JAVS Fall 2007

William Lane featured members of GrenzmLos (with our borders), a multi-national group of musicians dedicated ro the avanr-garde. Other members included Richard Haynes, clarinets, Dianna Gaerjens, horn and Eugene Ugheni, percussion. These musi cians are on a mission - a mission ro explore the lim irs of musical tone and technique. The musical selec tions were changed &om the booklet. The tamest piece on the program was the Berio SequmZ/1 VI. It was some twenty-five minutes into the program before I recognized a traditional viola tone. It was an extremely rare note in the 90-minure performance that Lionel Terris or William Primrose would have described as having a beautiful tone! That, my read ers, is precisely the point of our congresses. Eventually some of these sounds and techniques will find their way inro the viola lexicon and become a normal part of the musical vocabulary by youthful violists and composers, perhaps not yer born. although they played wonderfully, bur for the orchestra that Keith Crellin (congress organizer) conducted. The cohesive ensemble was put together for the congress yet they played with sensitivity, colorful shape and line and a balance one would expect in a standing professional orchestra. First on rhe program was Elegy by Peter Sculthorpe with UK/Ausrralian violist Francis Kefford. This selec tion is nor nearly as rightly constructed as the Sculthorpe Sonara we heard at the 3:00 pm recital. Though the violist played with excellent rone and with technique equal ro the task, the music mean dered and lingered much too long. The premiere performance of the Concerto for VioLa and Orchestra by Charles Bodman Rae added four wind players. The violist, JUrg Dahler, was again excellent bur the music wandered and seemed much longer than the 28 minutes announced in the program notes. The Mozart Sinfimia Concertante K 364 bright ened the evening with wonderful sense of line, sen sitive phrases and outstanding balance. The right ensemble from violinist Terence Tam and violist Tobias Lea brought rhe evening and the day ro a sparkling conclusion. Day Four: Monday, 2 July 2007 The evening's full orchestra concert was remarkable - nor so much for the pieces or the performers,

- Carlos Maria Solare (Argentina, Germany)

Being less interested in instrument-making marters than I should perhaps be, I decided nor to start Day 4 with David Hume's report on "The repair and restOra tion of an Amari viola," bur rather with Meng-Chun Chi's lecture recital, in which she introduced her tran scription of Faure's Violin Sonata in A Major, Op. 13. This being one of my favorite pieces of music in any genre, I was looking forward to it, and very much

David Hume during Amati Lecture. Photo by Dwight Pounds.

German viola virtuoso Hartmut Lindemann.

wished d1e transcription to be a success. However, in spire of aU the work Ms. Chin has pur into it (and of her mentor Michael Tree's collaboration), the tran scription can ar besr be considered a mixed success. Too many compromises had robe made in the voice leading, jumping an octave down whenever the line

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