The La Jolla musical week was unusually eclectic as heard at The Neurosciences Institute, the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library and the new Qualcomm Hall.
The fare ranged from Mozart, Moszkowski and Mendelssohn to Burtner and Burns, sweeping the ears and mind, from pianist Kirill Gerstein’s flash and dazzle playing of Samuil Fineberg’s transcription of the scherzo from Tchaikovsky’s “Pathetique” Symphony (at Mainly Mozart Festival’s June 13 concert) to the NOISE ensemble’s astonishing performance of “Crippled Symmetry,” Morton Feldman’s 90-minute minimalist endurance test (at the soundON festival of modern music June 14).
The listener heard an open rehearsal for Matthew Burtner’s atmospheric “Snowprints” (2002) and Christopher Burns’ angular “Tangle,” which received its world premiere (at the soundON concert of June 16); then moved to a comfy armchair in the back of the room for the Feldman. My erstwhile companions, who came and went in accord with the “Chill-Out” format, were weary young composers and performers, guest artist Mark Menzies ” a renowned New Zealand-born violinist who played with the NOISE ensemble and guest cellist Franklin Cox earlier in the week ” and none other than Athenaeum executive director Erika Torri, who had earlier conducted an impromptu personal tour of the Athenaeum expansion.
Sadly, it must be reported that noise, and I do mean high-decibel noise, issuing from the watering-hole nightclub across Wall Street bled into the concert hall, ruining the NOISE ensemble performance of “Crippled Symmetry.” Hopefully, this problem will be solved before the Athenaeum’s fall chamber concerts begin.
Mainly Mozart introduced lovely young violinist Alexandra Preucil, who played more impressively when performing Moritz Moszkowski’s showy Suite for Two Violins and Piano ” with her father, violinist William Preucil ” than she did in performance of Mozart’s Violin Sonata No. 32 with Gerstein. The Russia-born Gerstein, who took first prize in the 2001 Artur Rubinstein Piano Competition in Tel Aviv, also took the gold June 13 with his performance of Franz Schubert’s Impromptus No. 3 and No. 4.
It comes as no surprise, however, that loud and fast win standing ovations. And so it goes.
It was on to Qualcomm Saturday, June 16, for the Mainly Mozart Festival orchestra under the baton of artistic director David Atherton. Guest artists were Gerstein and Mr. Preucil. Gerstein performed Felix Mendelssohn’s familiar and melodic Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25. The piano itself seemed rather muted, especially in the first movement molto-allegro con fuoco. No doubt the instrument’s newness and its placement far forward stage left were contributing factors. The sound was much improved when Preucil played Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending,” and the closing number, Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 3 in D, D.200, was an altogether sonorous experience. Hearing an A-Team orchestra like this in such a marvelous, comfortable venue was most gratifying.
Mainly Mozart Festival closes its season at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 23, in Copley Symphony Hall with The Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra and Maestro Atherton. The program is as follows: Igor Stravinsky’s Concerto in D for String Orchestra; Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E flat for Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and Horn, K. 297b (with guest artists Laura Griffiths, oboe; Gregory Raden, clarinet; Steven Dibner, bassoon; and Julie Landsman, horn); and Johannes Brahms’ Serenade No. 1 in D, Opus 11. For tickets, visit www.mainlymozart.org or call (619) 239-0100.
