-key passage dressed in rich harmonies, we move on to a sustained cello melody as the upper voices dance animatedly. Dancing seems to be the key here, including some plucked-string vitality. For the final movement, soulful melody gives way to a joyous canon; Arensky keeps the mood shifts coming at us...one moment we are elated, then pensive. The quartet ends with a brilliant chase.
We reach the 20th century with the program's concluding Quintet in G-minor for piano, two violins, viola and cello, Opus 30 of Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev. Wu Han joins the Escher in this epic work, commencing with a somber misterioso. There is a gorgeous interplay of string and keyboard voices with achingly lovely melodies and rich thematic variety. A lush cello 'aria' stands out as the opening movement wends its way to a big, passionate conclusion.
The Scherzo commences with a jaunty air, and a sparkling piano motif. The strings shimmer, the music briefly turns thoughtful, but then goes on to a high-speed rippling rush and a delightful conclusion. A lyrically grand unison theme marks the start of the Largo; excellent, impassioned music-making from all here as a stately melody rises up. Descending cello themes counter a processional pacing, and the Largo moves to a sustained, quiet ending.
The dynamic closing Allegro shows off Wu Han's cascading interjections and lively filagree over the resonant strings. Rachmaninov is evoked in what feels like a final build-up, only to be interrupted by a shimmering interlude of melodic gifts from the strings inter-woven with delicacies from the keyboard. Then all unite for an epic climax, a joyful finale; the audience could barely contain themselves til the music ended, and then they burst into applause and cheers. The musicians were called out twice, to the embrace of a grateful crowd of music-lovers.
This evening's participating artists:
Escher String Quartet, ensemble