Cleveland
Museum of Art
October
30
November
1
 |
| Forging new directions in American music. |
One
of the defining trends in music in recent years has been crossover –
artists playing outside their genres, or teaming up with unlikely
partners. Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau and classical singer Anne Sofie
von Otter produced a memorable recording (Love Songs) in 2010,
followed by a successful world tour together. Banjo superstar Béla
Fleck has practically made a second career out of working with
classical musicians, playing with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra on
his latest release and currently touring with the string quartet
Brooklyn Rider.
Even
by those standards, last week’s concerts at the Cleveland Museum of
Art were exceptional.
On
Wednesday night American violinist and composer Mark O’Connor,
looking like a professor with his best students in tow, gave an
engaging lesson in the history of American music. O’Connor is a
gifted player who won national titles in fiddle, guitar and mandolin
competitions as a teenager, and became a protégé
of two string savants: Texas fiddler Benny Thomasson and French
violinist Stephane Grappelli. While much of O’Connor’s
subsequent work has been in the classical genre, he is also a noted
authority on American idioms like bluegrass, jazz and country music.
O’Connor
contends that all native American music sprang from the hoedown,
which he used as a point of departure in introducing the members of
his quartet, playing separate duets with each. Cellist Patrice
Jackson joined him for Limerock, a traditional hoedown tune,
followed by violist Gillian Gallagher for an original jig, and
violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins for an original jazz/blues number. It
was all Jackson and Gallagher could do to keep up with O’Connor’s
lightning pace in the dances. Hall-Tompkins is a more assured
performer who matched O’Connor’s solos and added a soulful
flavor to her piece.
The
full quartet came out for O’Connor’s String Quartet No. 2
“Bluegrass,” which is a remarkable work. It uses the
vocabulary of bluegrass music in a classical structure to produce a
true synthesis, a rare achievement across genres. The sound ranges
from Béla Bartók
to Bill Monroe, even hitting Monroe’s trademark “high lonesome”
tone at times. The piece runs out of ideas in the final movement, but
the first three are dazzling, demanding a hybrid (and complicated)
style of playing that the quartet handled with aplomb.
O’Connor
opened the second half with a solo improv that demonstrated a range
of techniques and his complete mastery of his instrument, then
brought the group out for his String Quartet No. 3 “Old Time.”
More sophisticated than No. 2, the piece was reminiscent of
David Grisman’s brand of progressive bluegrass, though more
intricate, with a minimalist Philip Glass-style finish. An encore of
O’Connor’s Appalachia Waltz put a spirited finish on a
very satisfying blend of entertainment and erudition.
 |
| Leading a Balkan tour. |
Two
nights later, Jordi Savall, the Spanish musicologist and viola da
gamba player who continues to redefine European early music, brought
his Hésperion XXI
ensemble to CMA for a program exploring the roots of Balkan music.
Savall crosses countries and eras rather than musical genres. But
like O’Connor, he combines virtuoso playing skills with outstanding
scholarship, and packages it all in enchanting, accessible
performances.
This
one used the cycles of life, both individually and seasonally, as a
framework for selections ranging from a Bulgarian lullaby to Greek
dances. Exotic yet simple in form, the music had a marked Mideastern
flavor, featuring traditional instruments like a duduk, qanun, santur
and kaval played by specialists from the instruments’ native
countries. A group of five vocalists took turns singing solo, or in
duets or ensembles. Like the musicians, each of them brought native
knowledge and nuances to the songs, with Greek singer Irini Derebei
showing particularly fine range and emotion.
Nearly
all the music came at a slow, steady tempo, which dragged after a
while, at least to Western ears. The songs also began to sound the
same, picking up personality mostly in the vocals. Still, the
ensemble was able to imbue them with color and feeling, especially in
the players’ solos. And the musical tour of the Balkans before that
term became a catchword for fragmentation and strife was fascinating.
Performances
of this caliber don’t come through town very often, much less two
in three nights. It’s edifying and comforting to know that while
the museum director’s abrupt resignation dominates the daily
headlines, CMA’s fine musical programming marches on.
For
more on Mark O’Connor: http://www.markoconnor.com/
For
more on Jordi Savall: http://www.alia-vox.com/
O'Connor quartet photo by Lucian Bartosik.
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