Arts BHAM REVIEW

Review by:  MICHAEL HUEBNER

The Arianna String Quartet is an exemplary model for 21st-century string quartets. A full-time university residency allows it to spread its musical message far beyond its home base of St. Louis — in their case, to five continents. Its numerous education and outreach programs help ensure the progress and continuity of the art form. Recordings and festivals further heighten its visibility.

But the most apparent manifestations of such an endeavor come down to live musical performance, as  Arianna revealed Thursday in Brock Recital Hall in a concert jointly presented by the Birmingham Chamber Music Society, Davis Architects Guest Artist Series and Ted Haddin. An engaging, balanced program, coupled with playing that in many ways rivaled the world’s finest quartets, made this a memorable experience. It included Beethoven, an almost obligatory benchmark for quartets, together with a 2007 quartet by St. Louis native and Pulitzer Prize winning composer Kevin Puts, and Schumann’s piano quintet.

Beethoven’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3, the third of the Razumovsky quartets, defined Arianna’s sound – scrupulously blended yet sharply transparent, with an easy fluidity. It allows each player to emerge as a soloist (they are all established as such) or merge seamlessly into the whole. The opening Allegro vivace was taken at a fast clip, which produced a few minor technical glitches in scale passages, but on the whole the movement was filled with tension and anticipation. That segued nicely to the slow second movement, which honed in on the depth of cellist Kurt Baldwin and violist Joanna Mendoza.Puts’ “Credo” immediately establishes an open tonal landscape, a minimalist atmosphere occasionally interrupted by stray dissonances but remaining ever grounded. Its extramusical narratives – a stringed instrument workshop, cityscapes in Pittsburgh and New York – aren’t readily apparent without the aid of program notes, but the work stands vividly on its own. Arianna is clearly enamored with this Americana tableau, its heartfelt melodic exchanges, furious outbursts, and plaintive solos ensuring its place in the repertoire.

For Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 114, the quartet was joined by the Isareli pianist Einav Yarden, whose chamber music sensibilities fit the quartet’s like a glove. The thick-textured opener vacillated between power and lyricism, the Scherzo by sweeping scales. Yarden clearly led the way in defining the work’s dynamic shifts in the final Allegro, leading the quintet to a brilliant conclusion.In the Menuetto, scales intersected and criss-crossed with ease and clarity. In the finale, the quartet exceeded its Allegro molto marking. Exaggerated accents and imitative entries were negotiated with blazing speed and precision, violinists John McGrosso and Julia Sakharova matching Baldwin and Mendoza in each phrase.

Full review on ArtBHAM.com

Kansas City's Online Journal of the Arts REVIEW: East meets West in fruitful collaboration

The Arianna String Quartet with the Kyo-Shin-An Arts trio   Photo: Karen Palmer

Review by:  Lee Hartman

After a day of celebrating the Royals’ World Series victory, things were decidedly more quiet at UMKC for the Conservatory Artists Series’s presentation of the Arianna String Quartet and Kyo-Shin-An Arts trio. Those who could drag themselves out of their elated stupor bore witness to a remarkable program and performance combining the Western string quartet tradition and that of Japanese Sankyoku [trio].

Kyo-Shin-An Arts began the program with Yachiyo Jishi, a traditional sankyoku dating from the middle-eighteenth century by Fujinaga Kengyo. Set in three sections, this Lion Piece depicts a lion sleeping who becomes disturbed and then executes a wild dance. Though the “wildness” of the music loses something in translation for Western ears, the piece was beautifully rendered by Yoko Reikano Kimura on shamisen (a Japanese guitar/banjo) and voice, Yumi Kurosawa on 20-string koto (zither), and James Nyoraku Schlefer on shakuhachi (flute). Kimura’s voice was rich and full-bodied and easily carried over the delicate ensemble.

The Arianna String Quartet followed with a performance of Claude Debussy’s String Quartet in G Minor unlike any I have ever heard before. Typically the playing of impressionistic Debussy is muted, wishy-washy, and polite. Arianna infused this work with a dose of pre-impressionism as befitted the time in which it was composed. As such, humor and aggression, passionate reds and playful purples, burst forth with exuberance. This performance was immediately gripping and showed artists with much to say about the music they were playing. The few intonation slips were secondary to this elucidating rendition. It was stunning work all around.

If it was possible to top the sublime Debussy, Kyo-Shin-An Arts and Arianna did so with James Nyoraku Schlefer’s Dream Corner. A fusion of Eastern traditional ensemble and Western string quartet, Dream Corner is among the most convincing, integrated, and musical fusion of the two ensembles and philosophies. Schlefer, one of the few handful of non-Japanese to ever achieve the rank of Grand Master of shakuhachi, clearly knows both idioms. All too often pieces in this genre are used for artificial timbral effects or pandering attempts at inclusivity, neither of which were present in Schlefer’s monumental eleven-movement work. Each instrument was essential, and Schlefer’s explorations of possible timbral combinations created a clear palette for each player to work musical magic as soloists, concerted, or ensemble members. Telling the story of two lovers who meet only in dreams, the piece echoed back to the two previous works in its elegance and vibrancy. Three of the standout movements were the opening shakuhachi solo Overture, the fourth movement’s energetic ensemble Dance, and “Down and Dirty,” also for the entire ensemble. “Slow,” the ninth movement, was a masterpiece in simplicity and my personal favorite. This almost-passacaglia of two declamatory attacks followed by long silences ever so gradually filled the open spaces with achingly gorgeous lines from each performer.

It’s a shame that more weren’t in attendance for this recital that will probably appear on my list of favorites at the end of the season. Both the music presented and the performances were of the highest caliber. As the only visiting artist to appear on this season of the Conservatory Artist Series, it is distressing to see the UMKC Conservatory not bringing more events like this to Kansas City as its comparable nearby public state institutions at KU and UCMO manage to do in Lawrence and Warrensburg.

Full Review on KCMetropolis.org.