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First Metropolitan United Church
October 13, 2006
The term "serenade", according to The New Grove, "originally signified a musical greeting, usually performed out of doors in the evening, to a beloved or person of rank." Such works, says the Musicalisches Lexicon of 1732, "are usually performed on quiet and pleasant nights."
Whether or not Friday the Thirteenth counts as a "quiet and pleasant night" I'll let the various police departments decide. Inside the First Metropolitan United it was as quiet and pleasant - the word serenade ultimately derives from the Latin serenus - as one could wish. And the music?
The programme opened with Robert Volkmann's Serenade No.2, Op.63. This is a fine work, although ultimately Volkmann does not quite seem to establish his own musical personality - there were hints of Tchaikovsky, Dvoràk and others. This would be a wonderful piece for a musical quiz; I cannot imagine anyone who had not heard it before guessing its composer.
Aloni and the orchestra certainly gave no indication that the music was unfamiliar and produced a good, strong sound from the opening bars - the presence of two double basses helping provide a wonderfully firm foundation.
After a vivacious second movement and the delightful waltz that is the third, the finale is a bit of a surprise: a quasi-mechanistic rondo with chirpier episodes. A surprisingly inviting work which would repay rehearing.
Marjan Mozetich certainly has a great publicity machine working on his behalf - just look at his web site, where there are quotations and linked articles ("The Greatest Composer In The World") which might lead one to expect nothing less than a musical Second Coming.
The reality - should we be surprised? - is something less. Postcards From The Sky is a work which uses minimalist gestures without - alas - being truly minimalist: the vocabulary without the syntax, one might say. No doubt the music was very difficult to play and it was, on the whole, played well - one must certainly congratulate Mary Smith on her fine cello solo in the first movement.
But really, what was the point of it all? To have held my attention there either needed to be much more musical activity - or much less. Or perhaps what was really needed was to show the film which the music sounded as if it ought to be accompanying. For me, the music was not strong enough to stand by itself and, for the first time that I can recall at a VCO concert, I was bored.
Programme note writer Don Kissinger, who plays violin with the orchestra, made a comparison with Phillip Glass, which I found not inappropriate.
I don't care much for Phillip Glass either.
The first part of the evening closed with the second (of five) serenade by Robert Fuchs, another delightful, technically challenging work.
Again, as with the Volkmann, I was occasionally put in mind of other composers, although I am still trying to remember who the second movement, with its excellent violin solo by Yasuko Eastman, put me in mind of. Despite the obvious comparisons - and their personal friendship - it was not Brahms.
The brisk and vigorous third movement - with, surely, a hint of Steppes in its tread - was followed by a dizzying tarantella of a finale.
Despite the players' reservations about the technical difficulty of this movement - several of them told me that they had suggested, during rehearsals, only performing the first three movements - it was full of life and sounded pretty accurate as well, even during the exciting final accelerando.
It is, to say the least, unusual to hear a world premiere of a work by Mozart.
The Serenade in C minor is an arrangement (by Aloni) of the String Quintet in C minor, K.406, itself a reworking (by Mozart) of the Serenade for Winds, K.388.
A number of mysteries still surround the music: why did Mozart compose the serenade in the first place? No adequate reason (e.g. a commission) has ever come to light. Moreover, whatever his reason for transcribing the work (money has been suggested), why, when the original was for eight winds, did he rework it for just five strings?
Whatever the truth, there is no doubt that the music worked very well indeed when performed by - in this case - 21 strings. My acid test for this kind of enterprise is simple: if one were to hear the music for the first time in this form, would it occur to one that it was originally for a far smaller group?
Unusually, in this instance, the answer - certainly for three of the four movements - was 'no', it sounded absolutely 'right' played by the full group. The one possible exception was the slow movement, which arguably lost something in the transition.
If the performance had one shortcoming it was the sheer number - or lack thereof - of violas, not the loudest instrument in the string family in any case. In this particular case, the four players had to take the two viola parts of the quintet - and therefore 40 per cent of the musical line - in competition with six first violins, five seconds, and the bass line of four cellos and two basses.
The fact that it was still evident, almost throughout, that there were two viola parts is a testimony to their efforts.
Despite my own reservations about the Mozetich - and I know that many in the audience enjoyed it greatly - this was an adventurous and rewarding programme from the VCO, performed very well indeed and to great effect.
And there are still another two serenades by Volkmann and four by Fuchs awaiting revival.
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