Keeping the "modern" in modern music

Saturday, June 11, 2005
By John Lampkin

"Although he is still alive, John Lampkin is finding modest success as an
award-winnng composer of chamber music." So says Mr. Lampkin. Google his
name and a far more expansive view of his award-winning career will be
revealed.-Ed.

… with guests Elaine Douvas (oboe), Daniel Shelly (bassoon), and Scott Brubaker (horn). Alexander von Kreisler: Concertino; Dmitri Shostakovich: Two Waltzes; Paul Somers: An Arch of Miniatures; Francis Poulenc: Sextet; Ludwig Thuille: Sextet. Unitarian Society, Ridgewood.

The Palisades Virtuosi concerts are perhaps the best bargain in live chamber music in northern New Jersey, as proven once again by their most recent concert. Without a trip to New York and all the accompanying hassles, one can hear some of the best concert artists in the world perform not only classical chestnuts but premieres of stimulating new works by contemporary composers in the acoustically warm and inviting venue of the Ridgewood Unitarian Society building.

Saturday's concert was an "extra-vaganza" which augmented the core trio with three members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra to perform two standards of the chamber literature by Francis Poulenc and Ludwig Thuille. What a happy idea! The Poulenc Sextet was a highlight, bristling and bustling and bursting with energy, and at turns singing with all the poetic lyricism that Poulenc himself could have asked for. With a tip of the hat to Stravinsky, Poulenc created a 20th century masterpiece, which is not an easy work. But Scott Brubaker on horn, Elaine Douvas on oboe, and Daniel Shelly on bassoon made their parts seem effortless. As the lynchpin of the ensemble, Mr. Levy is the consummate chamber pianist, ever sensitive to the nuances of his colleagues, yet always communicating a sense of command. Ms. Swinchoski almost dances with her flute, giving a visual dimension to her luscious sound, while Mr. Mokrynski provides marvelously clean and rich clarinet counterpoint without affect. The result is a delight to both eye and ear.

Since there is little in the traditional repertoire for piano, flute and clarinet, the Palisades Virtuosi have commissioned contemporary composers to write for them, and are committed to performing a new work on each program. The other highlight then, was the premiere of An Arch of Miniatures by Paul Somers, who is the director of the Classical New Jersey Society. The compositional challenge of writing a collection of short movements is to create a unified work that has a sense of dramatic development and climax. In this he succeeded, both in the contour of each individual movement and the overall shape of the work as a whole. In contrast to the rest of the evening's program, his Arch was a linear exploration and journey with the piano treated more as a consistent contrapuntal texture than as a harmonic underpinning.

After intermission, the Thuille Sextet, with its Brahmsian overtones, satisfied all possible audience cravings for lush romanticism. Thus, the Palisades Virtuosi gave everything a concert-goer could wish for: an evening of emotionally satisfying and intellectually stimulating repertoire, extraordinarily well-played. Having attended all of their programs this season, I can say that they always do.