World-class musicianship on display at Chamber Music Society Winter Festival

Concert Review |

When Adam Neiman decided to scale the white-knuckled heights of Liszt's "Transcendental Etudes" at a preconcert recital to kick off Seattle Chamber Music Society's Winter Festival, he set a high bar for himself, and for the rest of the musicians who would play after him.

Much of Thursday's opening night lived up to Neiman's bravura performance of the first five etudes. Although each of the miniatures was fiendishly difficult, the "Mazeppa" was especially demonic in its gruesome evocation of a man being dragged to death behind a horse. The remaining etudes will be divided between Saturday's and Sunday's free recitals — a treat festivalgoers should not to miss.

With just a few minutes to catch his breath, Neiman returned to open Thursday night's concert proper in Turina's Quintet for Piano and Strings in G minor. He was joined by violinists Scott Yoo and Erin Keefe, violist Emily Daggett Smith, and cellist Andrés Díaz.

An unassuming piece that opens in a pensive, rambling manner, the Turina gathered momentum in fits and starts, fairly bursting at the seams by its conclusion. Always a dependable player, Yoo was especially inspired during the last movement.

The Sonata for Cello and Piano in F Major is Brahms at his most lush and evocative. It could have been an easy romantic valentine from husband-wife duo Edward Arron and Jeewon Park. Instead, there was an over-the-top manic edge to Arron's cello that did not quite sync with Park's precise, velvety piano.

If the Brahms was a bit of a puzzler, the Shostakovich Quintet for Piano and Strings in G minor exceeded the crowd's high expectations. The ensemble playing of violinists Stefan Jackiw and Ida Levin, violist Richard O'Neill, cellist Ronald Thomas, and pianist William Wolfram reached a polished brilliance during the Allegretto, when the five artists created a synchronized mechanism of sound that shone with metallic glints and textures.

As first violinist, Jackiw spent long stretches of time utterly exposed. The Lento in particular is a precarious balancing act, as the first violin must find purchase on notes that are whisper-thin and achingly high. He was a model of restraint and control.

Perhaps the most memorable moment of the night came near the end of the Finale, when Jackiw's violin was twinned by O'Neill's viola. This stunning pas de deux was an unmistakable reminder of the world-class level of musicianship that makes this festival so gratifying.

Sumi Hahn: sumi@bewodo.org