Danbury
NewsTimes
By
Jim Pegolotti
NEWS-TIMES MUSIC CORRESPONDENT
DANBURY— Last Sunday afternoon the Aspen Ensemble brought
a musical warmth and brightness into Ives Concert Hall that mirrored
the brilliant fall afternoon outside.
The five musicians, under the sponsorship of the Danbury Concert Association,
gave a performance that was one of the finest in the recent memory of this listener.
The enthusiastic applause of the large audience after each of the four works
on the program suggests others thought this way also. (That the audience was
super-energized from the extra hour of sleep, due to the change in daylight savings
time, is not a sufficient explanation for its behavior.)
So what made this afternoon so special? Three matters stand out: the exceptional
cohesiveness of the playing, the variety of tonal color throughout, and the choice
of music: early Beethoven, operatic von Weber, lyrical Schubert, and earthy Dvorak.
There were no quintets in the program. Instead three were trios and one a piano
quartet. The initial offering, the Beethoven Serenade for Flute, Violin and Viola,
Op. 25, introduced flutist Nadine Asin, violinist David Perry, and violist Victoria
Chiang. Nothing dramatic or dark in this work — only sheer joy and perkiness.
Asin's flute percolated with jauntiness everywhere from the marchlike beginning
to the vivace finale. One could only marvel at how much variety of sound and
rhythms a composer could achieve with two string instruments and a flute. Perry
and Chiang, as they would throughout the evening, had continual brisk attacks
as needed, and the most lyrical of string sounds in the slower movements.
Carl Maria von Weber wrote few chamber works, concentrating instead on operas.
But what a beauty he produced in his Trio for Flute, Cello, and Piano. Cellist
Michael Mermagen and pianist Rita Sloan joined the flutist for this amazing mix
of tunes that could only have flowed from an Italianate opera composer. Particularly
memorable was the charming waltz in the scherzo movement, paired against a more
somber inner portion.
Besides his "Unfinished Symphony," Schubert left a few other works
incomplete. After intermission, the three string players performed the allegro
movement (the only one completed) of the Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello, D471.
As the composer would have wanted, the melody poured out with beauty and vigor.
The effect was notably enhanced by the tone of Perry's violin.
From Schubert to Dvorak is not only a jump in musical eras but in musical substance.
The Aspen Ensemble made the leap into the Czech composer's Piano Quartet in E
flat, Op. 87, with incredible energy and insight.
It is no secret that one's mind can wander while listening to music. I can tell
you that no such thing happened here. From the first notes of that marvelous
introduction, when somber Slavic passion quickly explodes into joy in just one
minute, the Aspen players had the audience in their skillful hands.
Special note must be made of cellist Mermagen's solo work in the second movement.
Sloan's admirably delineated the piano's role, one of the most integrated in
chamber music literature.
Dvorak provides his players with so many opportunities to evidence his Czech
world. So often there is that sense of folk-tunes emerging in the melodies and
rhythmic patterns. This is particularly true in the last movement, whose presentation
by the Aspen group led to cheers from the audience. A friend volunteered that
it had been a "mesmerizing performance." In truth, it had been all
afternoon.