The first thing I noticed during the Dvorák Rediscoveries concert, held by the Faculty of Music Monday night at Walter Hall, was the harmonium. Sitting front and centre, the instrument, used during the performance of the composer’s Bagatelles, provided that unexpected touch that a program claiming rediscovery of an old artist needs.
Perhaps with that end in mind, the concert, conceived as a method of marking the centenary of the Czech composer’s death, featured a pleasingly varied selection of his work, with the composer’s best known music mixing with more seldom heard pieces.
The Bagatelles, performed by Erika Raum and Annalee Patipatananakoon on violin, Shauna Rolston on cello and James Parker on the harmonium, were a wonderful, conversational dance between the violins and the cello. Although the more delicate harmonium was occasionally lost in the interplay, the three short pieces were thrillingly executed.
Following the Bagatelles was Cypresses (from 1865), which featured alternating performances between the string quartet and voice/piano. The piece as whole had alternately the feel of a Romantic ode and a Greek tragedy. Lorna MacDonald’s vocal performances acted almost as a Greek chorus for the more frenzied action of the string quartet, bringing a measured approach to the melodrama of the voice pieces. The performance of the string quartet was less measured but more engaging, and David Hetherington’s cello work was outstanding. Though smoothly executed overall, the cycle itself felt like less than the sum of its parts.
In contrast, the sprightly-and at times even furious-Slavic Dances, performed by James Parker and Cameron Stowe on piano in four-hands style, melded together into a cohesive whole. Stowe’s more hawkish approach complemented Parker’s reserved demeanour, and both carried off the pieces with precision and certain panache. Both interesting and accessible, the Dances were a high point of the show.
After the intermission, the Faculty players were joined by some students for Dvorák’s Serenade in E major. Despite a few marred transitions and some unsteadiness at times, the performance showed just how much talent the Faculty can draw upon. The encore was a performance of “Song of the Moon” from Rusalka, ending the concert on a crowd-pleasing and appropriately show-stopping note.
Overall, the excellent performances were a kind reminder that it should not take an anniversary to remember, and celebrate, such enjoyable works.
Make sure to take advantage of the Faculty of Music’s many performances at beautiful Walter Hall. See www.music.utoronto.ca for the complete 2004-05 season schedule.
