Filed under: Reviews | Tags: Aaron Janse, Alpenglow Chamber Music Festival, Arvo Pärt, Danielle Farina, Edward Aaron, Edward Arron, Ernst von Dohnányi, Jesse Mills, Kyung Sun Lee, Rieko Aizawa
Those of us who live along the Front Range in Colorado in Denver, Fort Collins, and Colorado Springs, are accustomed to hearing concerts that, by and large, are very, very good. We are also aware of the Aspen Festival, the Vail Bravo! Festival, and the Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs. And there are more. Sometimes it is a little difficult to get to these festivals because they are just far enough away from Denver that one has to plan ahead of time to make the trip, and unless one has a condo or a home in one of these cities, one must deal with accommodations for an overnight stay. However, there is a remarkable festival that is so close to Denver that one can drive there and drive back to Denver after the concert is over. I am speaking of the Alpenglow Chamber Music Festival in Dillon.
The Alpenglow Chamber Ensemble is truly one of the finest in the United States and its members have performed with huge success all over the world. The Artistic Director is Edward Arron who is also the cellist of the group. He has performed the Vivaldi Concerto for Two Cellos with Yo-Yo Ma and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and performs regularly at New York City’s esteemed Bargemusic. And, there is much more.
The pianist with the Alpenglow Ensemble is Rieko Aizawa. She has performed in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and in Tokyo’s Casals Hall. She has soloed with the San Francisco Symphony, the English Chamber Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. She has performed at so many festivals all over the world that there is no room in this article to list them.
One of the violinists with the Alpenglow Chamber Ensemble is Jesse Mills. Not only has he been nominated for a Grammy, but like the others in this group has played all over the world, and has appeared with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra, the Phoenix Symphony, and the Aspen Music Festival Sinfonia. He has also appeared with orchestras in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Milan, and Brussels. In addition, he is the cofounder of Duo Prism with Rieko Aizawa, and their duo won the Zinetti International Competition in Italy in 2006. He is a major interpreter of avant-garde music and earned his Grammy nomination for his CD of Arnold Schoenberg’s music which was released by Naxos in 2005.
Violinist number two is Kyung Sun Lee. Ms. Lee has taught at the Aspen Music Festival, Oberlin Conservatory, and the University of Houston, as well as the Seoul National University in Korea. She has also won awards at the 1994 Tchaikovsky Competition, the Queen Elizabeth Competition, and the Montréal International Competition. She has recorded CDs with her pianist/husband, Brian Suits and has performed worldwide in major festivals, and has judged many prestigious violin competitions.
There are also two violists in the Alpenglow Chamber Ensemble. Violist Daniele Farina enjoys a varied career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, teacher, and recording artist in both the classical and pop genres. As a soloist, Ms. Farina recently recorded Jon Bauman’s Viola Concerto with the Moravian Philharmonic, Andy Teirstein’s Viola Concerto with the Kiev Philharmonic, and premiered Peter Schickele’s Viola Concerto with the Pasadena Symphony. She performs with a number of ensembles in the New York area, among them, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Concertante, American Modern Ensemble (AME) and Music From Copland House with whom she recorded music of John Musto.
Violist number two (he is also a violinist) is Aaron Janse. Mr. Janse has performed, toured, and recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Bernard Haitink, Daniel Barenboim, and Simon Rattle. He has performed often with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and given chamber performances with Gil Shaham, Alicia DeLarrocha, Joseph Silverstein, Charles Castleman, and Stephen Hough. He has performed in all of the important concert halls in the United States, Europe, and Japan.
I know that the Alpenglow Chamber Ensemble has their official “home” in Dillon, but I do wish they could perform in Denver, and as a group throughout the United States and Europe. They are that good, and they need to be heard because their talent is so rare.
The program (there were four) that I heard was performed on Sunday, September 19, at the Lord of the Mountains Lutheran Church in Dillon. They opened the program with the Piano Trio in C Major, Hob. XV:27. This trio opens with Haydn’s typical good nature, full of smiles and cheerfulness. This is certainly one of the best of Haydn’s forty-four piano trio’s, which Haydn called a “Piano Sonata With Accompaniment For Violin and Cello.” From the outset, Rieko Aizawa took charge, clearly demonstrating how Haydn should be played. And the pianist really has to work, for this is a difficult piece. Edward Arron followed her lead and played with great energy and passion. I was a little surprised that it was also apparent that the piano was not of the best quality. It needed to be voiced badly because it sounded harsh and somewhat tinny even in the lower registers. I don’t know who was responsible for obtaining the piano for this group, but it must be made clear that when such an outstanding chamber ensemble is performing, they need an outstanding piano. Nonetheless, Ms. Aizawa’s playing was very clear with amazing pedal work. It doesn’t seem to matter what Edward Arron is playing. He always infuses what he does with such an enormous passion and musicianship and technical skill. But, as this trio progressed, it was noticeable that Kyung Sun Lee, violin, did not seem to be playing with the same conviction demonstrated by Aizawa and Arron. Please, do not misunderstand me. She is a fine violinist with a fine tone and excellent technical skill. It is simply that her style of playing did not seem to match the others. She was occasionally covered by the piano and cello. It was as if she was being a little too polite. In the second movement, Ms. Lee’s playing became more of a match with the others, but it still was not quite as powerful. Both Rieko Aizawa and Edward Arron demonstrated that they could play a perfect portato, where each of their notes was exactly the same length as the others. Simply amazing. In the third movement, all three members of this trio demonstrated their amazing technique, and they made clear to everyone in the audience precisely how Haydn should be played. At the very end, at the final cadence, they were, however, not quite together.
Arvo Pärt composed the second piece on the program, Mozart-Adagio for Piano Trio (1992). Pärt is an Estonian composer who composes in the minimalist style. This particular piece is based on the slow movement from Mozart’s Piano Sonata in F Major, K. 280. Pärt has simply added a “commentary” on what Mozart wrote, following the dark and tragic mood of the second movement from the original sonata. The piece was written in memory of Oleg Kagen who was one of Russia’s finest violinists and a good friend of Arvo Pärt’s. It makes use of Pärt’s tintinnabuli style of composition which he defined as: “Tintinnabulation is an area I sometimes wander into when I am searching for answers – in my life, my music, my work. In my dark hours, I have the certain feeling that everything outside this one thing has no meaning. The complex and many-faceted only confuses me, and I must search for unity. What is it, this one thing, and how do I find my way to it? Traces of this perfect thing appear in many guises – and everything that is unimportant falls away. Tintinnabulation is like this. . . . The three notes of a triad are like bells. And that is why I call it tintinnabulation.”
Rieko Aizawa and Edward Arron reappeared in this second piece of the program, with Jesse Mills as a violinist. The violin and cello played single notes and sometimes dissonant seconds or thirds which give the impression of a conversation between the piano and strings. It is a very delicate piece that is filled with great sadness. It was a beautiful performance of a beautiful piece.
Next on the program, came the Mozart String Quintet in c minor, K. 406. This work is a transcription of his Serenade for Eight Wind Instruments, K. 388, which Mozart made himself. In this dramatic piece, there are some wonderful and lyrical melodic lines in the slow movement, punctuated by a minuet which is a canon. What a concept for a minuet! The trio of the minuet is a contrapuntal marvel where the theme is turned upside down by Mozart. The fourth movement is a set of variations which begins in a rather somber tone. This mood is broken by the final variation which is in C major.
There was some wonderful ensemble work in this performance – should we expect anything less from the Alpenglow Chamber Ensemble? – and Kyung Sun Lee was fully in step with the rest of the group. It has often been stated that the only thing better than a Mozart string Quartet is a Mozart string Quintet (how can one forget Beethoven and Mendelssohn?) But I must say, this was a thrilling performance. It was full of vivacity and passion, and the two violists, Farina and Janse were absolutely incredible, such is the depth of this chamber group. They truly do have the world on a string.
The last work on the program was the Piano Quintet in c minor, Opus 1, by Ernst von Dohnányi. Dohnányi (1877-1960) was a Hungarian who is regarded as one of Hungary’s finest composers. This piano quintet was his first published work, and when Brahms heard it in 1895, he was extremely enthusiastic. As a matter of fact, Brahms performed the piano part in Vienna at a chamber concert. I hasten to point out that Brahms was hardly known to champion other composer’s works. (Perhaps, one of these days I will write about his reaction to Debussy’s music, as well as his first meeting with Debussy.)
The performers of this piece were Aizawa, Mills, Lee, Janse, and Arron. This piece was performed so well that it transformed the environment where it was played. Rieko Aizawa has such a beautiful way of shaping phrases with every nuance and dynamic imaginable, that the other performers eagerly follow her and duplicate what she does. And keep in mind that everyone in this chamber group is as gifted as she. But they all expected a great deal of each other, and they got it, but in this work, my award has to go to Rieko. Her playing reminded me so much of Menahem Pressler of the Beaux-Arts Trio or Artur Balsam with the Budapest Quartet of years ago in the way she shaped every musical idea. Yes, I have said that before about this ensemble. I do not exaggerate. You simply have to hear them play. I do not think I have ever heard a violist gets so much depth of tone out of his instrument as Aaron Janse. It was absolutely mind boggling. Jesse Mills and Edward Arron were absolutely exceptional in every way.
If all of you people along Colorado’s Front Range wish to hear one of the best chamber ensembles in the country, all you have to do is drive to Dillon next fall. But I must tell you that this performance was the last to be played with the cellist, Edward Arron. He is off to explore new horizons in performance and artistic programming. He will be missed, and I know that everyone wishes him well. It is my hope that the Alpenglow Chamber Ensemble can find another cellist who can be so easily integrated into the group. It is also my hope that the violinist, Kyung Sun Lee, is able to grow into this chamber ensemble. It is clear that she possesses great musicality and technique. But it can often be very difficult for a chamber group if a member just doesn’t seem to fit, when, individually they are such stellar musicians as she is. Did any of you see the play, “Opus,” by Michael Hollinger? It describes the same situation.
Edward Arron, the Board of Directors, and all those who help to organize this chamber music festival should be congratulated.
Filed under: Reviews | Tags: Catherine Sailer, Colorado Ballet, Edwaard Liang, Friedann Parker, Gil Boggs, Lar Lubovitch, Lillian Covillo, Marie Belew Wheatley, Matthew Neenan, Respighi, Sandra Brown
On Friday night, September 10th, I attended the opening performance of the Colorado Ballet’s 50th Anniversary Season. In the last couple of years, the Colorado Ballet has attracted a great deal of attention, particularly because they just keep getting better and better. I must tell you that the opening performance Friday night can be summarized with two words: excellence and emotion. I hasten to point out that those two words apply to every single dancer who was onstage in this performance, and to the onstage musicians led by the Colorado Ballet Associate Conductor, Catherine Sailer. It also contained a world première. But let us delve into one thing at a time.
This opening performance of their 50th Season was dedicated to the cofounders of the Colorado ballet, Lillian Covillo and Friedann Parker. As Artistic Director, Gil Boggs, pointed out this splendid ballet company would not be in existence had it not been for the vision of these two individuals. This 50th season also marks the appointment of the new Executive Director of the Colorado Ballet, Ms. Marie Belew Wheatley. Wheatley is being hired after a 10-month restructuring effort at the Colorado Ballet, led by the Board of Trustees. She was selected primarily because of her proven successes in fund raising and turnaround efforts and her extensive management experience, all skills the Board of Trustees sought throughout their search.
Along with an established executive record, Wheatley also has an affinity for the arts, having served on the boards of the Junior Symphony Guild, Opera Colorado Guild and the Denver Art Museum’s Alliance of Contemporary Art.
“Her executive style along with her deep appreciation for the arts will serve Colorado Ballet in many ways,” said Colorado Ballet Artistic Director Gil Boggs. “She has an unflappable senior executive presence, a calm and wise approach to balancing challenges and the ability to strongly collaborate. I look forward to working with her.”
I can guess, with a great deal of accuracy, that Ms. Wheatley is looking forward to working with Gil Boggs. In the last few years since he has been the Artistic Director, he has put together a company that is amazing in the consistency of its excellence. And judging by the performances they have given, including this particular opening performance, the entire company is consistent in the excitement caused by their ability to work together to produce such fine artistic programs.
Friday’s program consisted of three separate ballets. The first, entitled “Feast of the Gods,” was performed in 2009, and returned to the stage in this Anniversary Triple Bill. Choreographed by Edwaard Liang, “Feast of the Gods” was inspired by the history of a band of traveling gypsies. The ballet is set to Italian composer Ottorino Respighi’s Ancient Aires and Dances, and features intricate choreography and a fast-paced pas de deux. Respighi (1879-1936) was not only a composer, he was also a musicologist and linguist. Ancient Airs And Dances was a result of his enthusiasm (there is that word again) over 16th – 18th century Italian music, perhaps fathered by a long bicycle trip that he took around the Italian peninsula as a young man. As a matter of fact, many of his compositions could be classified as neo-Baroque or, in some cases neo-Renaissance.
I do not think I have ever seen a ballet performance where the choreography was so remarkably fast-paced. It was not just the pas de deux. All of the dancers on stage had difficult and very rapid changes of position which were constant throughout the performance. And I would like to point out something that is very unusual in other ballet companies that I have seen. Chandra Kuykendall was a soloist Friday, and is listed as a principal dancer in the program (and yes, there are new photographs of the entire company in the program). She and Travis Morrison were the soloists in this opening ballet. Travis Morrison is listed in the program as a member of the corps de ballet. Now, readers, that says something about this company. That the members of the Corps can dance with the principles on an equal footing (please excuse the pun) is something that you don’t see in other companies. That speaks volumes to the work that the dancers have done, and it also speaks volumes to the ability of Gil Boggs in assembling a ballet company where virtually everybody in the company has the capacity to give an incredibly artistic performance. And it also speaks volumes in the trust that each member of the company has in each other. When I say trust, I am talking about trust in each other’s artistic integrity. Sayaka Karasugi and Luis Valdes; Dana Benton and Christopher Ellis; Asuka Sasaki and Adam Still were the other performers Friday night. It is frustrating that in the last few years, I have not been able to pick a favorite performer from this company. I have seen ballets in New York, and Chicago, St. Louis, and at the Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, where I did my undergraduate work. In these locations, and in these companies, there were always dancers who were clearly superior to the others: favorites were easy. This is simply not the case in the Colorado Ballet where everyone is so equal. I can promise you that this is the result of some incredibly hard work and love of the art. It is my understanding that the choreographer, Edwaard Liang, was in attendance Friday night. I regret that I was not able to meet him. In 2002, Liang was invited by Jiri Kylian to join the acclaimed Nederlands Dans Theater. While dancing with Nederlands Dans Theater, Liang discovered his passion for choreography and since then, has gone on to establish himself as a freelance choreographer. Over the last eight years, Liang has created works for companies around the world and his choreography is noted to be distinct and highly imaginative with intricate techniques and sequences.
The second ballet Friday night was entitled “… smile with my heart.” This was choreographed by Lar Lubovitch. Known throughout the world for his rhapsodic style and his technical structure and choreography, Lubovitch’s work is also recognized for its modern-dance undertones. Lubovitch was educated at The Julliard School by Antony Tudor and many other top dance professionals of the time, and became one of the most popular, versatile, and widely viewed choreographers in the United States.
The music for this second ballet of the evening was based on a “Fantasie on Themes by Richard Rodgers.” This Fantasie was done by Marvin Laird. I hasten to point out that it was originally done for Sandra Brown when she was a soloist with the American ballet Theatre. Of course, Sandra Brown is one of the two excellent Ballet Mistresses with the Colorado Ballet. There were four movements to this second ballet: 1) “Do I hear a waltz?” and “It might as well be Spring,” 2) “The Sweetest Sounds,” 3) ” I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” and “Where Or When,” and, 4) “My Funny Valentine.”
If anyone doubts how the music of Richard Rodgers could be used for a ballet, then I stress that those doubts would have been assuaged by simply seeing this performance. It was absolutely wonderful. The dancers were Maria Mosina, Sayaka Karasugi, Sharon Wehner, Jesse Marks, Dmitry Trubchanov, and Igor Vassine. Surely, all of you ballet goers must remember that it was Maria Mosina who brought tears to everyone’s eyes last year in the devastatingly emotional “Echoing of Trumpets.” But of course, you simply have to understand, that everyone in this company is capable of doing just that. All four parts of this second ballet were outstanding. Of the four parts, “The Sweetest Sounds,” truly caught my attention because it was, by comparison, so Art Deco in its choreography. The third movement of this second ballet, was incredibly sad in contrast to the fourth movement, which was an absolute triumph.
This ballet was accompanied by a live on stage chamber group led by Catherine Sailer, the Associate Conductor of the Colorado Ballet. Ms. Sailer, who conducted from the piano bench, led the chamber ensemble of cello, Jeffrey Watson, Cedra Kuehn, and Evan Orman; flute, Paul Nagem; and oboe, Kathryn Dupuy Cooper. It has long been known that Sailer is an accomplished conductor, but it may come as a surprise to some that she is also such a fine pianist. She simply must do some solo piano work. It would be wonderful to hear.
The third, and final, ballet of the evening was entitled “The Faraway.” Choreographed by Matthew Neenan, it was inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe’s life and work, wherein she described the land of northern New Mexico as the “far away.” Neenan is currently the choreographer-in-residence at the Pennsylvania Ballet, and this new work is a much anticipated world premiere, created specifically to end the Anniversary Triple Bill. Neenan’s choreography is recognized as a fresh, imaginative, and stylish twist to classical ballet, as well as technically challenging and full of life. The music for this ballet was taken from the compositions of Dmitri Shostakovich. Use was made of his first piano Concerto and his first jazz suite. There were other compositions as well, but I am chagrined to admit that I could not name them.
The dancers in this final ballet came from the entire company, and included Dmitry Trubchanov, Sharon Wehner, Jesse Marks , Dana Benton , Kevin Gael Thomas, Sean Omandam, Adam Still, Cara Cooper, Shelby Dyer, Christopher Ellis, Luis Valdes, Rylan Schwab, Casey Dalton, Asuka Sasaki, and Caitlin Valentine-Ellis. Every one of these individuals is a consummate artist and performer. Please do not think that the order in which they are named indicates their level of skill. There are so many companies in the United States that would appreciate having them in their roster.
The three ballets performed this Friday night were performed with excellence and with great confidence by the entire company. The trust that every single dancer had in each other was marked. There were no errors that I could catch. There was nothing but fluidity and consummate artistry on behalf of everyone involved. The performance was exciting, breathtaking, and demonstrative of the commitment on the part of the dancers and the leadership of this ballet company. Their artistry is so great that calling them mere dancers seems inane.
I encourage and challenge anyone who has doubts that ballet can be a totally aesthetic reward to come to a performance of the Colorado Ballet.
