South Florida Sun-Sentinel March 3, 2008 The Chameleon Series ends season with emotional depth By Lawrence Budmen, Special Correspondent for South Florida Sun-Sentinel
CELLO/PIANO 3 van Eck/Gekic
A
review of the Chameleon series
By LAWRENCE BUDMEN
South Florida Sun-Sentinel January 14 2008
Cellist
Iris van Eck and pianist Kemal Gekic proved a near perfect duo,
matching sonic power and vivid instrumental personalities at the
Chameleon series' afternoon musicale on January 13 at the Leiser
Opera Center in Ft. Lauderdale.
The players captured the Mediterranean languor of Debussy's Sonata in D minor, making child's play of the tricky rhythms and dissonant harmonics of the Serenade et Finale. The first of three sonatas for varied instrumental combinations penned in the final two years of the composer's life, this score ventures beyond impressionism to embrace the astringent textures and motoric thrust that were sweeping Europe via the balletic scores of Stravinsky and Prokofiev. Van Eck and Gekic illuminated the Gallic enchantment of this path breaking work which still sounds astoundingly modern in the 21st century.
Beethoven's Sonata in C Major, Op.102, No.1 is one of those remarkable creations from the master's late period that reinvented the chamber music genre. Gekic lavished a whirlwind of pianistic exuberance on this emotionally volatile score, channeling subtlety as well as thunder. Van Eck' s warmly expressive delineation of the Adagio preceded an appropriately brusque Allegro vivace.
From the first solemn chords to the bright, lithe finale, the duo brought dash and sparkle to the Baroque felicities of Handel's Sonata. Van Eck's dark tonal palette and measured, expansive pace probed the depths of the soulful Sarabande. Gekic exhibited unusual delicacy in this stylish recreation of an early instrumental showpiece.
Leos Janacek's Pohadka (fairy tale) was a fascinating panoply of repetitive figurations that suggested contemporary minimalism and vivacious Czech melodies that would not have been out of place in a Dvorak string quartet. The musicians' incisive performance offered a wealth of instrumental coloration. Every pianistic hue and plucked string motif was tellingly projected.
Gekic's
penchant for fiery octaves launched Brahms' Sonata in F Major
in blazing style. Van Eck eloquently spun the main theme of the
Adagio affetuoso, a quintessentially Brahmsian melody of elongated
passion. Instead of the usual heavy handed sobriety, the cellist
exhibited a light touch in the charming Allegro passionato, reserving
appealingly pensive edginess for the movement' s secondary theme.
The explosive fireworks of the concluding Allegro molto were dispatched
with daredevil verve and precision.
Copyright
© 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
SEXTET Amernet/Patterson/van Eck
Review: Chameleon chamber music series
Greg Stepanich
November 30, 2007
Even in compositional lives as well-known as those of Mozart and
Brahms, there are many pages of music that deserve to be heard
more often, but which for one reason or another suffer neglect.
Just reviving the music isn't enough. Commitment on the part of
musicians who interpret these works is vital, and last Sunday
at the Leiser Opera Center in Fort Lauderdale, a receptive audience
got to hear both: Wonderful scores and passionate musicians who
brought them to life.
In the opening afternoon of its three-concert season, the Chameleon
chamber music series offered powerful performances of a late string
trio by Mozart and an early string sextet by Brahms, plus a solo
viola version of a J.S. Bach suite for solo cello. The camaraderie
on the part of the musicians - Florida International University
resident ensemble the Amernet Quartet (pictured above), joined
by violist Chauncey Patterson and Chameleon founder Iris van Eck
on cello - was evident throughout this nourishing, enlightening
afternoon of great chamber music, beautifully played.
For the six-movement Divertimento
for string trio (in E-flat, K. 563) of Mozart, van Eck was joined
by violist Michael Klotz and violinist Misha Vitenson. This trio,
which dates from 1788, provides compelling evidence of the scholarly
contention that Mozart, for all his wondrous ability displayed
so young, was in reality a late bloomer as a composer. It's in
works such as this that we can hear a musician who is innovating
in almost each bar, confounding expectations every step of the
way.
Vitenson, Klotz and van Eck blended nicely as an ensemble, with
a springy, tightly controlled sound that allowed the solo writing
to spin off logically from the core and at the same time offered
the ability to sustain a single mood for a sustained period of
time. This was clear right from the start of the piece, with a
standard Mozartean chordal-outline opening and gentle answer followed
by a sudden blizzard of scales from violin and viola that suggested
the music would be taking in a good deal of territory.
Some of the most compelling playing came in the fourth movement,
a theme and variations that exploits a wealth of styles and colors,
including a minor-key moment in which the three musicians created
a persuasive mood of antiquity. The restraint with which they
played the fifth movement Minuet provided excellent contrast with
the preceding movement and the finale, a wide-open piece full
of rich, soaring melody and difficult string writing.
Violist Klotz opened the
concert with the First Cello Suite (in G major, BWV 1007) of Bach.
Klotz's tempos were on the slow, reflective side, particularly
in the opening Prelude and closing Gigue, and it worked well for
his kind of playing, which is elegant, technically polished, and
very sensitive.
His sound is more focused and penetrating than it is large, but
it's very attractive and full of personality; I enjoyed hearing
his intimate reading of this famous music, which worked just as
well on the viola as it does on the cello.
The second half of the concert
was devoted to the Sextet in B-flat, Op. 18, of Brahms, completed
in 1860 when the composer was in his late 20s. This is a long,
gorgeous work, full of rapturous melodic invention and a marvelous
ear for the myriad textures you can get out of two violins, two
violas and two cellos.
The Amernet Quartet (Vitenson, violinist Marcia Littley, Klotz,
and cellist Javier Arias) joined forces with Patterson and van
Eck for the Brahms, and from the first minute it was clear that
all six musicians would be focusing all their efforts on giving
this work an all-out performance.
The strength and forcefulness of the group's playing in the first
movement was ideal for the bigness of Brahms' writing, with its
long-breathed tunes and fat harmonies. Arias' solo work, intense
and accomplished, was particularly compelling here.
And as it was with the Mozart, contrast was crucial for the Brahms.
The widely ranging second movement (also a theme and variations),
which covered an encyclopedia of emotion, was sharply differentiated
from the brief scherzo that followed, to which the sextet gave
a light, delicate touch.
The finale, a catchy rondo, ends excitingly as the instruments
speed up to a whirlwind close for the last bars. The group's exemplary
level of communication paid off handsomely as the six players
galloped to the exuberant ending, at which point the audience's
shouts of approval showed just how wrapped up they'd been throughout
the piece.
Chamber music is a uniquely rewarding form because so many of
the greatest composers' most profound thoughts were entrusted
to these small ensembles. And when the playing is at as high a
level as it was for the Chameleon concert, it comes close to being
the only kind of music-making that truly satisfies.
Posted by Greg Stepanich at November 30, 2007 7:00 PM
SEXTET Amernet/Patterson/van Eck
Chameleon
Musicians Series' season opener South
Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
By Lawrence Budmen
Special Correspondent
November 27, 2007
The Chameleon Musicians Series season opener on Sunday featured major works by two of the three B's, plus a rarely played Mozart masterwork as centerpiece. Fort Lauderdale's Leisure Opera Center ballroom is an inviting venue for chamber music, boasting warmly vibrant acoustics and the intimate aura of a salon.
The Amernet String Quartet joined cellist Iris van Eck (director of the Chameleon concerts) and violist Chauncey Patterson (formerly of the Miami String Quartet) for Brahms' Sextet No. 1 in B-flat Major. Resident ensemble at Florida International University, the Amernet players (Misha Vitenson and Marcia Littley, violins; Michael Klotz, viola; and Javier Arias, cello) brought heartfelt passion, generous expressivity and high-voltage excitement to one of Brahms' earliest chamber scores.
With a wonderful sense of romantic grandeur pervading the entire performance, the musicians' relaxed, spacious approach to the opening movement was almost improvisatory. Arias' glorious cello variations in the solemn Andante captured the movement's dramatic cast. Klotz and Patterson deftly traced the viola's soaring theme. With Vitenson providing volcanic leadership, the Scherzo was essayed with palpable gypsy fire. Van Eck's rich cello sound ignited the fiercely intense coda.
Mozart's Divertimento in E-flat Major, K.563 is a towering work for string trio. Written three years before the composer's death, the score is tinged with the pathos finely etched in many of Mozart's late masterpieces. Van Eck, Vitenson and Klotz offered spirited rhythmic drive and precise articulation. In the Andante, a theme of deceptive simplicity was phrased with tenderness and delicacy. The Menuetto seemed to dance off the strings with scintillating vivacity. Taut, wonderfully quirky shaping infused the concluding Allegro, one of Mozart's most divine inventions.
The concert commenced with Klotz taking solo honors in a viola transcription of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major. Popularized by Pablo Casals, the score proved surprisingly adaptable to the smaller instrument. Klotz produced darkly burnished, full tone and clarity of instrumental line. He shaped the familiar Prelude eloquently. Far from courtly dance graces, the violist displayed modernist urgency in a brilliant reading of the Courante, and infused the delightful Gigue with the invigorating joy of the dance.
Lawrence Budmen can be reached
at lbudmen@msn.com.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun
Last....but not Least Klotz/van Eck/Dacic
CHAMELEON
MUSICIANS
MICHAEL KLOTZ/ MISHA DACIC/ IRIS VAN ECK (5-21-06)
By Lawrence Budmen http://www.lawrencebudmen.com/reviews_chameleon_musicians_klotz_dacic_van_eck.html
The brooding, melancholy strains of the Elegia, Adagio from Anton Arensky's Piano Trio in D Minor, Op.32 seem to evoke a different world, the Proustian musical reminiscence of things past - albeit a Russian (rather than French) one. This infrequently played chamber music masterpiece formed the bracing conclusion of the final concert of the season by Chameleon Musicians on May 21 at the Josephine Leiser Opera Center in Ft. Lauderdale.
Arensky was a pupil of Tchaikovsky. He eventually taught Alexander Scriabin and Nikolai Medtner at the Moscow Conservatory. Arensky's small but outstanding compositional output sings with the spirit of Russian romanticism; yet he managed to bring new blood and vitality to a traditional musical language. The Piano Trio is a superb work that brims with inspired melodies, intense instrumental utterance, and bravura display. While Tchaikovsky's Trio is clearly this work's antecedent, Arensky's score is both more classically restrained and vibrantly exhilarating.
The Chameleon performance marked the afternoon's high point. Michael Klotz, the superb violist of the Amernet String Quartet, switched to the violin and proved to be formidable on that instrument. The founder and director of the Chameleon series Iris van Eck brought her superbly burnished tone and musical intelligence to the cello line. Pianist Misha Dacic (well known locally from his appearances at the Miami International Piano Festival) offered deep understanding of the work's Slavic passion.
The gorgeous violin-cello interaction between Van Eck and Klotz propelled the Elegia to glowing heights. This music needs to be played with heart. They offered plenty of that plus a wonderful sense of musical spontaneity. Dacic's rippling pianistic runs set the Scherzo, Allegro Molto on fire. Klotz's violin glistened in the glorious opening theme of the initial Allegro moderato. The entire movement was played by this formidable threesome with uninhibited white heat. The Finale, Allegro non troppo was simply brilliant. Here was a performance to remember!
The Arensky was Dacic's best offering of the afternoon. This gifted pianist struggled with the Leiser Center's clunky, ill sounding piano. He managed to play Rachmaninoff's Andante from the Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op.19 (in the beautiful transcription by the formidable Arcadi Volodos) with exquisite lyrical line. Polka Italienne, however, failed to sparkle. Dacic has played these pieces wonderfully in the past. He was clearly hampered by the deficient keyboard instrument.
Klotz dedicated his performance of Grieg's Sonata for Violin and Piano in C Minor, Op.45 to the memory of the great violinist and pedagogue Oscar Shumsky. He had first heard this melodious score through a recording by Shumsky and Seymour Lipkin. Grieg's penchant for endlessly beautiful melodies takes wing in this violinistic tour de force. Klotz basked in the score's lyricism but also offered scintillating violinistic fireworks. With Dacic providing forceful underpinning, the music's debt to Brahms was vividly conveyed.
Van Eck opened the program with a genuine rarity - Alexander Borodin's Sonata for Cello and Piano in B Minor. Fascinated with the music of Bach, the composer used two themes from that master's Cello Suites as inspiration and unifying motifs in the sonata's three movements. (The third movement was left incomplete in an unpublished manuscript. Michael Goldstein completed the score from the composer's sketches.) Two soaring themes in this appealing score were recycled by Borodin in his Second Symphony and the opera Prince Igor. Van Eck played this interesting work with communicative intensity and deeply felt commitment. Her lovely tone caressed the piece's songful outbursts. A worthy revival!
As an encore, Van Eck, Klotz, and Dacic offered Fritz Kreisler's Little Vienesse March - played with schmaltzy brio and insouciant flair.
The intimacy of the Leiser Center's ballroom is perfect for chamber music. Here musicians communicate the sheer pleasure of music making with a directness and intimacy that is lacking in more formal concert halls. The Chameleon series is a real gem.