A collection of three French horns and a bass trombone doesn’t sound like an exciting way to open a chamber music recital. On Monday night, however, this was going to be a concert that ran counter to expectations at every turn.
So it was that horn players Michael Thornton, Christine Ott and Christian León with trombonist John Rojak entered Packard Hall for the fourth of five Festival Artists Concerts for this 40th anniversary edition of the Colorado College Summer Musical Festival. They were charged with realizing the Choros No. 4 by Heitor Villa-Lobos.
Ott and León are fellows (students) at the festival who joined their faculty (professionals) for the performance. That’s the fact. The reality is that these aspiring young musicians performed superbly, matching the quality and intelligence of their teachers to render a superb performance.
The Brazilian composer’s somber, modernist tones were ultimately won over by an irresistible Afro-Cuban dance, and the concert was properly christened. There would not be another discouraging musical word uttered for the next 90 minutes.
Despite its being the standard-bearer for the art form, the string quartet is seldom heard during this annual June festival. Nonetheless, violinists Stephen Rose and Steven Copes, violist Toby Appel and cellist Bion Tsang were set to perform Strum by contemporary American composer Jessie Montgomery.
Utilizing an abundance of string plucking and hand strumming, the award-winning composer’s collage of folk and blues traditions is always going to be a satisfying short musical story. In the hands of these master players, it became much more than that.
Easily overcoming its technical demands, they captured the joy and humor that many an ensemble would have glossed over. An eruption of audience approval followed.
American Eric Ewazen wrote his Ballade, Pastorale and Dance for flute, horn, and piano in 1993. The composer’s close relationship with the American Brass Quintet allowed its trumpeter Kevin Cobb and trombonist John Rojak to coerce the composer to set the Pastorale for their instruments and piano. Susan Grace took on the keyboard, and the trio realized the most pleasing and appealing five minutes of music yet presented at this season’s festival.
To make this happen, Grace had to lay down a flawless canvas of ongoing arpeggios; Rojak had to transform his potentially awkward brass beast into a purveyor of long and rich legato line; and Cobb had to produce the aura of a flute with his trumpet.
Soviet-era composer Nikolai Kapustin was an ardent fan of jazz and composed his Trio for flute, cello and piano, Op. 86 synthesizing classical form with jazz melody and harmony. The players: Julie Thornton, Bion Tsang and John Novacek, making his 2024 festival debut.
Concertgoers have grown to expect this kind of music to be perfect fodder for Novacek’s fingers. Forget printed notes. He played as if inventing the music as it went along.
Thornton couldn’t hide her absolute joy at being able to paint jazz riffs with her flute, which she did brilliantly with sweet and soaring melody. Tsang’s more classically bound cello matched the ease of Thornton’s sound but could not shake its more formal heritage. And me? I would have preferred to hear these guys perform real jazz in a more intimate setting.
It would be a grand finale. Nine players were taxed with realizing the seldom-performed Nonet in E-flat Major by French composer Louise Farrenc (1804-1875). Never heard of Farrenc? While she attained a great deal of notoriety as a pianist and composer during her lifetime, she occurs only as a footnote in music history. If only she could have been there last night to hear this performance.
Andrew Wan (violin), Virginia Barron (viola), festival alumni William Cayanan (cello), Susan Cahill (bass), Alice Dade (flute), Robert Walters (oboe), Richard Hawkins (clarinet), Michael Kroth (bassoon) and Michael Thornton (horn) filled this stage for the four-movement Romantic-era composition, sounding more like a solid effort from Mozart or Haydn.
This was remarkable ensemble playing and, as such, it would be a misstep to call out any individual performance except to say that this marked the festival debut for Hawkins. The entertainment was ceaseless with precious moments of beauty matched by ample opportunity to respond with laughter to Farrenc’s witty writing.
Yet another musical miracle at the festival: An obscure composition was transformed into an artistic happening that few in attendance will soon forget.
