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The Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival’s Sunday evening concert on August 16 at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church showed, once again, why this long-running summer series is so much loved and perennially plays to full houses. Titled “Classics to Currents,” the concert combined all the things BCMF does so well: world-class instrumentalists, imaginative program choices, and commitment to both traditional classical and contemporary music.
Sunday’s concert featured works of three centuries, including a Beethoven trio composed in 1798; a Brahms trio of 1889; a 1966 work by William Bolcom; and a 1993 composition by Bruce MacCombie. Superbly performed by several of the outstanding artists brought together each year by Marya Martin, the festival’s founder, artistic director and flutist, all four works were received by the audience with enthusiastic applause, bravos, curtain calls, and a standing ovation at the end.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello in D Major, Opus 9, No. 2, opened the program. It was performed by Colin Jacobsen, violin; Nicholas Cords, viola; and Carter Brey, cello. All three maintain busy careers as soloists, orchestra and chamber musicians, teachers and mentors.
Mr. Brey rose to international attention in 1981 as a prize-winner in the Rostropovich International Cello Competition, and is a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, among many other honors. He was appointed principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic in 1996, and has also appeared as a soloist with the orchestra. Violist Nicholas Cords is a regular member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, and the multifaceted string quartet Brooklyn Rider. He has a strong commitment to the performance of music from a broad historic and geographical spectrum, and has worked with the New York City Department of Education to promote the role of music in cross-cultural understanding.
Violinist Colin Jacobsen, also an Avery Fisher Career Grant winner, collaborated with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic when he was 14 years old, and has returned as soloist on numerous occasions since. As a composer/arranger, he has written for the Silk Road Ensemble and two new pieces for the Brooklyn Rider Quartet’s soon-to-be-released recording.
With this all-star cast, Beethoven’s wonderful music was given even more than its due. The three trios that comprise Opus 9 were popular in the composer’s lifetime—and have remained so. The Trio in D Major, as performed Sunday night, was both lyrical and exciting, from its quiet opening theme to its lively fourth movement, marked Rondo: Allegro.
Violin, viola, and cello combined and blended with fine tone color and dynamic control, but each instrument had its soaring moments in solo or duet passages. The second movement, a kind of tender serenade, was particularly moving. To say the performance was elegant is not to imply it was in any way low-key. This group can produce a whole lot of sound when desired.
William Bolcom, born 1938 in Seattle, composed “Session II” for violin and viola in 1966, shortly after returning from his studies in Paris, where his teachers included Milhaud, Messiaen, and Boulez. It was a time when emerging composers were expected to forsake the past and dedicate themselves to stringent modernism. Mr. Bolcom called it his “Crisis of 1966.”
What can be heard in the brief “Session II” is Mr. Bolcom’s evolving synthesis of many different musical styles, from traditional to jazz and ragtime. It is almost like a playful confrontation—a sprightly little tune asserting itself against more aggressive, dissonant elements.
The duet was performed by Colin Jacobsen and Nicholas Cords, with technical brilliance, understanding and humor. Their body language—as they leaned into each other, made twinkling eye contact, and executed competing pizzicato segments—conveyed a great deal of meaning in a very brief piece. The audience responded with delight.
The second 20th century work on the program was Bruce MacCombie’s “Greeting: Sixty Bars for Krzysztof,” composed in 1993 to honor the 60th birthday of the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. Mr. MacCombie was present for the world premiere of his work, which Marya Martin announced will be heard again next summer.
“Greeting” is written for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. Ms. Martin, whose diverse career embraces that of soloist, educator, festival director, and recording artist, was joined by clarinetist Anthony McGill, violinist Colin Jacobsen, cellist Carter Brey, and pianist Pedja Muzijevic.
Mr. McGill is the principal clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and was one of four musicians chosen to play at President Obama’s inauguration. Mr. Muzijevic is a winner of the Juilliard School’s William Petschek Award. Following his Carnegie Hall debut, he has appeared in concert throughout the U.S. and abroad.
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