Yellow Barn performance plucks emotional chords
PUTNEY, Vt. — Yellow Barn sounded as colorful as a rainbow on Thursday, its program of chamber music opening with a convincing performance of the Shostakovich String Quartet No. 7, in F-sharp minor. Violinists Li Lao and Liesl Schoenberger, violist Margaret Dyer, and cellist Clara Lee, sifted through the details in the work to harness its scattered connections. They brought fiery intensity to the first section of the finale, and found humor in the broken dances of a trio that progresses into near emptiness and self-quotation.
The final chord of this quartet is undoubtedly one of the saddest, most emotionally draining major chords ever scored in chamber music. The ensemble froze after sounding it and allowed its pall to wash over us unexpectedly, in poised silence.
For the “Chansons madécasses’’ by Maurice Ravel, pianist Boris Berman and soprano Susan Narucki, both faculty members at Yale, were joined by flutist Sooyun Kim and cellist Han Bin Yoon. There were times in the second and third songs of the three-song cycle when the ensemble was able to sustain the elusive and often seductive qualities that make the work magical. While individual performances were filled with memorable moments, the ensemble, particularly in the first movement, overpowered the voice.
The performance of “Ode (in memory of Che Guevara)’’ by the 20th-century Russian composer Edison Denisov was shaped and driven by the clarinet. Rob Patterson, played the part with command, finding the extremes the work sought to articulate. Pianist Hui Wu made the piano writing seem strangely idiomatic, and percussionist Ian Rosenbaum brought thunder when needed but also made quieter textures glisten and sparkle.
After intermission we heard “Pulse,’’ written by Sebastian Currier (b. 1959), a work that exposed great sympathies between the guitar and viola. Spanning almost 20 minutes it was music of dance and meditation. Violist Katherine Murdock and guitarist Jaan Rannik gave a soulful performance, though at times it could have used a more sharply articulated rhythmic drive.
The evening closed with Schubert’s monumental Rondo in B minor for Piano and Violin, D. 895, played by violinist Wanzhen Li and pianist Michael Bukhman. The juxtaposition of moods and musical keys in this Rondo occurs with a frequency that can be dizzying, but Li established a sense of nostalgia in the Andante’s lyrical interlude that provided a framework for the musical journey. Her tone seemed to cry. Bukhman activated his innate musical GPS system and guided us through the turns, detours, and excursions of late Schubert. It was great playing; fun to hear.
Jeffrey Johnson can be reached at jjohnson@bridgeport.edu 
