Music from the 1750–1850 Century from ABS

Many (most?) readers probably know by now that 1750 is the year in which Johann Sebastian Bach died. In many ways it also marks the final year of the primary repertoire of American Bach Soloists (ABS). However, past Summer Bach Festival performances have explored engaging ways to go beyond the boundaries of that period, exploring either later or earlier music. Last night’s program for the current Festival chose to look forward, exploring the century interval that began in 1750.

That century probably embraces far more familiar composers than are encountered prior to 1750. Last night ABS featured two of them in a program entitled Classical Genius. The first half of the program was devoted to two chamber music compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the K. 285 flute quartet in D major and the K. 581 clarinet quintet in A major. The second half of the program was devoted entirely to Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 20 octet in E-flat major.

The high point of the evening was the performance of K. 581, prior to which clarinetist Thomas Carroll introduced the audience to his basset horn. That possessive pronoun is actually a “double whammy,” since Carroll is an instrument builder as well as a performer. He could thus explain the nature of the instrument, including its extended lower register, and demonstrate his explanations, rather than just talk about them. Since K. 581 is a relatively familiar composition, many in the audience probably approached it with expectations of that familiarity. However, Carroll’s insights cast new light (and sonorities) on a performance that was a far cry from the “same old same old” and thoroughly engaging to boot.

The K. 285 flute quartet is also relatively familiar. However, here again the audience was introduced to a period instrument. Those that had attended Sunday’s Harmonic Labyrinth concert had already encountered Miller’s flute, but the music of Bach and Georg Phillip Telemann is a far cry from Mozart’s inventiveness. There was an intimacy in Miller’s account of Mozart that distinguished last night’s performance from Sunday’s. As can be seen from the catalog number, Mozart was just emerging from his teens when he composed this quartet; but there was much to engage listener attention. Joined by Jacob Ashworth on violin, Ramón Negrón-Pérez on viola, and Gretchen Claassen on cello, Miller’s account made for a stimulating “overture” for last night’s program.

The first thing one observed in the performance of Mendelssohn’s octet was the seating of the performers. The layout basically presented two string quartets, one the “mirror image” of the other. The quartet on the left side consisted of violinists YuEun Gemma Kim and Ashworth, violist Yvonne Smith, and Claassen on cello. They were “reflected” by violinists Tatiana Chulochnikova and Tomà Iliev, violist Negrón-Pérez, and Kenneth Slowik on cello. This disposition of the eight players tended to facilitate the listening process, sorting out the origins of each thematic contribution.

That bad news was that, in the course of that sorting, it became quickly apparent that Kim was “first among the equals.” More often than not, it seemed as if she was pursuing more of Mendelssohn’s flights of fancy than any of her colleagues. In other words, while Mendelssohn was clearly adventurous in working with this particular instrumentation, there were times when one felt he had composed a concerto for violin and very small orchestra. One consequence is that it was not hard to escape noticing that Mendelssohn’s capacity for inventiveness fell far short of Mozart’s, suggesting that the Opus 20 might have had more impact in less innovative company.