Bartok Headlines CSO Chamber Players Concert

   Climaxing the Chamber Players’ third concert of the season March 6 in Memorial Hall was Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion featuring pianists Michael Chertock and Frank Weinstock and percussionists Richard Jensen and Patrick Schleker.

   The 25-minute, three movement work (a close contemporary of Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta) is galvanizing, to say the least.  In intimate Memorial Hall, it was fun to watch too – and to marvel at how Chertock and Weinstock maintained such precise ensemble without eye contact.  (Practicing closer together at first and relying on some cues from the percussionists helped, Chertock said.)

   The ensemble utilized Bartok’s seating plan for the work, with the pianos cattycornered on the right and left sides of the stage, lids removed, keyboards aligned with the audience.  The percussion occupied the space behind and between them.  Manning the seven percussion instruments called for in the score were Schleker on timpani and tam-tam, Jensen on xylophone and bass drum and both on side drums (with and without snares), cymbals, suspended cymbal and triangle.

   Schleker began the slow introduction with a soft roll on the timpani, followed by motivic rumbles by Chertock and Weinstock, then sudden, sharp reports by Jensen on cymbal and side drum.   Listeners’ eyes and ears were closely attuned as the movement proper (Allegro Molto) began, and for the closely-knit duration, which gave one a feeling of breathless excitement.  Ensemble unity was uncanny, everyone ending with split-second precision on the final, C-major chord.

   The second movement exemplified Bartok’s “night music” style (evoking the feelings and sounds of being alone outdoors at night).  Five-note rhythmic tattoos, coursing scales and broken trills did the job here, along with carefully prescribed percussive effects.  (Think nocturnal insects!)

   The final movement was charming, bright and “melodic” by contrast, with Jensen giving a brilliant edge to the important xylophone part.  The percussionists nimbly made their way among the battery of instruments, and pianists Chertock and Weinstock never flagged in propulsion and visceral effect.   In short, it was music that never let you go.

   (Bartok fans should not miss Paavo Järvi and the CSO in Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta on CSO concerts March 13 and 14 at Music Hall.)

   The Chamber Players’ concert was a rich spread, with works by Vaughan Williams, Poulenc and Arnold Bax also on the menu.

   It was a revelation to hear Vaughan Williams’ early Piano Quintet in C Minor (1903).   No “Greensleeves" or other English folk or nationalistically inspired work, it was late romantic through and through (as in Brahms), with the same instrumentation as Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet.  Giving it an excellent reading were Cheryl Benedict (violin), Denisse Rodriguez Rivera (viola), Matthew Lad (cello), James Lambert (double bass) and Heather MacPhail (piano).

   The opening Allegro con fuoco soared, with lots of unison strings and piano histrionics, which nevertheless came to a gentle conclusion.  There was a hint of the Vaughan Williams to come in the slightly archaic sounding slow movement, but for the most part, it adhered to turn-of-the-20th-century style.  (According to Lambert’s program note, the quintet was withdrawn by the composer along with other early works and not re-released until after his death.)

   CSO winds Jasmine Choi (flute), Lon Bussell (oboe), Jonathan Gunn (clarinet), Jennifer Monroe (bassoon) and Elizabeth Freimuth (French horn), plus pianist David Skvorak, offered a juicy performance of Poulenc’s Sextet for Piano and Wind Instruments (1939).  By turns sassy, serious and just plain appealing, it filled the hall (bright acoustics!) with color.  The finale, a mix of beguiling melody, grandiosity and boulevardier wit, tied everything together with a return of material from the first movement.

   Bax’s 1927 Fantasy for Viola and Harp, a lovely, romantic work with contemporary resonance, provided an opportunity to hear the CSO’s new principal violist Victor de Almeida in a solo setting.  He produces a big, burnished sound across the full range of the instrument, which he negotiates with ease and fluidity.  It made for an entrancing performance in combination with the harp, performed with characteristic virtuosity and charm by CSO principal harpist Gillian Benet Sella.

   The CSO Chamber Players’ next concert is March 20 and features Bartok’s "Contrasts," with violinist Catherine Lange-Jensen, clarinetist Ixi Chen and pianist Chertock.  Also on the program are works by Beethoven, Halverson, Mendelssohn and Kerry Turner.

    For information and tickets -- $25-$35, with discounts for students and seniors the week of the concert -- call (513) 381-3300, or visit www.cincinnatisymphony.org