JAVS Fall 2000

65

fRO~! THE TVS P RESIDE;-;CY

The OBJ! inadvertencly opened their viola ensemble program echoing a multiple viola presentation last year at Guelph. Apparencly not to be outdone by the Canadian presentation of Ian Pillow's arrangement for ten violas of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, the Valkyries' descendants responded with an arrangement for thirteen violas of music from Tristan und Isolde. Befitting the international atmosphere, the OBJ! membership includes Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Germans, Britons, and Americans. In addition ro Wagner, the ensem ble played a Mozart Minuet, Grieg's Rosentiden, and Srrauss' Wienerwiilzer. Members of the ensemble also played duets by Bartok, a Beethoven rrio, the York Bowen Quartet for Vio/m, and the Benjamin Dale Viola Sextet. How frequencly could one say that the accompanying instrument upstaged standard ensemble insrrurnents such as the £lure and viola? Such was the case in the congress' third day as violist Tomako Fukumoto 4 and flautist Marie Loring-Okabe combined forces with Nobuko Baba on the koro in a program that included a Siciliano by congress host Otto Freudenthal. Firscly, the koro is by irs very appearance and commanding timbre a sub stantial presence-all the more compounded by the artistry of Baba who, in accordance with tradition, wears a kimono during per formance. The program included composi tions by six Japanese and three Europeans. Professor Tim Frederiksen from Denmark presented very technically demanding selec tions of solo music by J .S. Bach ( Cicaconne from Partita No. 2) and Danish composers Jorgen Benrzon (Fabula for viola solo, Op. 42) , Axel Borup-Jorgensen (Rhapsodie, Op. 114 No. 3), and Jan Macgaard (Labirinto 1 per viola solo). Bentzon's Fabula is modern , ronal, and emotionally pleasing. It exploits the full range, the melodic and gritty qualities of the viola, and presents challenges aplenty: fast pizzicato, double stops, and rapid suing changes. Ir is quite difficult and would do credit to either an advanced masters or doc toral performance recital. The Labyrinth was particularly interesting, with multiple sections which the performer consrructs during the performance. Ir would appear that the goal of the composer/soloist is the solution of a musi cal riddle without being trapped in irs

labyrinth with no musically convincing means of escape. Introducing rhe piece, Prof Frederiksen stated that he even then had not decided which sections ro use or how he would establish his conclusion. The final day of the congress began with John White's presentation on Lionel Terris, followed by a recital with Christine Rutledge (USA) and Jutta Puchhammer (Canada/Ausuia). Duos by WF. Bach, con gress host Freudenthal, and Michael Spisak were performed with great exuberance, warmth, and an ensemble so accurate as to be almost impeccable, making the Rucledge Puchhamrner combo one of the most effective duos I have heard in recent years. Each artist also performed selections for solo viola, Puchhammer playing Blendinger's Suite, Op. 40, and Rucledge choosing Benjamin Britten's Elegy for Solo Viola (1930}, Jeremy Roberts' Wiegenlied for Solo Viola, and Lillian Fuch's Sonata Pastorale for Unaccompanied Viola. Puchhamrner's playing is very clean, typified by remarkably accurate string crossing, precise shifts, and finger and bow action. Blendinger's Suite, though quite the modern piece, never theless is quire accessible and enjoyable appar encly for both artist and audience. The con cluding dance, a gigue, was somewhat Slavic in character.

}utta Puchhammt!r

Christine Rucledge's fusr solo pieces each explored levels ofgrief Britten's Elegy carried an innocent quality while Roberts' Wiegenlied, a very esoteric composition written for Rucledge, expressed a grief horrific in nature, such as that perpetrated by the Nazis. Switching to a more pleasant emotional climate, Rucledge's reading