An arresting one-of-a-kind concert by the Kennedy Center Chamber Players
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Version 0 of 1. Applause was over the top Sunday for an arresting one-of-a-kind concert by the Kennedy Center Chamber Players at the Terrace Theater. (All nine are National Symphony Orchestra members.) The program veered off the traditional course, featuring a string concert without string quartets. Instead, it favored middle and low strings in Mozart’s Quintet for horn, violin, two violas and a cello, K. 407; a Sextet by Richard Strauss calling for pairs of violas and cellos along with two violins; an arrangement — for a quartet of cellos — of a Bach Chaconne, BWV 1004, originally for solo violin; and Mendelssohn’s eloquent Quintet No. 1, Op. 18. Strauss’s monumental Sextet can stand apart from its role as the overture to his final opera, “Capriccio.” The players gave a ravishing account of its many tonal beauties, allowing the counterpoint to assist but not override Strauss’s honey-sweet rapture, while engaging in playful, elfin-like episodes from time to time. A million kudos to Abel Pereira, the NSO’s principal horn. In the Mozart, he had a legato to kill for and virtuosic agility in octave leaps and no-fail trills, while sailing up and down the registers with seeming ease. The strings ably matched his voluminous tone. In Laszlo Varga’s Bach arrangement, four cellos tackled the Chaconne with sweeping bows and endless aggressive energy. But Varga’s version slashes to pieces Bach’s momentum and insistent sense of direction in a cumbersome dialogue style passing from one instrument to another. Bach’s stunning original setting is already a dialogue, as are all his works for unaccompanied solo instruments. The Mendelssohn unfolded with contrapuntal eloquence and delicate playfulness in the composer’s sorties into lighter moments. Occasionally the ensemble was a bit loose, and at times intonation between the violins was not its best. The concert was part of the Fortas Chamber Music series. Porter is a freelance writer. |