92Y Online Concert - New York Philharmonic String Quartet. Viewed December 20, 2020.

Concert recorded December 17, 2020.  Part of the 10-concert subscription series.

Program

Schubert, Quartettsatz, D. 703 (1820).

Mendelssohn, Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 13 (1827).

Ravel, String Quartet.

The concert originally had Emanuel Ax appearing as well, a few weeks ago 92Y sent out an email announcing that Ax won't be on the program.  I was quite disappointed as I had always enjoyed Ax's musicianship.

Despite that, this program was thoroughly enjoyable.  From what I could tell, both the Mendelssohn and the Ravel pieces were not easy to pull off; they were performed brilliantly.

I was wondering why the first movement of Schubert was played (the "satz" in the title should have been a giveaway).  Turns out this was a quartet Schubert never completed.

It always amazes me how easy Schubert made key changes effortless, he seemed to be able to jump to any key he wanted with a few transitional notes.

I could find scores for all three pieces on the web, and followed along best I could.  This was my first listening of all three pieces, I am torn between just sitting back and enjoy versus not being able to follow where the music is going.  (The simple answer is to listen multiple times, but not practical in many instances.)

The movements of the other quartets are as follows.  Mendelssohn: Adagio-Allegro vivace; Adagio non lento; Intermezzo: Allegretto con moto-Allegro di molto; Presto-Adagio non lento.  Ravel: Allegro moderato-tres doux; Assez vif-tres rythme; Tres lent; Vif et agite.

92Y Online Concert - Jeremy Denk, piano. Viewed December 17, 2020.

Concert recorded Sunday December 13, 2020.  Part of the 10-concert subscription series.

Program

MOZART: Sonata No. 14 in C Minor, K. 457
BLIND TOM WIGGINS: The Battle of Manassas
JOPLIN: Heliotrope Bouquet (arr. Chauvin)
TANIA LEÓN: Rituál
FREDERIC RZEWSKI: Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues
BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111

Ellie and family were baking Christmas cookies at house on December 13, so I didn't get to see this live.  From the closing credits it appears the concert was not recorded on the 92Y stage, but somewhere in San Francisco instead.

Regardless of when or where it was recorded, this is a concert one will enjoy no matter when one sees it.

Below are some of the notes I took during my viewing of the event.

After Mozart, Denk talked about bookending the recital with the tragic sonatas by Mozart and Beethoven, which to him is a reflection of the year.

The Battle of Manassas is a collection of favorite "patriotic" tunes woven together as a fantasy/impromptu.

Joplin's unmistakable sound followed.

Rzewski's Cotton Mill Blues started sounding like a cotton mill (as close as the piano can come to imitate it).  Keys hit with entire palm and fist.

(Not sure what happened to the Tania Leon piece!)

Talked about the Beethoven sonata.  Beethoven used C Minor key multiple times.  Some Bach themes.  In two movements.  Second a set of variations with infinite patience.  Long-short-long- series of themes, gets into the wilderness, and comes back.

92Y Online Concert - Xavier Foley, double bass, and Kelly Lin, piano. Viewed December 10, 2020.

Live Broadcast on December 4, 2020.  Part of the 10-concert subscription series.

Program

Bottesini, Elegy No. 1.

Bach, Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008.

Xavier Foley, Irish Fantasy.

Foley, Always on the Move.

Gliere, Intermezzo & Tarantella, Op. 9

I couldn't get to this program until about a week later.  Besides being a bit busy with other (mostly trivial) things I needed to take care of, I also didn't think I would get too excited about the double bass as a solo instrument.  My experience with bass as more than a "double bass" was limited to its chamber role in Schubert's "Trout Quintet" and every now and then listening to Max's playing on the instrument (in person or on TV).

In that regard I was glad I caught this program.  The most prominent takeaway for me was the instrument sounded good for most of the 60-plus minutes of the program.  Perhaps - as my aforementioned friend insisted at one time - there is no parallel between cello and bass techniques, nonetheless the similarity in sound was a lot more than I expected.  (I realize saying "wow, it sounded like a cello" may be the biggest compliment or biggest put-down you can have on the instrument.)  It was also unexpected that, at least in this case, the bass can't take that much punishment either, if the need for frequent tuning was any indication.

Foley made quite a few remarks on stage.  One puzzling statement was Bach's Suite was in D-flat minor, and it had to do with the tuning of the instrument.  And after the Bach piece he did retune the strings.  Irish Fantasy was his work based on the theme music in the game (Fate?) that came with a Windows XP computer he bought in Costco.  And Always on the Move has elements of CSI: Miami and lots of R&B to it.  The piece did start and end with traditional classical pieces, which I appreciated.

However, I am not sure how well the Bach Suite worked on the bass.  There was a distinct lack of counterpoint in the music, perhaps to play two notes "simultaneously" (by jumping quickly from one string to another) only works in specific instances.

He ended the program with an encore piece: an etude called "The Dance."

Foley plays an instrument made by Solano.  Notice the fingerboard: it ends in a notch.