Four nights of Shostakovich and Schumann

By Burt Saidel

I’ve discovered a new and exciting music festival.  For years, my wife and I have traveled distances, stayed in all manner of accommodations, eaten in all types of restaurants to enjoy continuous music for several days in various concert venues.
My latest discovery makes any travel, hotel or dinner reservations nearly obsolete. Thanks to the Dayton Philharmonic, our venue is a magnificent opera house/concert hall which is not only close at hand but close to acoustic and aesthetic perfection. There are restaurants, plenty of watering holes, and a bedroom nearly unmatched for elegance and convenience.

You may have guessed it already.  The venue is our own magnificent Schuster Performing Arts Center.  The bedroom and restaurant are very reminiscent of our house.  The music – well – I needn’t say more but I certainly will.

Thanks to Maestro Neal Gittleman and the excellent musicians of the Dayton Philharmonic, I enjoyed a true music festival. Although the birthday of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich was featured, other composers, Robert Schumann and Ottorino Respighi, made it into the program.

I have already described the Thursday evening Classical Concert featuring pianist Yakov Kasman.  His dynamic and adoring rendition of Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto brought the audience to its feet – and - brought many back to the Schuster for a repeat Kasman and DPO experience.

The Friday concert, Classical Connections, was devoted to an exposition of the music of Robert Schumann. Is there a relationship between Shostakovich and Schumann?  No, but who cares.  Great music is great music.  

The Classical Connections was most unusual. We were dining at our favorite Asian restaurant, I Zu, rushing to make the 8:00 concert. As we were finishing dinner, DPO principals, violinist Kirsten Greenlaw and Andra Padrichelli, entered and sat down to dinner. We immediately asked how these mainstay musicians were going to make the concert. They announced, quite calmly, “We don’t play until the second half.”

They were right. The first half of the concert was devoted to one of Schumann’s most romantic song cycles, Frauenlieben und – leben, Woman’s love and life.  

I thought that I knew and understood this beloved work. How wrong I was.  Maestro Neal has the incredible gift of synthesizing musical ideas into words, well-laced with humor and his passion for the music. Maestro Charles Wendelken-Wilson has stated that Neal is the best at his stage talks since Leonard Bernstein half a century ago.
Maestro Neal began at the piano playing a Schumann song, Traumerei from Scenes from Childhood. This set the stage for soprano Lee Hoffman and pianist Michael Chertock to perform Frauenlieben und - leben.  

Neal explained each song; excerpts made the explanations live more fully. After a thorough familiarization, the beauty of soprano, piano and song melted our hearts. The orchestra did appear in the second half and the same familiarization of Schumann’s Symphony No 2 brought greater meaning and enjoyment to the music.
With the piano magic of Yakov Kasman as our chimera, we delayed dinner plans and attended the Saturday night repeat of the Classical Concert.  We stayed for the first half to hear the Respighi and the Shostakovich.  Joseph Rief genially allowed us to enter L’Auberge at an inordinately late hour and feted us with his delicious cuisine.
Sunday concluded the festival in a rapturous chamber music recital. The Principal Quartet of the Philharmonic is simply wonderful. Often orchestral musicians are not easily morphed into chamber musicians.  

At each hearing, I am more enthralled by the passionate talents of Aurelian Oprea, Kirsten Greenlaw, Sheridan Currie and Andra Padrichelli. Their youthful ability and their love of music-making is a joy to hear and to watch.

The afternoon was devoted to Shostakovich. The quartet played the String Quartet No.11. They were then joined by guest soloist Kasman in the Quintet for Piano and Strings.

The Quartet is sparse and deeply dramatic. The seven sections were displays of controlled but very different dynamics. Often discordant but always engaging in its many mysterious melodic strains, it is a work of controlled virtuosity.

In contrast, the Quintet was full of the complexity and power of the concerto. The piano and every member of the quartet had wonderful passages as well as gracious support for each other.  

The intricacy of the music was evident visually.  Each of the players kept musical and visual contact with each other. The audience received every iota of their combined artistry and cheered the musicians into an encore, a repeat of the delightful scherzo movement.

I hope that these Philharmonic Music Festivals become a regular part of the season. I know I’ll be there.

Rosewood Gallery Call for Entries – Works on Paper 

Rosewood Gallery in Kettering, Ohio, announces a Call for Entries for the 17th Annual Dayton Area Works on Paper, a juried exhibition created as a showcase for artists living within a 45-mile radius of Dayton, Ohio.  Entries must be original works in any media (2-D or 3-D) on or of paper, completed within the last four years, not exceeding 40 inches in width.  Jurying will be done from actual work.  

Entries will be received at Rosewood Gallery on Thursday, Feb. 1 from 12 pm.-7 pm. and Saturday, Feb. 3, from noon to 3 p.m. A non-refundable entry fee of $20 for up to three works must accompany each completed entry form. The exhibit runs from Feb. 26 through March 30, 2007, with an opening reception on Sunday, Feb. 25, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The juror for this year’s exhibition is Judy Anderson.  Anderson, an artist, teacher and lecturer, has a background in both the commercial and fine arts. A former commercial illustrator/art director, she turned to fine art full time in 1990.  Ink drawings, watercolor, collage, gouache on paper and acrylics on canvas are all working mediums to this artist in both two and three dimensional venues, with emphasis placed on creativity, composition and value. Anderson is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society, Ohio Watercolor Society and numerous other organi zations.      

For an entry form please stop into Rosewood or write, call, or e-mail: Amy K. Anderson, Coordinator, Rosewood Gallery, 2655 Olson Drive, Kettering, OH, 45420, (937) 296-0294, amy.anderson@ketteringoh.org. The Gallery is located in Rosewood Arts Centre, 2655 Olson Drive, Kettering, Ohio.  For more information call (937) 296-0294, or visit the web site: www.ketteringoh.org.

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November 28, 2006
Volume 15, No. 48

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