Le Salon de Mozart

Les Amusements de la Chambre:

Katelyn Clark, piano

Emily Redhard, violin

with guest Matthew Ross, cello

Church of St. John the Divine
July 20, 2013

By Elizabeth Courtney

A golden light suffused the quietly dignified nave of St. John the Divine as those of us who had forgone another beautiful summer evening for the delectable promise of chamber amusements, awaited the entry of a pair of utterly charming young goddesses.

With my head full of the mythological doings of the Olympians after a day spent browsing the exploits of Zeus and his numerous conquests, sons and daughters, I wondered how much paternal/filial competition I would hear in the works of Leopold and Wolfgang Mozart. Unusual as it is to find them on the same program, this would be a good opportunity for spotting mythic complexes. Meanwhile, the statuesque Katelyn and the petitely vivacious Emily could have been Artemis and Persephone - there was even a suggestion of Grecian folds in Clark's one-shouldered dress. Only the length of their dresses and the bareness of their knees brought me back to the fashions of our current era with a sense of astonishment that the miracle of musical talent has always been the choicest gift of the gods, and especially in the young.

The evening began with W.A. Mozart's Sonata in Bb major with the rich, unhurried tones of the opening largo in lovely broad phrases, Clark's playing on the Yamaha piano assured, delicate and clean, partnered by Redhead's rhythmic pulse, flowing through her body and every hair in her bow with an exquisite sensitivity. In the Andante they succeeded in delivering an even broader and more thoughtful mood, a deliciously creamy introspection with the sweetest of highs and emotionally satisfying lows. The sonata ended with tremendous verve in the Allegretto, the violin's voice one of light-hearted laughter, Persephone's flowers, the piano's as sure as Artemis' bow, the final flourish a draining of the ambrosial cup.

Returning to her instrument for a solo performance, Clark brought a more forward sound and still sensitive touch to the harmonies of the Rondo in Eb major, the second offering from Mozart the younger. Without ever slipping into abandon she produced an emotionally full and very conscious sound, the culminating cascade of notes tossed like a bouquet of flowers to a very appreciative audience.

After the intermission, and returning with Matthew Ross for the encounter with Mozart Senior, the musicians embarked on a pair of Trios composed thirty eight years apart, the first when Leopold was 31, and the second when Wolfgang was 32 years old. As soon as they began the Piano Trio in A major, it was clear that this was very much plainer fare. The repetitive pairs of notes in the cello line in the opening allegro sounding quite dull, and not much more exciting when repeated in the piano and violin parts. The Andante felt pedestrian, though I wondered if, as written, it might be possible to hear it as somberly clean. The Menuet and Trio was somewhat livelier, giving some hints of the sublime dancer the composer was to father - but this was a careful dance, no treading on toes, but no flights either. I couldn't help thinking Wolfgang would have been bored by the age of two and a half.

The Piano Trio in C Major which followed demonstrated beautifully how musicians need inspired composers if they are to shine themselves. Suddenly Ross' cello took on an exciting deep throated quality, the sounds of all three together so much fuller and more complex, reflecting the richness and complexity of the composition itself. Elegant phrasing, a liquid pulse, time to breathe in the Allegretto; in the Andante, uncensored emotion, sustained violin notes, cello phrasing both gorgeous and vulnerable, phrases issuing out of first one one mouth, then another, personifying intimacy itself. Lovely spaces and silences. The mystery of three in one.

By the final Allegro the light was fading fast, and I suspect that the cellist had difficulty reading his score. Clark's piano had all the comforting confidence of a veritable bed of running notes over which the strings, their tones perfectly matched, nevertheless fell a little short of the radiance of the earlier movements. No matter, the audience forgave it, and as the lights finally came on enthusiastically applauded before joining them for chocolate biscuits and strawberries.