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Phillip T Young Recital Hall
July 26, 2011
The great pianist Artur Schnabel, in response to a question about certain pieces which he never included in his recitals, famously remarked that he only performed music which was "better than it could be played."
But what about the rest of the repertoire? And, in any case, it is easy for a pianist to make such claims, but other instruments have been less favoured by the great composers.
Which brings me to the final work in the first half of Tuesday's Basses Loaded, Giovanni Bottesini's Grand Duo Concertante, for doublebass, violin (or, as it should be referred to on these occasions, the piccolo bass) and piano, performed by Elmira Darvarova, Gary Karr and Harmon Lewis.
Bottesini was, of course, a great bass player; he was not, alas, a great composer.
Which, for me, puts the Grand Duo into that decidedly non-Schnabelian category of music which is not as good as it can be played.
I'll go further: this is music which demands a great performance if it is to make any impression at all (well, any positive impression).
Let's face it, the Grand Duo is, musically, fairly preposterous; its main themes are neither particularly distinguished nor especially memorable; it is too long by half (at least); and to call it episodic would be generous.
Why, then, did Tuesday's performance bring a smile to the face and a great ovation at its close?
Simple (or, as Aleksandr Orlov would say, "Simples"): the music was played by three outstanding musicians with total conviction and not a hint of apology - which would have been fatal.
Not that the musicians took themselves too seriously: they were clearly enjoying themselves immensely. One of my favourite moments was when Darvarova and Karr went off one one of their lengthy "I can play this higher/faster than you" episodes and Lewis sat with his arms folded, with a "let me know when you'd like me to join in again" look on his face.
But what of the other eighteen bassists on stage? Basses Loaded is, after all, probably the only opportunity one is ever likely to get to hear this many basses playing together.
We began, as regulars will know, with a chorale prelude by J.S. Bach (this year it was "Erbam' dich mein, O Herre Gott") with Karr and Lewis on stage and the ensemble spread around the auditorium. This is truly being immersed in the music.
And it struck me during the performance, that there was a weight and accuracy to the playing which was perhaps the best I'd heard yet. (And Karr did indeed confirm to me afterwards that this was one of the best groups he's ever taught.)
Among some of the "usual suspects" in the first half, the surprise hit (for me, at any rate) was Elgar's Nimrod. Shorn of its usual context (not to mention orchestration) it was nonetheless surprisingly moving, and the deep, churning bass line as the music reached its climax was spine-tingling.
After the interval, Kuniko Furuhata joined Karr and Lewis for a group of four Japanese songs, sung in recognition of the continuing problems that country has been suffering this year.
The performances were uniformly beautiful, although I was slightly taken aback by "Iihi tabitachi" which had a distinct tango feel, as if we were listening to a Japanese Astor Piazzola.
As is traditional, the concert closed with a group of pieces played by the entire ensemble. Lauber's Quartet for Basses - as Karr observed, the only music of the evening actually written for the instrument en masse - was a lot of fun; its second movement featured some quite unearthly high harmonics.
Then followed two Negro Spirituals, of which the first, "My Lord, What a Morning" (update the time of day and it would have served as my headline) wonderfully arranged by Victoria's David Clenman and then, to close, three ragtime pieces.
For the last of these - Scott Joplin's million-seller Maple Leaf Rag - Lewis resumed his seat at the piano and the real stars of the evening - Shinju and Shiro - also wandered onto the stage. And a good time was had by all.
Which really sums up the entire evening. As the bard almost put it, custom cannot stale Basses Loaded's infinite variety.
Finally I must just mention (I did promise them that I would not write a review) last Friday's lunchtime performance downtown by the Victoria Bass Quartet - Sarah Klein, Victoria Jones, Airi Shoda and Phoebe Russell (whose stunning intonation in Handel's "Ombra mai fu" was worthy of the master himself).
This was a truly delightful was to spend an hour or so on a summer's day.
Bass: Daniel Caras, David Christmas, Milad Daniari, Sergio
Florew, William Goweb, Jan Heise, Victoria Jones, Gary Karr,
Sarah Klein, Jesus Matus Lopez, Robert Hicholls, Annick Odom,
Noriko Okamoto, Hünther Rohde, Phoebe Russell, Airi Shoda,
Cody Takacs, Keir Tideman, Moe Winograd.
Clavier Bass: Harmon Lewis.
Piccolo Bass: Elmira Darvarova.
Soprano Bass: Kuniko Furuhata.
Canino Bass: Shinju, Shiro.
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