Review -Tuesday, March 2,
2004
By JOSEPH YOUNGBLOOD
Special To The Palm Beach Daily News
The Society of the Four Arts hosted an absolutely enchanting
Sunday afternoon of chamber music and storytelling.
The Kandinsky Trio — violinist Benedict Goodfriend,
cellist Alan Weinstein and pianist Elizabeth Bachelder
— performed trios by Hayden and Mendelssohn, and
were joined by storyteller Connie Regan-Blake in The
Cantankerous Blacksmith by Mike Reid.
Combining words and music is as old as music itself —
very little independent instrumental music predates the
late 16th century. Words inspire composers and help to
shape their music. This collaboration usually results
in works that are sung: songs, oratorios, operas and the
like. It rarely results in works that are spoken. Such
a work is The Cantankerous Blacksmith, also known
as "Wicked John," from Tales of Appalachia.
This is the story of a man given three wishes; though
his choices — a rocker, a hammer, and a thorn bush
— seem ill-considered, they succeed in frustrating
the devil's efforts to take the man and even afford him
a measure of immortality.
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Regan-Blake tells the story with voice inflections, hand
motions, and a small amount of moving about. Everything
is done with artistry and with restraint. Some of the
passages are spoken without music and some are underscored
by the instruments. There also are some instrumental interludes.
The musical style is lightly dissonant and highly rhythmic,
suggesting Stravinsky and, perhaps, Poulenc. Some of the
music is descriptive — the hammer, the rocker —
and some of the music is mood inducing. An Appalachian
folk song feeling is established at the very beginning
with a four-note motif that serves to unify the work musically
throughout.
All in all, The Cantankerous Blacksmith was
a delightfully engaging experience.
Whether chamber music with a speaker is a new trend is
another question. Even though Regan-Blake's voice was
amplified, some phrases were incomprehensible. This is
less of a problem in a song, where the text can be printed
in the program, or in an opera, where the words can be
projected. The alternative to the dramatic presentation,
namely, reciting the story from a podium, is not at all
attractive. Regardless of what the future holds for this
medium, this performance was effective and the audience
loved it.
The concert opened with Franz Joseph Haydn's Trio
in A Flat, Hob. XV:14. This is a late work, coming
at a time when Haydn was preparing for his first trip
to England. The work as a whole is dominated by the piano,
a feature that was changing at that time in favor of a
greater equality among the instruments.
The pianist's technique was solid and her control was
complete. Most impressive is the middle section of the
adagio; the notes seemed to be running straight out of
the pianist's fingers, while the strings accompanied her
with guitar-like pizzicato. This passage looks ahead to
Beethoven and also looks back to Carl Philipp Emanuel
Bach.
The program closed with the Trio in D Minor, Op.
49, by Felix Mendelssohn, surely one of the most
beloved of all piano trios.
The warm tone of the cello was apparent here, as was
the sweet tone of the violin. The pianist was assertive
or supportive, depending on the role of her music. Her
singing tone dominated the andante. The ever-popular scherzo,
though taken at a brisk clip, was executed flawlessly.
In this movement, the group employed some risky phrasing,
which was totally successful. Efforts such as these are
what keep these pieces alive performance after performance.
The finale had a very spacious sound. The tempo was not
pushed, but rather the grand scope of the movement was
allowed to come through.
The enthusiastic audience was treated to an encore entitled
No News or What Killed the Dog? Regan-Blake and
violinist Goodfriend engaged in a dialogue, while the
cellist and the pianist supported them with their own
adaptation of the fiddle tune Cincinnati.
It was the perfect conclusion to a wonderful afternoon.
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