JAVS Fall 2007

Lane was attempting to expand the violist's palette - a legitimate goal at our viola congress. On the contrary, although Mr. Savikangas is a bright and engaging young man, I find no redeeming quali ties in his performance, only hurtful pain. I do not believe we should coUeccively acquiesce; we should expect, especially at our congresses, that the music presenred be of the highest order. I therefore do not consider the performance in question to be a legitimate part of Congress XXXV. Included on the program were Debussy's Sonata for viola, flute and harp, performed by Tobias Lea, flutist Geoffrey Collins, and harpist Suzanne Handel; Max Bruch's Eight Pieces for viola, clarinet, and piano, with Caroline Henbest, clarinetist Peter Handsworth, and pianist Leigh Harold; and Mozart's Quintet in C major, with Steven Dann and Timothy Deighton, vio linists Terrence Tam and Graeme Norris, and cellist Janis Laurs. The program was enjoyable, bur r felt the Bruch performance suffered acoustically and even visually because the violist stood to the right of the stage with f-holes and viola tone directed away from the audience and toward the piano. Surely the balance would have been improved had the violist stood to the left of the piano and the clarinet to the right. This arrangemenr would not have affected the clarinet's sound at all and improved that of the viola. This concert (as with several others during the Congress) was recorded by the A(ustralian)BC for broadcast on ABC Classic FM http://www.abc.net.aulclassidaudio/ I do nor know whether the performances are archived and available through Internet, but it may be worth a look. Once again, we had come to the end of a memorable five days of music-making for the viola. It was time to say farewell to new and old friends, except for a rela tively small group that participated in a tour the next day to the wine region of McLaren Vale. Next year we meet in early June in Tempe, Arizona. Be sure to save the date and plan for it now! 8 T he day and the Congress concluded with an evening concert of chamber music involving the viola.

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