January 22, 2005 at 4:56 PM

Yesterday was the opening of the FOCUS! Festival at Juilliard. This year's theme of the weeklong modern music festival is the Soviet Avantgarde.
I you live in New York, and weren't at this concert, you really did miss somthing!

The concert started out with Arvo Paert's cello concerto, in which I was part of the orchestra. I had missed the first rehearsals, being a last minute addition, but when Mr. Sachs asked me to play I said immediatly yes, since I love Paert's music. However, this was not the average thing you would expect from him.
The piee starts out with a beautiful big round chord in D. However after that you will not recognize it as being Paert for a while. After some undefined following chord, the cello has something like a candenza in which the cellist has to do everything we were toldas 6 year olds not to do. Make scratchy sounds, moving he figers fast up and down over the fingerboard and then using the intrument as a percussion instrument, hitting knocking everything you could possibly think of. Don't get scared, the instrument might have gotten some scratches, but it sounded amazing! This is definetly one of the coollest concertos I have accompanied!

Augustin Hadelich played Schnittkes 3rd concerto very impressively, his sound always contrasting and complementing 13 winds. I always love it when the 4 strings come in at the third movement. Augustin's vibrato and overall sound was beautiful and I really enjoyed his interpretation of the concerto and the way he played together with the ensemble of this not so easy piece.

The second piece on the programm is one of the musical highest points I have had in a long time. It was an incredible experience. Giya Kancheli, a georgian composer born in 1935 composed "Midday Prayers" for ensemble with clarinet solo (played by Moran Katz) and treble solo (sung by Nathan Fletcher of the St. Thomas Choir School) Any ttempt of describing this with words will fail, it was just one of those experiences. This piece sounded maybe more like Paert then the Paert piece, but then again, it was very much an own style combining all sorts of traditional music. It comes from a set of compostitions, about his "night prayers" he writes: "I try to explore hope in my music, the kind of hope that is not necessarily fulfilled during one's own life, but after. Perhaps you can hear it at the end, in the song of the boy. I would be happy if [the composition] inspired feelings of sadness, compassion and hope, because this is a piece about life."
Well, I can tell you, it did. I cried like I have not cried for a long time. Not because of any particular emotion. I was just moved by the purity of the music, there was such sincerity in the composition. When the boy sang "Deus, Deus meus, respice in me, quare me dereliquisti?" ("My God, my God, look upon me, why has thou forsaken?" me from Psalm 22) everything in me stoppend. This childs voice, silently crying out to God in all its purity. And then the sound resembling a music box, the strings playing an upwarth motive and the boy "Ad te, domine, levavi animam meam" ("To thee, Lord, have I lifted up my soul" from Psalm 25)
It was one of those moments where everything that needed to be said was said, no more words were needed and with that the last pianisimo, but ever so present note of the clarinet showing us that God did no forsake us, that His Spirit is right here beside us.

If you are in New York this week I really would like you to encourage you to go to one of the concerts. Monday through thrusday are all chambermusic and solo works, with for instance on monday night Erin Keefe (my roommate from Korea) and Christopher Guzman in the sonata for violin and piano of Valentin Bibik and the Fratres version for cello ensemble. On tuesdaynight one of the pieces performed is the harp sonata of Oleg Felzer, the concerto sonata for violin and cello by Mikhail Alekseev (very cool piece!)and one of my favorite piecess schnittkes first String Quartet. Wednesday night there will be on the program a piece of Victor Suslin "Cappricio for the departure" for two violins and a piece that I heard for the first time this week and made a hughe impresssion by Alexander Aslamazov: Napyev (Melody) for clarinet solo. Thursdaynights program I don't know any of the pieces, and will be a nice oppertunity for me to get to know some new ones.
Highpoint of the week however will be the closing concert with Reinbert de Leeuw (a living legend in and from Holland, he has done so much for modern music!) where he is conducting Shostakovich Symphony nr.15 and Gubaidulina's "Stimmen ... verstummen" I will be in a plane already then on my way to Russia for concerts, by I hope somebody from violinist.com will update me on that concert. Everybody knows how amazing Shostkovich is, but for the ones of you that don't know Sofia Gubaidulina GO TO THE CONCERT. Her music is really something else (and oh by the way, she did arrange that Tango from Piazolla for the violin for Gidon Kremer)
I am looking forward to reviews of other violinist.com members!

There is a snowstorm on its way to New York, and I am excited about it (probably the only one in the city!) Central Park becomes a fairy tale in the snow and I am looking forward to going out sunday morning really early and walk through the park when everything is still white and not too many people have walked through the snow.
Yesterday I got asked for another chambermusic project this semester, and although my calender said no, my mouth said yes. I only knew that it was going to be a piano quintet. Now that I know it is going to be Brahms piano quintet with some of the best players in the school I am glad I did say yes, and I will work on the calender issue.

I am soooooo glad to be back at Juilliard!!!
PS: Tonight the Juilliard Orchestra is playing Brahms Deutsche Requiem and his Third Symphony at Carnegie. Bundel up and go to the concert, it is going to be awesome!

This entry has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.

January 22, 2005 at 4:56 PM

Subscribe

Laurie's Books