By Eileen Wingard in La Jolla, California
Reshaping the Past, the Summerfest concert on Wednesday, August 5, featured two works, Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne, and Schubert’s Octet in F Major.
Originally written for the Diaghilev ballet, Pulcinella, Stravinsky took the baroque composer Giovanni Batista Pergolesi’s melodic and bass lines and added his own harmony and rhythmic additions. It was composed for an orchestra of 37 instruments, later arranged by Stravinsky and the great Russian-Jewish cellist, Gregor Piatigorsky for piano and cello duo, then, set by the American Jewish violinist, Samuel Dushkin, for violin and piano duo.
It is the cello-piano arrangement that the Moldavian accordion soloist of the evening, Radu Ratoi, “reshaped” for cello and accordion.
The African American cellist, Sterling Elliot, whose stellar playing has graced previous programs, played the cello part with Radu Ratoi on the accordion.
Of the five selections from the Suite Italienne the second one, Serenata, was particularly soulful with a beautiful melody to melt the heart. It was sung by the cello and answered by the accordion.
Franz Schubert’s Octet in F Major was modeled after Beethoven’s Septet. However, it added an additional violin to the instrumentation and its themes are all original Schubert creations. It was commissioned by the chief steward of the household of Archduke Rudolph, Count Ferdinand Troyer, who was a talented clarinetist.
Andrew Wan, concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony, played first violinist and led his forces in razor-sharp ensemble: second violinist, Karen Gomyo; violist, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt; cellist, Alisa Weilerstein; bassist, Timothy Cobb; clarinetist, Ricardo Morales; bassoonist, Eleni Katz; and hornist, Stefan Kohr.
With players such as the principal of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Ricardo Morales, on clarinet; world-renowned soloist, Alisa Weilerstein on cello; and the principal of the Berlin Philharmonic, Stefan Dohr, on horn, it is no wonder that this sounded like a definitive performance of this octet, overflowing with Schubertian grace.
The midweek concerts this summer are without intermission, and this one offered complimentary wine and an opportunity to meet the artists after the concert.
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Eileen Wingard, a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts.