Home2Home concert review

“Variations on Life’s Theme”

May 15th, 2020

by Richard Steen, YSM ‘72 MMA ‘78 DMA

Last Friday evening, the 2nd edition of Home2Home’s virtual concerts was presented by recent graduates of the Yale School of Music (YSM), sponsored by the performing arts charitable organization “The Sound Bridges.” In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has, unfortunately, curtailed opportunities for live performances with audiences, the four organizers of Home2Home have created a virtual venue for performances by themselves and their network of musical collaborators.

The program consists of performer-selected “favorites” that hold a personal meaning, and that fit this concert’s theme of “Transformations.” As it turned out, the program itself was one of the evening’s “wow” factors, not only for its construction, but also for the unusually high quality and ground-breaking content. It balanced classical stalwarts Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, with top-tier works by four international music intellects of the twentieth century, Armenian folksong composer Komitas Vartepet, German composer, violist, music theorist Paul Hindemith, Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, and Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu. Among several fine contemporary compositions, the program also featured a “transformation” of sorts in the solo marimba transcription from a Concerto movement by Yale faculty composer Christopher Theofanidis. The program’s eight groupings of performers were bookended by selections from J. S. Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” setting a serious, stately tone, apropos of the serious challenges of our time.

Jonathan Salamon's rhythmically precise performance of the opening theme “Aria” on a well-tempered, single keyboard harpsichord, employed subtle phrasing and registral contrasts to delineate form. 

Anush Avetisyan, soprano, accompanied herself in a picturesque Armenian folksong by Komitas Vartapet, translated as “The Little Partridge” followed by “A vucchella,” the popular Neapolitan song by Paulo Tosti. Ms. Avetisyan, a very poised performer, acknowledged the legacy of retiring Yale vocal and opera directors Doris Yarick Cross and Richard Cross, as among those who have prepared her for a professional career. Even while playing the piano, her attractive soprano voice revealed a supported, even, and relaxed freedom throughout her range, all prerequisites for career longevity.

Alexandra Simpson, violist and one of the organizers of Home2Home, played a grant-funded composition by Steven Juliani. “Sarabande,” named after the baroque dance form, is somber in spirit and well suited to the rich tone and legato phrasing with which Ms. Simpson played her viola. 

Leo Sussman and Felice Doynov performed as a remotely separated flute duo. Mr. Sussman had composed a minute long “Canon”, which was the perfect introduction, before flute duets by Mozart and American composer Robert Muczynski. Aided by visual queueing and an audio feed into an earbud, Mr. Sussman and Ms. Doynov successfully overcame the remote distance challenges, rendering musically satisfying performances that were rhythmically secure and balanced. 

Florrie Marshall, violist, and Sophiko Simsive, pianist, collaborated on the third movement titled “Phantasie – sehr langsam, frei” from Hindemith’s “Sonata for Viola and Piano, 1939,” perhaps the most complex and difficult of several compositions he wrote for his primary performing instrument, the viola. During his third trip to the United States, having already fled Nazi Germany for Switzerland, the Sonata was completed just days before he (on viola) premiered it at Harvard University in 1939 and repeated two days later in NYC’s Town Hall. This Sonata clearly reflects the anxiety that Hindemith, already a world renowned musician, experienced in fleeing Nazi Germany,.

The short third movement “Phantasie” begins with an ascending lyrical chromatic theme alternating between piano and viola, accompanied by arpeggiated sextuplets that gradually crescendo to a forceful midpoint inflection. The tranquil second section, and pensive closing bars seem poised for an energized final movement, which we would hope to hear upon Ms. Simsive’s safe return from her home in the country of Georgia to New York City to continue her graduate studies. Ms. Marshall elicited sonorous resonance from the viola, gliding through chromatic passages with seamless legato while Ms. Simsive’s piano playing had rhythmic precision and faithfully executed the score’s specified dynamics and tempo changes.

Percussionist Sam Seyong Um delighted the online audience with two selections played on Marimba, an instrument favored by many composers for its dulcet tones, melodic, chordal and rhythmic capabilities and an absorbing aural and visual impact, especially in the hands of this talented performer. “Aria” was adapted by Mr. Um for marimba from the first movement of Concerto (2013) for Marimba and Wind Sinfonietta by Yale School of Music composer Christopher Theofanidis.

Mr. Um’s elegant performance highlights dynamically varied tremolo chords, most prominently in the marimba’s resonant lower register. Intermittent surges and relaxations of tempo were communicated choreographically as though Mr. Um were conducting an ensemble. The composition fully exploits the classical tonal beauty of the instrument, and the composition’s harmonic and melodic expressivity, perhaps reminiscent of a vocal aria. Mr. Um closed with a “Transformational” transcription from the prolific Japanese composer, Toru Takemitsu’s arrangement of The Beatle’s ballad, “Yesterday.” 

Rachel Ostler, violinist, performed “Fratres,” 1977 (Latin for “Brothers”), by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, a fine example of structured minimalism, a style he invented and named “Tintinnabuli.” “Fratres” is comprised of nine minor-modal, variable-length segments of arpeggiated and triadic harmonies over an open fifth pedal point, each segment delineated by two gentle bell-like percussions and a strummed pianissimo triads. For the analytically inclined, each segment cycles through three unequal length combinatorial sequences. Aesthetically, this eleven minute composition is hauntingly beautiful and moving, and the slightly altered segments are harmonically unified, yet mesmerizing. 

Arvo Pärt intentionally did not specify instrumentation for “Fratres,” though the texture implies multiple instruments. In the spirit of Home2Home’s concept and “Transformations” theme, Ms. Ostler enterprisingly preassembled the accompanying voices by layering her own recordings of the parts, in essence, creating a one-woman performance of “Fratres.” Against this composite, Ms. Ostler performed the varying combinatorial sequences across a wide range of registers, articulations and dynamic extremes, and culminating in the final segment played on eerie sounding, straight-toned harmonics. Despite the steep learning curve in preparing the soundtrack, Ms. Ostler’s performance from memory was fully engaged in conveying this masterpiece’s haunting introspection, while her technique appeared virtually flawless in intonation, phrasing and audience communication.

Pianist Dominic Cheli closed the program with four select variations and closing “Aria” from the Goldberg Variations, played on a modern equal-tempered piano and rendered sensitively with a clear tonal pallet. Mr. Cheli preceded the Bach with his own compelling transcription for solo piano of a lesser performed Beethoven Lied, "An die Hoffnung," the first of two settings of the strophic poem "Urania" by Tiedge.

As remote consumers of Home2Home, one could not hope for a more imaginative, global, and historically representative blend of interesting compositions than those selected by these stellar instrumentalists and vocalist. These informed performers are both “transforming” and raising the bar for being a well-rounded professionals. Most are proving to be fearless innovators with arts-related technologies by embracing new modalities such as virtual collaboration and global streaming. In addition to nurturing their musical talents, the Yale School of Music community seems to have also emphasized the promotional aspects of music, of networking with the public, and collaborating with fellow artists across all genres. The musicians represented on this program are all poised and joyful communicators. These appealing ambassadors for music relish the vital role that music plays in our global society and represent what is truly beautiful, optimistic and spiritually elevating in our lives.

PROGRAM

YSM MM ‘17, DMA ‘23 | JONATHAN SALAMON, HARPSICHORD

J. S. Bach - “Goldberg Variations” I. Aria

YSM MM ‘18 | ANUSH AVETISYAN, SOPRANO

Paolo Tosti - "A vuchella"

Komitas Vartapet - "Kakavik"

YSM MM ‘17 MMA ‘18 | ALEXANDRA SIMPSON, VIOLA

Steven Juliani - “Sarabande for Solo Viola” (written for Alexandra through the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music)

YSM MM ‘18 | LEO SUSSMAN, FLUTE, AND YSM MM ‘18 | FELICE DOYNOV, FLUTE

Leo Sussman - "Canon"

W. A. Mozart - "Flute Duet" K.157 No. 4

Robert Muczynski - "Flute Duet" Op. 34: II. Allegro risoluto

YSM MM ‘18 DMA ‘25 | FLORRIE MARSHALL, VIOLA AND YSM MM ‘18 | SOPHIKO SIMSIVE, PIANO

Paul Hindemith - “Sonata for viola and piano, 1939” III. Phantasie. Sehr langsam, frei

YSM MM ‘18 | SAM SEYONG UM, PERCUSSION

Christopher Theofanidis - "Aria"

Beatles arr. by Toru Takemitsu- "Yesterday"

YSM MMA ‘18 | RACHEL OSTLER, VIOLIN

Arvo Pärt - “Fratres”

YSM MM ‘16 | DOMINIC CHELI, PIANO

Ludwig V. Beethoven arr. by Dominic Cheli- "An Die Hoffnung" Op.32

J. S. Bach - “Goldberg Variations” selected variations and closing Aria