“Where’s the Mendelssohn?” My mild joke, ventured while talking to
Toby Saks, cellist and mastermind of the Seattle Chamber Music
Society’s Winter Festival (Thurs–Sun Jan 22–25,
Recital Hall at Benaroya, 283-8808, $42–$160, $10 for those 25
and younger), yields a friendly though revealing reply: “We don’t
really do thematic programming.”
Forget the can’t-miss, cash-in allure of the Felix
Mendelssohn (1809–1847) bicentennial this year: Only two of the
festival’s 18 pieces are by the elegant German composer. Instead, a
bevy of Brahms (the Sextet for Strings, op. 36 and duos for
violin and piano) complements Ravel’s solo piano landmark Gaspard de
la nuit and works by Beethoven, Dvorák, Tchaikovsky,
Stravinsky (the minor yet charming Suite Italienne), and
Lutoslawski.
Saks segues into a detailed discussion about assembling programs for
a chamber-music concert. “I always have in mind what comes before and
what comes after in a concert program,” Saks muses about balancing
Mozart with Messiaen, heeding suggestions from performers, and how
to match the right musicians to specific compositions. Where else have
I heard such a fascination with sequencing, correlation, and order?
Afterward, I make the connection: I’ve been talking to a DJ.
Instead of matching beats and textures, Saks fixates on the lingering
emotional and intellectual echo of each composition, treating the
preconcert tension, intervening silences, and the intermission as a
segue to be calibrated and honed. I look forward to the opening night
buildup to the Brahms sextet, which caps off Beethoven’s early
though meaty Trio op.1 no. 2 and the short, folk-flavored,
Bartók-ish Dance Preludes for clarinet and piano by
Lutoslawski. Each night of the festival mixes well-chosen hits with
obscure gems; peruse the complete program at www.scmf.org.
Though I wish the Winter Festival would program more new and new-ish
chamber music, the Seattle Chamber Players do so steadfastly in
a pair of concerts this weekend that champion living composers from
Russia and Central Asia (Sat Jan 24 at 8 pm, Sun Jan 25 at 7 pm, Town
Hall, 286-5052, $15–$20). The first night showcases the
“avant-folk” style of Vladimir Martynov, whose Night
in Galicia sounds like Stravinsky’s hieratic Les Noces filtered through Philip Glass, and two more Russian composers:
Alexander Raskatov and Vladimir Nikolayev. A veritable sonic
travelogue, the second night features music by living composers from
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, and Georgia (the former Soviet
republic, not the Southern state), notably Giya Kancheli‘s
luminous Ninna Nanna
.
Also, Eric Glick Rieman treks up from San Diego to collaborate with
trumpeter Lesli Dalaba and all-around sonic treasure Stuart
Dempster (Sat Jan 24, Chapel Performance Space, 8 pm, $5–$15
suggested donation). Playing a Fender Rhodes electric piano with rods,
a double-bass bow, and other unexpected implements, Rieman
transforms the anchor of ’70s jazz and pop into a miniature percussion
ensemble.
Finally, don’t miss the final night of the festival Is That Jazz?
with New York guitarist, composer, and sound-shredder Elliott
Sharp (Thurs Jan 22, Chapel Performance Space, 8 pm, $15 suggested
donation). 
