JAVS Spring 1994

45

CHAPTERS

Not to be outdone by Paul Neubauer's "Voila Viola!" one-day marathon of multiple viola concerts on October 3, 1993, the New York Viola Society staged a single monster concert on January 10 at Mannes College of Music. For over three hours eleven professional violists, mostly soloists and principals (all dif ferent from "Voila"), performed ten works, assisted by pianists and a flutist. Violists were Veronica Salas, Karen Dreyfus, Tina Pelikan, Stephanie Fricker, Daniel Avshalomov, Suzanna Weinberger, Christine Ims, Stephen Werczynski, Hsin Yun Huang, Ann Roggen, and Liuh Wen Ting. Beyond familiar chestnuts (Schumann, Enesco, Hindemith) were seven little-known works of unusual interest, two of them world premieres. These works included Chronicle by Elizabeth Brown and Alone by Leo Smit, in which the violist must recite Emily Dickinson's poem 663 (' 'Again-his voice is at the door ...") while playing the atonal work for viola alone. It helps that the poetry is recited during longer notes! New to this reviewer was Maurice Durufle's delightful, century-old trio for flute, viola, and piano, a gem of French romanticism. Hermann Reutter's Cinco Caprichos sobre Cervantes consists of five atonal character sketches, from the Don to Dulcinea, for viola alone.

The first of two world premieres was a Suite for Viola and Piano by David Avshalomov, the Santa Monica composer, with five movements seasoned in Middle Eastern flavors and performed by David's brother Daniel on his gorgeous Andrea Amati. The second premiere was a Suite for Four Violas, with four movements, com titled weije, a transliteration of the Chinese character for "crisis," combining symbols for "danger" and "opportunity." After Emanuel Vardi, NYVS's honorary president, announced that Glyde was gravely ill with cancer in a Westchester Hospital, the shocked audience listened with heightened interest. It was difficult not to relate the movements, suggesting pain (loud ponticello passages), healing, and hope (with a stirring final chorale) to the composer's own physical and spiritual odyssey. The evening was to end with a monster viola play-in (audience and soloists) of Bach's Second Partita for violin alone con ducted by Vardi. Alas, security guards had to close the building at 11 :00 p.m. C'est la vie. posed by NYVS president, the late Rosemary Glyde. The suite was sub

-Alexander Harper Norwalk, Connecticut

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