Ottawa:the first Music and Beyond festival

先日，王子ホールでの名演に称賛の記事を書いた Emerson Quartet が，Ottawa の第1回　Music and Beyond Festival の初日に登場して，その演奏に，前に聴いたときと較べて，ムラがあったという批評を受けていました．

Music and Beyond Festival が伝統音楽に傾斜したthree familiar works by Dvorák and Janàcek's String Quartet no. 1, nicknamed the Kreutzer というのが１つの理由のようですが，Listeners who remember the crystalline perfection of the Emersons' earlier performances here, especially in the mid-1990s, were doubtless disappointed. The former clarity of line has given way to a more homogenous sound without, however, resulting in a particularly good blend. と批判しています．

後半の曲は長老ピアニスト Menahem Pressler とのQuintet だったのですが，これはたいへん好演だったと率直に称賛しています．

なお，月曜の午前に，the celebrated pundit, Norman Lebrecht, gave an entertaining lecture concerning the rocky road that runs through the world of classical music.の講演会があったそうです．講演者は，1990年代に　Who Killed Classical Music? という著書を著わして有名な人ですが，その内容と重ねて，レコード会社の寡占化が問題だとしていましたが，そのご次々と小規模会社の参入があった事実を考えれば，特にOttawa に関してはClassic music is dead　は当たっておらず，a city like Ottawa, where there are two major chamber music festivals this summer in addition to the busy schedule of the main season.　と楽観論で結んでいます．

 

 

Opening concert reveals uneven Emerson quartet

By Richard Todd, The Ottawa Citizen July 6, 2010

The Emerson String Quartet has been around for more than three decades and pianist Menahem Pressler for nearly twice as long.

The opening Gala concert of the first Music and Beyond festival featured these artists and was thus steeped in tradition.

The program was pretty traditional, too, featuring three familiar works by Dvorák and Janàcek's String Quartet no. 1, nicknamed the Kreutzer.

The Emerson violinists switch chairs from piece to piece and it fell to Eugene Drucker to lead the opening work, Dvorák's Quartet in E-flat major, op. 51.

Listeners who remember the crystalline perfection of the Emersons' earlier performances here, especially in the mid-1990s, were doubtless disappointed. The former clarity of line has given way to a more homogenous sound without, however, resulting in a particularly good blend.

At least that was the case in all but the last movement of the quartet. Philip Setzer played first violin in three selections from Dvorák's Cypresses, a set of songs without words for string quartet and these relatively homey pieces came off better.

Janàcek wrote only two quartets, but each is a masterpiece. The Emersons' reading of the first was undoubtedly their most successful of the evening, even if it didn't have quite the bite some Czech ensembles bring to it.

The second half of the program was given to Dvorák's Quintet in A for Piano and Strings, featuring pianist Pressler. Now in his mid-80s, he remains a superb ensemble player. The quintet had a breadth and depth of passion that exceeded anything heard before the intermission.

Earlier on Monday, the celebrated pundit, Norman Lebrecht, gave an entertaining lecture concerning the rocky road that runs through the world of classical music. In the 1990s, he published a book called Who Killed Classical Music? It was an engaging read, similar in some ways to Monday's lecture.

Among the several problems he cites is the disengagement of the major record labels from serious classical music, and there's no denying that that's happening.

Still, his emphasis on the things going wrong ignores changes in the industry that may well compensate for them, the proliferation of small record labels like Hyperion and BIS, among them. Classical music is not dead, especially in a city like Ottawa, where there are two major chamber music festivals this summer in addition to the busy schedule of the main season.

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