MiV Home
Phillip T Young Recital Hall
July 28, 2009
One problem that surely crops up when planning Basses Loaded! (the exclamation mark seems to be optional) must be that of repertoire. After all, you can't simply call Boosey and Hawkes or Schott and say "please send me a dozen of your finest pieces for doublebass ensemble, my man, and make it snappy!"
Which perhaps makes it all the more surprising - or impressive - is that the composers featured in the first half of Tuesday evenings concert were, in order, Bach, Handel, Haydn, Beethoven, Massenet, Schumann and Bottesini.
Not exactly a bunch of unknown nonentities.
Of course, with the exception of Bottesini, one of history's greatest bass players, none of those composers actually wrote the music we heard for the forces that played it.
No, Virginia, Beethoven's Op.87 was not originally written for three doublebasses.
The art of transcription is one which is frequently either ignored or denigrated as producing work which is somehow "impure".
And while I yield to none in my dislike of the two-guitar desecration of the "Goldberg" Variations I once had the great misfortune to hear, a good transcription can both extend the repertoire of the ensemble for which it is written and even shed new light on the music transcribed.
Take the regular opening feature: a Bach chorale prelude played by Gary Karr and Harmon Lewis onstage with the remainder of the ensemble (this year there were twenty-one basses in all) arrayed around the hall.
Even in the most acoustically-friendly church setting, when played on the organ, one is unlikely to feel the music as viscerally as in this instance. Not only was there an amazing depth to the sound, but intonation was perhaps better than I've ever heard it before - particularly remarkable in view of the extreme temperatures in the hall.
"Ombra mai fu" (as I believe we're now supposed to call what used to be known as Handel's Largo) followed. Despite the trauma of having badly mangled a piano arrangement of this during my brief and totally unsuccessful career tickling the ivories, I found it strangely involving and effective.
During the 1790s - the same decade which produced the "London" Symphonies - Haydn wrote a number of Flötenuhrstücke, pieces for "flute clock". When finally grouped together in Anthony van Hoboken's catalogue, Hob.XIX comprised thirty-two pieces: including some half-dozen composed two decades earlier. Many of the pieces are themselves transcriptions - including Hob.XIX 32, which is an arrangement of the finale of the Symphony No.102!
Haydn could hardly have complained at having this music arranged for different forces (and there are very few, if any, extant Flötenuhrs) even if they are more usually played on the organ today. Furthermore, I suspect that he would have greatly enjoyed Tuesday's performance of five of them, which were by turns witty, charming, robust and delicate. Shavings from a great composer's workbench, perhaps, but quality shavings.
Karr, Han Han Cho and Victoria Jones now regaled us with that trio by Beethoven - which was not only originally composed for two oboes and English horn, but whose opus number (87) is also woefully misleading; the music was composed around 1795 but not published until 1806. There is, in addition, a String Trio version, also (confusingly) Op.87; an arrangement probably approved but not done by the composer himself.
This was certainly, for me, one of the surprise highlights of the evening: yes, it was early Beethoven, but it was still obviously Beethoven, had a discernible sonata form and plenty of emotional contrast. Moreover it was most idiomatically transcribed and beautifully performed.
Next came the part of the programme which, I'm sure, is the main incentive for at least some of the audience: the only chance one gets these days of hearing the great Karr-Lewis partnership, now approaching its fifth decade.
After all the fun and games of the ensemble pieces, the Meditation from Massenet's Thäis sounded almost like Karr saying to his students: "and this is what we can do when we grow up."
This and Schumann's ultra-familiar Träumerei, which followed, were object lessons in duo-playing, although there was nothing "objective" about the playing itself, which was as breathtaking as ever.
The duo were then joined by Han Han Cho, for a delightful version of Schumann's Spring Song and that perennial doublebass favourite, Bottesini's ludicrous, insanely virtuosic, totally over-the-top, far-too-long-but-who-cares? Passione Amorosa.
Karr has, of course, played this many times, but Cho is, according to him, his favourite partner in the work, ever. (I believe I am correct in saying that they played it at Basses Loaded III, a decade ago.)
The piece is, of course, ridiculous but I - and, I suspect, many another in the hall - love it when it is played with this amount of technique and sheer panâche.
Just in case anyone thought that this might be the only VSMF concert this season which did not bow the head in the direction of birthday boy Felix Mendelssohn, the second half opened with seven of his Op.50 songs (originally with words) transcribed for a quartet of basses - and very well too - by one Heidi Schultz.
Karr and Cho were joined by Sarah Klein and James Oesi for these charming and delightful arrangements. Superb.
The final group of pieces played by the full ensemble opened with more Mendelssohn, in the shape of the Nocturne from A Midsummer Night's Dream, which sounded absolutely gorgeous.
Tony Osborne's Party Pieces brought back the smile to the face - indeed prompted outright chuckles in places. And the ensemble, when it counted, really swung.
For the closer, Marquina's España Cañi - you may not recognise the name, any more than I did, but you would surely recognise the music - the ensemble was joined by the other Karr-Lewis Duo, the canine version.
Shiro, the younger, seemed a little bewildered by the whole affair. Shinju, who once upon a time would milk the crowd shamelessly, this year preferred the rôle of eminence grise (well, blanc to be strictly accurate), or perhaps elder statesdog, and rose above it all. (Truth be told, probably both were wondering "where's my dinner?")
Despite the sauna-like temperatures in the hall, a wonderful time was had by all.
Bass: Richard Backus, Daniel Carias, Han Han Cho, Shawn Dakin,
Ryan Ford, William Gowen, Jan Heise, Victoria Jones, Gary Karr,
Ayaka Katsumata, Sarah Klein, Hayato Kobayakawa, John
O'Shaughnessy, James Oesi, Takeshi Ozawa, Craig Paterson, Trevor
Robinson, Günter Rohde, Phoebe Russell, Cody Takacs, Moe
Winograd.
Piano: Harmon Lewis.
MiV Home