Anthony Marwood, violin & Thomas Adès, piano
Saturday, November 8, 8pm
Herbst Theatre
STRAVINSKY:
- Suite Italienne (arr. Pulcinella)
- Pastorale
- Song of the Nightingale and Chinese March from The Nightingale
- Duo Concertant
- Berceuse, Scherzo and Prelude et Ronde des Princesses from The Firebird
- Chanson Russe (Russian Maiden’s Song)
- Divertimento
-Danse Russe from Petrushka
Encore: Tango
This was a fun recital of show pieces & miniatures that Stravinsky arranged for himself & violinist Samuel Dushkin to play on tour.
It took me a while to get used to Marwood's style & sound. I'm still not sure what it is about his playing, but there is something idiosyncratic about it. He doesn't always make the most beautiful string sound, but he communicates the music well & is something of a showman. He knows how to end a piece with a flourish. At the end of the Scherzo of the Firebird, he nearly jumped back into the wings.
Adès is an intense pianist with a liking for hard, staccato phrasing. I liked the communication between the players. Adès often turned around to look at Marwood. They did a great job expressing the humor of many of the pieces. Their playing of the loping Chanson Russe & the Divertimento made me laugh out loud.
Even though this was a diverse & audience-friendly program, Stravinsky still seems to scare people away. A correspondent told me that the balcony had many empty rows.
2 comments:
I totally envy you this concert. I was exhausted after working all Saturday and couldn't get up the energy to crawl across the street to Herbst Theatre, but according to an old friend in Santa Barbara who heard the same show, it was the bomb.
It's too bad you missed it. I don't think the program was that demanding on listeners, except for the Duo Concertant. Perhaps the performance would have buoyed you up! I certainly had a good time.
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