French Connection - ChamberFest Cleveland

Description

Aaron Copland described Fauré’s lush and romantic second piano quartet as “a long sigh of infinite tenderness, a long moment of quiet melancholy and nostalgic charm.” In one movement Fauré recalls the bells of the village in which he grew up. Franćaix’s trio is so cool, so quirky, so charmant – so French – you can almost hear the beret! In Pesson’s oeuvre it is rare to hear instruments used in a traditional way. Basing his work on a Brahms Ballade, Pesson used the metaphor “of an object that had fallen into the sea and which, oxidized and covered with coral, is both emphasized by the additive wear and concealed from one’s gaze.” Stravinsky wrote these pieces shortly after Le Sacre du Printemps and just before moving to France; they are as far from the other works on the program as possible while still having a French connection. Composed in memory of his “Les Six” colleague Arthur Honegger, Poulenc’s sonata quotes from his own famed mass, Gloria. The work’s premiere was given by Leonard Bernstein and commissioner Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall two months after Poulenc’s death.

FRANCIS POULENC Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
IGOR STRAVINSKY Three Pieces for String Quartet
GÉRARD PESSON Nebenstück for Clarinet and String Quartet
JEAN FRANĆAIX String Trio (1933)
GABRIEL FAURÉ Piano Quartet No. 2, Op, 45

Artists:
Julie Albers, cello
Jessica Bodner, viola
Diana Cohen, violin
Franklin Cohen, violin
Matt Cohen, viola
Dane Johansen, cello
Nathan Meltzer, violin
Juho Pohjonen, piano
Roman Rabinovich, piano
Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin
Itamar Zorman, violin

Sponsored with support of the Jewish Federation’s Cleveland Israel Arts Connection.

Cost: $15 - $40