NYC Composer's Work Highlight of Diverse Repertoire from Mélomanie

By Christine Facciolo

Mélomanie, the critically acclaimed ensemble known for its provocative pairings of early and contemporary works, capped off its 2016-17 season with a program tilted a bit more toward the contemporary than usual.

Joining regulars Kimberly Reighley, flute; Christof Richter, violin; Donna Fournier, viola da gamba; and Tracy Richardson, harpsichord were guest artists Naomi Gray, cello and Joshua Kovach, clarinet.

Mélomanie performs at The Delaware Contemporary near the Wilmington Waterfront.
Photo by Tim Bayard.

Mélomanie also welcomed flutist/composer Bonnie McAlvin whose work Sandstone Peak received its World Premiere at this concert. McAlvin explained how her fascination with mountains — in this case the highest peak of the Santa Monica Mountains — inspired the composition. The work is in four movements: Illusion, Conversation, Throne of Sand and Everywhere at Once, throwing a nod to Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

McAlvin is a clever composer who skillfully adapts the serial technique to tell a story of illusion, erosion and feeling exposed. Throughout the composition, the row becomes dismantled and recombined reappearing in each movement in various guises and instrumental textures. The effect is one of fantasy and vulnerability.

Gray and Kovach combined their talents to perform Private Games by Israeli composer Shulamit Ran and Night Music by Parisian Nicolas Bacri. The former is a brief, jagged work full of disjointed gestures that somehow manages to convey a lyrical underpinning. The duo — both as an entity and as individuals — tossed off the fiendishly difficult passages with grace and ease.  They convincingly brought out the chill in Night Music, a non-lyrical piece that glumly muses suggestions of inimical fate.

Richardson, Reighley and Kovach collaborated in a charming performance of the Sonatine en Trio, Op. 85 by Florent Schmitt, the most important French composer you probably never heard of, according to self-styled Schmitt expert Phillip Nones, who offered his thoughts on the composer and the work.

Schmitt (1870-1958) had no affinity for atonality or neo-classicism. Instead, he composed lushly lyrical music bursting with a profusion of ideas. Nones noted that this particular work has also been scored for flute, clarinet and piano as well as violin, cello and piano. But the musicians noted, in a post-concert discussion, that the harpsichord gave the work a lighter, brighter tone.

The flute and clarinet combined to produce another interesting aural feature. At times they seemed to blend so thoroughly that resulting sound was neither that of flute nor that of clarinet but a seemingly altogether different instrument with a sound all its own.

Vittorio Rieti’s Variations for Flute, Clarinet, Violin and Cello on When From My Love by John Bartlet was written in 1964 and dedicated to the memory of composer Paul Hindemith. This was a charming performance of this delightful little work consisting of nine variations and a code. It was an apropos selection for a Mélomanie program, as it combined the baroque with the contemporary.

The musicians of Mélomanie gave a nod to the Baroque with a performance of Marin Marais’ Suite 6 n C minor (from Pieces en Trio 1692) which preceded the two halves of the program.

The ensemble’s final performance for the 2016-17 season will be a special Mother’s Day Brunch and Concert on Sunday, May 14. Tickets are available at www.melomanie.org. 

Pyxis Brings Beethoven & Faure to Life on Market

Pyxis Piano Quartet performs at Market Street Music.
Photo by Joe Gawinski.

By Christine Facciolo
Market Street Music welcomed spring and Pyxis Piano Quartet to its Festival Concert series on Sunday, March 19, 2017, which paired Beethoven’s String Trio in G major with Faure’s Piano Quartet in C minor.

The Opus 9 string trios offer a fascinating portrait of the young composer bursting with ideas as he took a musical form born as the baroque trio sonata and gave it new life as only he could. But as striking as they are, they represent the last gasp for a form that would soon be eclipsed by the string quartet.

Pyxis wisely chose the first Trio of Op. 9, a gem from its opening note to its last. This performance of the longest and most difficult of the trios earned the ensemble a well-deserved ovation. The opening and closing movements were technically perfect in every dimension. The wonderful slow movement with its pastoral theme in the distant key of E major received a most moving, heart-longing treatment. The breadth of expressiveness was especially remarkable considering the movement’s simplicity of form.

A proper contrast to the Adagio came with the buoyancy of the Scherzo and then with even more vitality a throw-caution-to-the-wind finale. All in all, a fitting performance of one of Beethoven’s “best works so far.”

Violist Amy Leonard introduced the Faure Piano Quartet by telling the audience that while she and her colleagues couldn’t offer Paris in springtime, they could bring a bit of the city into First & Central Presbyterian Church.

Leonard also noted that while the work is cast in a minor key, it’s a “happy minor,” with a positive tone albeit with some hints in the slow movement of the turmoil in Faure’s personal life at the time of composition.

Leonard contextualized the work by noting that just as Beethoven was a transitional figure between the Classical and Romantic periods, Faure stood at the crossroads of the Romantic and modern eras. Indeed, Romanticism and its doleful heroics are left behind in this work. The first movement is a fluid blending of energy and lyricism. The high-spirited and virtuosic Scherzo delights with pizzicato-pricked perpetuum mobile fantasy. The grand Adagio imbues profound passion with classical restraint and balance. A soaring Allegro caps all with a shimmering major/minor gaiety.

Balance, ensemble, superb intonation and sensitive interpretation characterized this performance. None of the loud passages were overplayed. When one player had a solo passage, they came out just enough then returned to their dynamic place.

Special honors go to pianist Hiroko Yamazaki. Pianists have a special balance problem when playing in quartets because the sound of their instrument is so much fuller than a single string instrument. Not so here. Yamazaki was always at the correct level. Quite remarkable!

See www.marketstreetmusicde.org

Once Takes Playhouse Theatergoers on Heartfelt Musical Journey

By Jenna Montgomery
Jenna is a property manager and ardent patron/volunteer in the local music, art & theater community.
For one weekend only, a Dublin pub is nestled in the heart of downtown Wilmington with Once, the Tony award-winning Broadway musical, taking audiences on a captivating journey with touching songs and heartfelt performances.

The show's tagline – "His music needed one thing. Her." – perfectly encapsulates the storyline of a brokenhearted street musician and Czech-immigrant muse. Sam Cieri and Mackenzie Lesser-Roy brilliantly play the lead characters simply named Guy and Girl, who demonstrate such incredible emotional vulnerability as they struggle to move through life and their own complex, unlikely connection. The tender moments and songs they share bring to life the universal themes of moving past fear and embracing one's destiny.

Unlike typical Broadway musicals, there is no pit orchestra. Instead, every instrument is performed on stage by the talented musician actors. It's literally music in motion as the guitars, mandolins, accordions and more all get swept into the choreographed dances.

As a novel bonus, theatregoers are invited to come onstage as pub patrons during both pre-show and intermission. Many of the cast's musician actors treat them to a rollicking live jam as they enjoy their drinks.

Several notable cast members include John Hays – who brings welcome comic relief as Billy, a raucous but endearing piano store owner – as well as 9-year-old Lily Caputo, a Brandywine Valley resident making her Broadway debut, who brings sweet, youthful energy to her role as Girl's daughter.

While 13 cast members dazzle onstage, the character without program recognition is Dublin itself. The Irish capital comes to life through the storyline and its characters, highlighting Dublin's incredible diversity and energy. A particularly poignant line, "You can't have a city without music," underscores this point.

Falling Slowly is the show's signature song with soaring melodies and vocals. It's the Oscar winner for Best Song from the 2007 indie film, upon which this musical is based. Ranging from a cappella songs, solo numbers and rousing group performances, the music in this show delivers an emotional wallop with earnest lyrics and beautiful melodies, written by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, stars of the original film.

Once incorporates many clever elements in its minimalist staging and storytelling, which includes inventive scene changes, dramatic lighting and original use of subtitles to illustrate the private exchanges and lively debates between Czech-speaking characters.

While the national tour sadly ends soon, fortunately new licensing rights will allow regional theaters to begin staging their own productions of Once. But in the meantime, this is a top-notch unconventional and romantic musical worth experiencing immediately.

Once runs through April 2 at The Playhouse on Rodney Square. Tickets range from $65-$85 and discounts are available for seniors, groups of 10 or more and children ages 12 and under.

See www.ThePlayhouseDE.org.