BCMF Plays Sounds Of Summer Classics In Spring

To the ear of pianist Gilles Vonsattel, the acoustics inside the circa-1842 Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church are so close to perfect that they make every second of sitting in summer traffic just about worth it.He doesn’t anticipate traffic issues on Sunday, he said, while driving to the church for the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival’s inaugural spring concert series—as opposed to its intensive summer program, kicking off this year in July. The seasonal nature of tourism is something he’s used to: The East End, he said, is much like his Swiss birthplace, except that the Hamptons summer is their winter.

“It reminds me of where my family lives, a ski area in Switzerland. It can feel a bit like a ghost area, except when it’s warm,” he said, sipping coffee during a layover from Lugano, Switzerland—where he performed with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana last weekend—to his home base in Manhattan. “I once played a recital in the Hamptons in the spring, and it was so different. There were still lots of people at the concert, which was good, because I was nervous about that.”

With his first offseason concert out of the way, the pianist said he is feeling significantly more confident, as is flutist and artistic director Marya Martin, who founded the festival 32 years ago. Offering year-round programming has been on the table for some time, she said, but it was a resounding “yes” from audiences last summer that pushed it into reality.

“We asked them in a questionnaire, and the response was fantastic,” she said. “So we decided that was enough intelligence for us to at least think, ‘Okay, we’re not crazy and we could try this.’”

The spring series is starting off slowly, she said, with two concerts this time around. In the first on Sunday evening, Ms. Martin will be joined by Mr. Vonsattel and rising violinist Sean Lee, as well as principal cellist Carter Brey and principal violist Cynthia Phelps for the New York Philharmonic, for a program of Mozart and Mendelssohn—the latter composer undeniably admired and inspired by the former.

“They were both child prodigies, they were both keyboard players, and there’s something about Mendelssohn’s piano writing—the clarity and nimbleness of it—that is often compared to Mozart,” Ms. Martin explained. “Pairing these two composers is always something I’ve wanted to do. The soundscape of every piece will be different.”

For Ms. Phelps, it is always a joy to play Mozart, she said, particularly “Piano Quartet in G Minor,” which will follow the opening piece, “Quartet for Flute and Strings in D Major.” She first picked up viola at age 11, while growing up in Los Angeles with three older sisters and one younger—who are all, today, professional musicians.

“I started on violin—my mother is a violin teacher,” Ms. Phelps said. “My older sister played piano, the next cello, the next violin, and then me. When my younger sister came along, she wanted to play violin, too, just like me. There were three violins in the house and I did not like the sound of that E string. When I was big enough to play viola, I just loved it. That was my voice.”

Mr. Vonsattel was, essentially, the complete opposite. Although he was playing piano by age 4—and showed a certain facility for it, he said—practicing was the bane of his existence, and he spent much of his free time pursuing other interests instead of rehearsing.

That all changed when he turned 18, while double-majoring in political science and economics at Columbia University.

“When I came to New York, I heard all of these pianists and went to more concerts,” he said. “That was when I decided I would put everything else on the back burner and went to Juilliard. That would be, by far, my biggest priority in life. I felt like I had a lot of catching up to do.”

And he did, with aplomb. On Sunday, he will tackle Mendelssohn’s “Selected Songs Without Words for Cello and Piano” and “Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49,” as well as Mozart.

“At this concert where I just played, we did this incredible piece, there was a Mozart symphony in the second half and it was so unbelievable, just incredibly inventive and joyous,” he said. “There’s something in there, he’s always playing games with his music.

“I love Mozart’s piano quartet we’re playing, in particular,” he continued. “And it’s so great to be doing this in the spring. I’m interested to see how the vibe will be.”

The Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival will kick off its new series, “BCMF Spring,” on Sunday, March 22, at 5 p.m. at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church. The program includes Mozart’s “Quartet for Flute and Strings in D Major” and “Piano Quartet in G Minor,” followed by Mendelssohn’s “Selected Songs Without Words for Cello and Piano,” and “Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49.” Tickets are $40, $50 and $10 for students.

A second concert, this time featuring the Miró Quartet, will be held on Sunday, April 26, at 5 p.m. at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church. Their program includes Haydn’s famous “Fifths” quartet, Copland’s “Rondino” and Schubert’s “String Quartet in G Major.” The same ticket prices apply.

For more information, call (212) 741-9403, or visit bcmf.org.