Symphony
TWIN PEAKS AND TWIN PIANOS AT THE SANTA ROSA SYMPHONY
by Steve Osborn
Saturday, May 6, 2023
Symphony
ALASDAIR NEALE’S JUBILANT FAREWELL TO MARIN SYMPHONY
by Abby Wasserman
Saturday, April 22, 2023
Opera
SANTA ROSA'S MAJESTICAL MAGIC FLUTE IN WEILL
by Pamela Hicks Gailey
Saturday, April 15, 2023
Choral and Vocal
SPLENDID GOOD FRIDAY RUTTER REQUIEM AT CHURCH OF THE ROSES
by Pamela Hicks Gailey
Friday, April 7, 2023
Chamber
A JOURNEY THROUGH MUSICAL TIME
by Abby Wasserman
Sunday, April 2, 2023
Symphony
ORCHESTRA SHOWPIECES CLOSE SO CO PHIL'S SEASON
by Terry McNeill
Saturday, April 1, 2023
Symphony
FROM THE DANUBE TO PUERTO RICO
by Steve Osborn
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Chamber
SAKURA AND THE MUSICAL ART OF ARRANGEMENT
by Abby Wasserman
Sunday, March 12, 2023
Chamber
WEIGHTY RUSSIAN SONATAS IN MALOFEEV'S 222 GALLERY RECITAL
by Terry McNeill
Sunday, March 12, 2023
Chamber
ARRON-PARK DUO IN CAPTIVATING OAKMONT RECITAL
by Terry McNeill
Thursday, March 9, 2023
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 Boreal Trio |
BOREAL AURORA RISES OVER OAKMONT
by Terry McNeill
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Opening the new year Jan. 9 at Music at Oakmont the Boreal Trio played a program of two diverse and distinct parts, the emphasis on charm rather than drama.
The bucolic first half had lyrical and low-volume works by Schumann and Mozart, the latter's "Kegelstatt" Trio in E-Flat Major (K. 498) setting a tranquil tone. This trio doesn't have a menacing note throughout, but in past performances I have heard the piano and clarinet lines covering the viola. Here Juan-Miguel Hernandez' viola line was always audible, often in fetching duos with clarinetist Uriel Vanchestein. Occasionally Mr. Vanchestein sounded a bit reserved, but in many ways that approach served the serene music well.
The quiet ambiance continued in Schumann's Op. 132 "Fairy Tales," the four short sections brimming with romantic yearning. Pianist Wonny Song played the day's first real forte in the dramatic Lebhaft und sehr markiert movement, the most Brahms-like part of the 1853 composition. The Boreal's playing reached a peak in the sweet third section, a love song with unison instrumental lines and a sublime and tender ending.
Ensemble playing in the concluding Lebhaft, sehr markiert was excellent, tying together a rarely-played work of elegance and nostalgia.
Five of Bruch's eight Op. 83 Pieces were played after intermission and the rich Romanticism again recalled Brahms' autumnal works and harmonic language. The orchestral and relentless Allegro Agitato opened the set with flair, moving to a Nachtgesang (night song) where nearing the end the viola handed off the melodic line to the clarinet, with Mr. Vanchestein playing a deft descending and ascending chromatic scale in perfect legato. These were more substantial pieces than those of the first half, clearly so in the adventuresome harmonies of the Moderato that looked back to both Brahms and Schumann, and the bouncy and effervescent Allegro Vivace finale. Mr. Song was had a greater role here, sewing together the string and wind lines with bouncy rhythms.
Though the Bruch was for me the day's highlight, Alfred Uhl's neoclassical Trio "Kleines Konzert" from 1938 came close. It was a bit of a cold shower after the previous works with a bigger piano part, many off-beat accents and a snazzy viola and clarinet duet in the spooky Allegro con Brio's cadenza. It was café music played with grace. A slow march morphed into a lament, with Mr. Song sounding chimes with his left hand and Mr. Hernandez playing uniquely with the tip of his bow on the viola's C and G strings. In the concluding Vivo, the Boreal took a fast tempo and played the virtuosic and showy movement with aplomb. A sudden forte chord closed an exciting performance.
The encore, Mr. Vanchestein's "Moment Musical," was announced as a study in the style of Rachmaninoff and Scriabin, but I could find neither Russian composer's music in the short romantic study of swirling clarinet phrases. It was a bon-bon to a light and pleasurably non-traditional musical meal.
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