REVIEW: A Thanksgiving Odyssey at Chamber Music Society
Above photo by Tristan Cook.
November 19, 2023
The Britannica Dictionary defines odyssey as “a long journey full of adventures,” or “a series of experiences that give knowledge or understanding to someone.” Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center sent their audience on a “Quintet Odyssey:” a series of five works for five players in various combinations that followed a spiritual quest.
This hero’s journey began with Francisco Fullana, puckish and unguarded, on first violin, and concluded with Arnaud Sussmann in the role, his unruffled, assured approach conveying enlightenment.We embarked under a misty air of nighttime with Antonín Dvořák’s Nocturne for Two Violins, Viola, Cello, and Bass, Op. 40. Fullana and Sussmann, joined by violist Yura Lee, cellist Nicholas Canellakis, and Anthony Manzo on bass, sustained Dvořák’s long unfolding lines with a sense of hushed anticipation.
Fullana, Sussmann, Shifrin, Cannellakis, and Lipman. Photo by Tristan Cook.
Pulitzer- and Oscar-winning American composer John Corigliano’s Clarinet Concerto abuts Aaron Copland’s on the bookshelf. The second movement, Elegy, features a dialogue between solo clarinet and violin (in memory of the composer’s father, John Corigliano Sr., New York Philharmonic’s concertmaster under Bernstein). Corigliano later arranged the movement as a stand alone piece for quintet: Soliloquy for Clarinet and String Quartet, for clarinetist David Shifrin. Shifrin returned to CMS to play the mournful clarinet solo in delicate, profound interchange with string quartet (Matthew Lipman joining in the viola chair).
Tranquil and mesmerizing, Corigliano reflects on his father’s death in contemplative strains that seem to explore an unknown world, as if separated from the self. With gentle, singing vibrato, Shifrin’s yearning melodic phrases ask a series of questions to which no answer is expected or supplied. Fullana and Sussmann matched each other’s silvery tones in sinuous descending lines. Corigliano’s Soliloquy is poised at the edge of an abyss, but seems to also reflect a readiness to undergo metamorphosis.
Louise Farrenc’s Quintet in A Minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Double Bass, Op. 30 proved the most laborious passage of the trek. Anchored by the elegant, stylish pianism of Gilles Vonsattel, Farrenc’s four movements attempt to plumb the depths of the human heart, flirting with earthly temptations and ambitions and the dangers that lie therein.
Sussmann led from the first violin chair with panache. Cannellakis and Lipman filled out the contrapuntal texture with earthy, warm interjections. The composer’s choice to include only one violin, and to add a string bass adds depth and heft to her beautifully delineated, flawless score. On bass, Manzo’s impeccable intonation ensured perfectly tuned chords. Farrenc does tend to color within the lines; even clever harmonic surprises are so smoothly inevitable as to not attract attention.
Sussmann, Vonsattel, Cannellakis, Manzo, and Lipman. Photo by Tristan Cook.
Beethoven, however, shared no such qualms: Following intermission, Beethoven’s Quintet in C major for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello, Op. 29 turned the tables. Having traversed Farrenc’s undulations, the Beethoven — a “viola” quintet, a string quartet with an extra viola — exuded a sense of arrival and celebration. It’s quintessential Beethoven, chock-full of jokes and outbursts, on the way to taking flight and soaring to the finish line. The five string players were clearly having fun, and so too did the audience.
Sussmann, Fullana, Cannellakis, Lipman, and Lee. Photo by Tristan Cook.
