Thursday, August 9, 2007 - Page updated at 05:14 PM
E-mail article
Print view Share:
Digg
Newsvine
Concert Review
Superb performances leave nothing to be desired
Seattle Times music critic
Concert review
The Seattle Chamber Music Society's Summer Festival at the Overlake School concludes with two concerts Friday, at 7 and 8 p.m. The final shows are sold out, but call 206-283-8808 about the waiting list.
Review
Overlake School, Redmond, Wednesday night
Any concert that gives you two performances in which you wouldn't change a note is a concert to remember.
That was the case Wednesday evening at the next-to-last program in the Seattle Chamber Music Society's Eastside venture, the Summer Festival at the Overlake School.
With an opening recital by cellist Joshua Roman, one of the major stars on the Northwest music scene, things were off to a terrific start. Roman, principal cellist of the Seattle Symphony, played the third of Britten's challenging solo Suites for Cello with such a sure musical sense and such a strongly characterized interpretation that there was literally nothing left to wish for. The tremendous contrasts between the suite's propulsive sections and the serenity of the folksong material created a great deal of drama, and Roman's technique was always remarkable. The incredible speed of the "Moto Perpetuo: Presto" movement made "The Flight of the Bumblebee" sound like "The Flight of the Musk Ox" in comparison.
Euphoric audiences drifted back into the concert hall for the main-event concert, to be met with a world-class performance of the Beethoven Piano Quartet in E-Flat Major (Op. 16): Violinist Stefan Jackiw, violist Richard O'Neill, cellist Robert deMaine and pianist Craig Sheppard were the players. It was a lesson in how this piece should sound. Every detail of expression was in place, with a unanimous approach that bespoke both refinement and tremendous power. There was plenty of keyboard thunder, as Sheppard brought to bear his deep understanding of Beethoven. From where I sat, the elegant Jackiw could have played out a bit more, but this may have been an acoustical factor.
Two great crowd-pleasers followed: Paul Schoenfield's jazzy, winning "Café Music" (with Scott Yoo, Ronald Thomas and Orion Weiss having a great time), and Dohnanyi's unevenly inspired Op. 37 Sextet, with its swooning salon-music episodes. Stephen Rose, David Harding, Roman, Frank Kowalsky, Jeffrey Fair and Anton Nel gave it a tremendous ride, with Nel's superb piano carrying the giant's share of the music.
Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

Enjoy 3 courses for $30, May 1-29
Dine at 23 new Seattle-area restaurants.
New Urban Eats, a dining event from NWsource.
View participating restaurants
Enter to win dinner for two
- Lofa Tatupu arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated
- Ken Griffey Jr.'s return could be a letdown rather than a triumph | Larry Stone
- Coinstar employee accused of stealing about $450,000
- Man who shot self with nail gun arrested on multiple charges
- Mirror, mirror on Mariners' wall: Time for a hard look | Larry Stone
- Slide in existing-home sales in state steepest in Central Puget Sound area
- Midweek rain could give way to record-breaking temperatures by Saturday
- Barry Bonds charged with 14 counts of lying to a grand jury
- Beaches suffer as walls go up
- Coinstar thefts were inside job, court documents show
- Microsoft's free WorldWide Telescope brings Windows users up close to the universe
- Lofa Tatupu arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated
- Midweek rain could give way to record-breaking temperatures by Saturday
- Slide in existing-home sales in state steepest in Central Puget Sound area
- Young, evangelical ... for Obama?
- Beaches suffer as walls go up
- Starbucks struggles with reducing environmental impacts
- Flying toilet-class: Passenger says JetBlue made him sit in restroom
- How to increase your odds for ripe tomatoes | Plant Talk
- Forgotten toddler found wandering Vancouver airport after family boards flight




