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WismerFest
Honoring a living institution
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
By Paul M. Somers
Clavis Chamber Players and Fox Studios: Wismerfest - a concert honoring music reviewer Ed Wismer. John Bate (organ), Nancy Fox (soprano), Mariam d'Eustachio (flute), Koren Cowgill (mezzo-soprano), Helena Bew, Michael Gay, Loretta Mento, Steven Mento,k Jeffrey Davidson, and Billy Dennison (piano). Helena Bew Music by Mendelssohn, Brahms, Wolf, Korngold, R. Strauss, J. S. Bach, R. Schumann, Haydn, Chopin, Milhaud, Mahler, Rachmaninoff, and Dennison. St. Peter's United Methodist Church, Ocean City.
Ed Wismer is a wonderful fixture of Ocean City. In a world of tear-downs and McMansions, Ed is a reminder that what has gone before - substance and whimsey in the service of art instead of the almighty dollar - is worth preserving. Who can forget him at every Pops concert with his artist's pad and pencil in hand? His writing for the Sentinel has been the constant record of the arts scene even beyond Ocean City. Over the years this writer has spoken with Ed at Cape May Music Festival concerts and at a Bay-Atlantic Symphony concert at Stockton College in Pomona. In short, Ed has been the very definition of a dedicated supporter of the arts, particularly in Cape May and Atlantic Counties.
A person so engaged in his own art needs someone practical to take care of practical matters. Ed has been blessed with his wife Joan's "management" of his affairs. A call to Ed to arrange for him to cover a concert or to arrange for a watercolor commission is filled with anecdotes and laughs with Ed on the phone, but as soon as scheduling comes up the phone is passed to Joan.
So it was telling that when the Clavis Chamber Players and the Fox Studio decided to produce "WismerFest" that only the surname was used. If the public persona is Ed, those who know the couple know that he and Joan are a team.
The performers were well-known local artists. That this was their unalloyed gift to Ed and Joan was refreshingly clear: the were no tickets, no admission fee, no plate passing (unheard of in most churches!), no charity for which this was the front. It was 100% from the heart.
It would be churlish to review the performances, for they were gifts, not professional statements, even when their level was at a professional level. But it is in order to remark that Nancy Fox, whose name is just as honored as a local performer as is Ed's as writer and artist, was in fine form. The audience certainly cheered her virtuosity in singing Richard Strauss's "Amor" with its coloratura trills and runs. Her accompanist handled the difficult piano part with aplomb.
It was also good to see Helena Bew back at the piano accompanying Ms. Fox in Lieder by Brahms, Hugo Wolf, and Korngold.
With St. Peter's organist John Bate having opened the concert as both host and as the suave soloist in the first two movements of Mendelssohn's "Organ Sonata no. 1", it was refreshing to follow the three veterans with 8-year-old pianist Michael Gay from Galloway Township. He is a student of Loretta Mento of Somers Point. He astonished the audience by taking a crack at Chopin's C minor Etude. One has to understand that a person of his age usually will not even look at the notes of that piece with any comprehension, so for him to actually get through it - and from memory - was very impressive! Ms. Mento herself followed with more Chopin: two swift Preludes, then the equally difficult C major Etude. What a closing for the first half!
Flutist Mariam d'Eustachio, a relative newcomer to the area, brought out a rarely played "Sonatine" by Darius Milhaud. Her playing was simple and unaffected, allowing it to feel like folk music.
The first and fourth of Mahler's early "Songs of a Wayfarer" were sung affectingly by Koren Cowgill of Swainton. She was listed as a mezzo-soprano, but the darkness of her voice had several folks including this writer suggesting that she sounded like a true contralto.
Pianist Jeffrey Davidson returned to the Chopin literature with one of the composers Nocturnes. He was followed by Duo Mento (Loretta and Steven Mento) taking up the music of one of Chopin's heirs, Rachmaninoff. His "Waltz" was delightful with fine ensemble between the players.
Steven Mento as a soloist concluded the printed program with the rarely played "Variations on an Original Theme" by Brahms. It is less overtly virtuosic than other of his variations, finding its intensity in meditative ruminations rather than fireworks. Yet it is far from easy, and with it Mr. Mento brought the concert to a powerful conclusion.
But it was not the conclusion, because jazz composer Billy Dennison was announced as an additional performer. The concert location being a church, the pianist played a piece which without pause depicted Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter in a jazz style filled with recurring motives and in a mood not very different from that of the Brahms work.
When the music was finished, Ed and Joan Wismer, sitting halfway back in the sanctuary, were surrounded by well-wishers as all wended their way to a reception held in their honor.