SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Glière, James Matheson, Weber, Brahms: New York Philharmonic Ensembles, Merkin Concert Hall, New York City, 12.12.2010 (BH)

Glière: Eight Duets for Violin and Cello, Op. 39 (1909)

James Matheson: Quartet for Oboe and Strings (2008)

Weber: Trio in G minor, Op. 63, J.259 (1813? / 1818-19)

Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8 (1854; rev. 1889)

This outstanding afternoon at Merkin Concert Hall—a model of what chamber music concerts should be—not only gave pleasure on its own, musical terms, but revealed the depth of ranks in the New York Philharmonic. As a group, the orchestra has been playing at a very high level with Alan Gilbert at the helm, and this program showed the strengths of some of the ensemble’s unsung players.

After announcing that they would perform only six of Glière’s Eight Duets for Violin and Cello (causing laughter by announcing that “no censorship was involved”), Elizabeth Zeltzer (violin) and Elizabeth Dyson (cello) gave crisp, winning readings of these rarely done works. The moods range from muted nostalgia to sprightly counterpoint, and the verve shown by these two musicians made me wonder why these gems don’t show up on programs more often.

Dawn Hannay (viola) introduced James Matheson’s Quartet for Oboe and Strings, a moody, accomplished rumination on grafting an oboe onto a traditional string trio. Opening with a dramatic unison for the ensemble—a motif that recurs throughout—the group gradually morphs into a more polyphonic texture. In some passages Matheson exploits the oboe’s natural tendency to stand out against the string timbres by letting the reedy sound soar overhead, yet in others the oboe pulls back, almost demurely, as if trying to camouflage itself for the ride. Hannay was joined by Kuan-Cheng Lu (violin) and Eric Bartlett (cello), with Sherry Sylar as the restless oboeist.

The first half ended with a sparkling Weber Trio in G minor, with Anna Rabinova on violin (who introduced the piece), Wei Yu on cello, and Tatiana Goncharova on piano. Crisp attacks and cutoffs, coupled with some lyrical solos (such as in the middle “Shepherd’s Lament” marked Andante espressivo) led to a bravura final movement that had the entire room cheering.

For the finale, the orchestra’s concertmaster, Glenn Dicterow, spoke of a 21-year-old Brahms writing his Piano Trio No. 1, and the gypsy melodies beginning to make their appearance here—melodies that would inform so much of his later work. But Dicterow’s short talk gave no indication of the impassioned performance that would follow. With the superb Qiang Tu on cello, and Helene Jeanney making the difficult piano part seem easy, the three plunged into the piece with textures both gutsy and refined. After the brilliant Allegro conclusion, the audience let them know exactly how much their hard work meant with a prolonged ovation.

Bruce Hodges