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A formula for success
More from California
Sunday, April 23, 2006
By A. Michael NollCalifornia Philharmonic Chamber Soloists: Pavel Farkas (violin), Irina Voloshina (violin), James Hanna (viola), Dennis Karmazyn (cello), Ayke Agus (piano); Jonathan Mack (tenor). Beethoven: String Quartet in C Major (Rasoumovsky). op. 59, no. 3; Mozart: Masonic Cantata, K. 619; Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge. The Romanesque Room, The Green Hotel, Pasadena, CA.
The California Philharmonic under the leadership of its music director Victor Vener seems to know precisely how to entertain and to attract an audience. In this concert, Vener and the Cal Phil Chamber Players showed how to enjoy a Sunday afternoon at a concert: play to a sold-out audience in the famed Romanesque Room of Pasadena's historic Green Hotel.
Everything was done right. The Romanesque Room with its vaulted ceilings was set with about four-dozen round tables, each with about six chairs. Other chairs were set in rows in the rear and along the walls. This setting created a perfect environment for socializing before the concert and during the intermission. Drinks and snacks were available at a bar in the entranceway. Mr. Vener spoke before the concert in his usual entertaining yet informative manner, neither speaking down to nor going over the heads of the audience. He quite correctly described the concert as "accessible, fun, high-quality, and casual" - precisely the formula for bridging the gap between the audience and the music and the musicians.
The Beethoven "Rasoumovsky" quartet no. 3 was performed flawlessly with wonderful tone by the violinists Pavel Farkas and Irina Voloshina. Violist James Hanna soared in the last movement, and cellist Dennis Karmazyn played dramatically in the pizzicato portion of the second movement. The audience started its enthusiastic applause before the end, but after waving at them to be quiet, the players resumed with a chilling finale as if no delay had occurred.
Tenor Jonathan Mack has a powerfully dramatic voice with perfectly clear diction. Pianist Ayke Agus accompanied him in Mozart's Masonic Cantata. They were a magnificent combination in this short piece written by Mozart to applaud the Masonic way of living.
Mack was joined by the string quartet and Agus in Vaughan Williams' On Wenlock Edge - a beautiful six-movement atmospheric piece that is too rarely performed. The performance was tender, yet with considerable drama.
The conventional wisdom is to avoid such composers as Vaughan Williams and to stick to the standard repertoire of familiar old warhorses. Mr. Vener and his Cal Phil players prove that such conservative thinking is unneccesary and that:
accessible music (familiar or not) + a great venue + intelligent pre-performance talks + superb musicians + a casual atmosphere = a winning formula.
These should be clear and simple lessons for other orchestras and groups that seem to be struggling for an audience.