Articles

Anaclase

June 2007

6/8/2007 Sejong Concert @ Salle Gaveau, Paris

18 months after performing Britten, Penderecki, and Schubert at Salle Cortot, the New York-based ensemble Sejong returned to Paris with a completely different program. Its young artists played on instruments of dream including Minozzi, Gaudagnini, Bergonzi, Gagliano, Stradivarius, and Guaneri to name a few, offering Spring at the first part of the concert. First piece was Las cuatro estaciones protenas, initially written for bandoneon, bass, piano, violin, and guitar by Astor Piazzolla between 1965 and 1970 and ingeniously adopted some ten years ago for a solo violin and orchestra by Leonid Desiatnikov (born in Ukraine in 1955, currently living in Russia, and composer of several operas and numerous film scores).

The piece was executed by four soloists playing each season successively and each soloist expressed as well as possible to realize the Argentinean vision. Frank Huang opened with the passionate, nervous, and impatient Spring, which was occasionally accompanied in tutti by a contrabass played by Rachel Calin. Despite the fact that it was just one bass, the sound was nothing short of being rich and full. Ji In Yang playing Summer executed neatly but lacked energy and engagement which does not really delineate the Vivaldi motives. It seemed that this music was played with difficulty without a conductor. In the rough style of Autumn finds Emilie-Anne Gendron playing with warmth and in beautiful color. Lastly, Yura Lee performs the graceful but bitter Winter doloroso with a sound that is not as rich but with an undeniable sense of expression.

Commissioned by the Great Mountains International Music Festival, Gangwon Province, South Korea, Four Seasons of PyeongChang (dedicated to the region) by Sukhi Kang, born in Seoul in 1934, is composed of eight short movements, given here in European premiere. Stefan Milenkovich, the soloist of this piece was particularly noticeable giving dynamic palette and flora in this hybrid composition. Why hybrid? Because this work seemed to have absorbed and traversed 20th century esthetics, showing personal taste towards the Second Viennese School or the Central European ostinati with Reichian repetitions transcended by lyricism that perhaps points to certain works by Takemitsu. The piece was undeniably well put together but at the same time, one wonders where to find the actual voice of the composer.

The best moment of rendezvous with Sejong came after the intermission: Seranade in C by Tchaikovsky. The first movement reminded all of us of the taste of rich pâte while the end of the Waltz in second movement was done most elegantly. The Elegy gave off beautiful balance, maintaining the delicacy of overall nuance in a fluid articulation, which later made the profound half-tone opening in Finale all the more magnificent.