Chameleon Series Review Nov. 2007 Palm Beach Post Saturday, December 1 2007
November 30, 2007 Review: Chameleon chamber music series Even in compositional lives as well-known as those of Mozart and Brahms, there are many pages of music that deserve to be heard more often, but which for one reason or another suffer neglect. Just reviving the music isn't enough. Commitment on the part of musicians who interpret these works is vital, and last Sunday at the Leiser Opera Center in Fort Lauderdale, a receptive audience got to hear both: Wonderful scores and passionate musicians who brought them to life. In the opening afternoon of its three-concert season, the Chameleon chamber music series offered powerful performances of a late string trio by Mozart and an early string sextet by Brahms, plus a solo viola version of a J.S. Bach suite for solo cello. The camaraderie on the part of the musicians — Florida International University resident ensemble the Amernet Quartet (pictured above), joined by violist Chauncey Patterson and Chameleon founder Iris van Eck on cello — was evident throughout this nourishing, enlightening afternoon of great chamber music, beautifully played. For the six-movement Divertimento for string trio (in E-flat, K. 563) of Mozart, van Eck was joined by violist Michael Klotz and violinist Misha Vitenson. This trio, which dates from 1788, provides compelling evidence of the scholarly contention that Mozart, for all his wondrous ability displayed so young, was in reality a late bloomer as a composer. It's in works such as this that we can hear a musician who is innovating in almost each bar, confounding expectations every step of the way. Vitenson, Klotz and van Eck blended nicely as an ensemble, with a springy, tightly controlled sound that allowed the solo writing to spin off logically from the core and at the same time offered the ability to sustain a single mood for a sustained period of time. This was clear right from the start of the piece, with a standard Mozartean chordal-outline opening and gentle answer followed by a sudden blizzard of scales from violin and viola that suggested the music would be taking in a good deal of territory. Some of the most compelling playing came in the fourth movement, a theme and variations that exploits a wealth of styles and colors, including a minor-key moment in which the three musicians created a persuasive mood of antiquity. The restraint with which they played the fifth movement Minuet provided excellent contrast with the preceding movement and the finale, a wide-open piece full of rich, soaring melody and difficult string writing. Violist Klotz opened the concert with the First Cello Suite (in G major, BWV 1007) of Bach. Klotz's tempos were on the slow, reflective side, particularly in the opening Prelude and closing Gigue, and it worked well for his kind of playing, which is elegant, technically polished, and very sensitive. His sound is more focused and penetrating than it is large, but it's very attractive and full of personality; I enjoyed hearing his intimate reading of this famous music, which worked just as well on the viola as it does on the cello. The second half of the concert was devoted to the Sextet in B-flat, Op. 18, of Brahms, completed in 1860 when the composer was in his late 20s. This is a long, gorgeous work, full of rapturous melodic invention and a marvelous ear for the myriad textures you can get out of two violins, two violas and two cellos. The Amernet Quartet (Vitenson, violinist Marcia Littley, Klotz, and cellist Javier Arias) joined forces with Patterson and van Eck for the Brahms, and from the first minute it was clear that all six musicians would be focusing all their efforts on giving this work an all-out performance. The strength and forcefulness of the group's playing in the first movement was ideal for the bigness of Brahms' writing, with its long-breathed tunes and fat harmonies. Arias' solo work, intense and accomplished, was particularly compelling here. And as it was with the Mozart, contrast was crucial for the Brahms. The widely ranging second movement (also a theme and variations), which covered an encyclopedia of emotion, was sharply differentiated from the brief scherzo that followed, to which the sextet gave a light, delicate touch. The finale, a catchy rondo, ends excitingly as the instruments speed up to a whirlwind close for the last bars. The group's exemplary level of communication paid off handsomely as the six players galloped to the exuberant ending, at which point the audience's shouts of approval showed just how wrapped up they'd been throughout the piece. Chamber music is a uniquely rewarding form because so many of the greatest composers' most profound thoughts were entrusted to these small ensembles. And when the playing is at as high a level as it was for the Chameleon concert, it comes close to being the only kind of music-making that truly satisfies. Posted by Greg Stepanich at November 30, 2007 7:00 PM
Chameleon Series Concert Review Nov. 2007 Sun -Sentinel Saturday, December 1 2007
The Chameleon Musicians Series season opener on Sunday featured major works by two of the three B's, plus a rarely played Mozart masterwork as centerpiece. Fort Lauderdale's Leisure Opera Center ballroom is an inviting venue for chamber music, boasting warmly vibrant acoustics and the intimate aura of a salon.
The Amernet String Quartet joined cellist Iris van Eck (director of the Chameleon concerts) and violist Chauncey Patterson (formerly of the Miami String Quartet) for Brahms' Sextet No. 1 in B-flat Major. Resident ensemble at Florida International University, the Amernet players (Misha Vitenson and Marcia Littley, violins; Michael Klotz, viola; and Javier Arias, cello) brought heartfelt passion, generous expressivity and high-voltage excitement to one of Brahms' earliest chamber scores.
With a wonderful sense of romantic grandeur pervading the entire performance, the musicians' relaxed, spacious approach to the opening movement was almost improvisatory. Arias' glorious cello variations in the solemn Andante captured the movement's dramatic cast. Klotz and Patterson deftly traced the viola's soaring theme. With Vitenson providing volcanic leadership, the Scherzo was essayed with palpable gypsy fire. Van Eck's rich cello sound ignited the fiercely intense coda. Mozart's Divertimento in E-flat Major, K.563 is a towering work for string trio. Written three years before the composer's death, the score is tinged with the pathos finely etched in many of Mozart's late masterpieces. Van Eck, Vitenson and Klotz offered spirited rhythmic drive and precise articulation. In the Andante, a theme of deceptive simplicity was phrased with tenderness and delicacy. The Menuetto seemed to dance off the strings with scintillating vivacity. Taut, wonderfully quirky shaping infused the concluding Allegro, one of Mozart's most divine inventions.
The concert commenced with Klotz taking solo honors in a viola transcription of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major. Popularized by Pablo Casals, the score proved surprisingly adaptable to the smaller instrument. Klotz produced darkly burnished, full tone and clarity of instrumental line. He shaped the familiar Prelude eloquently. Far from courtly dance graces, the violist displayed modernist urgency in a brilliant reading of the Courante, and infused the delightful Gigue with the invigorating joy of the dance.
Maverick Series Concert Review August 2007 Saturday, December 1 2007
Maverick Concert August 2007
Last Sunday afternoon, the regular Maverick series concluded with one of the best concerts I have ever heard in my three decades of attendance. I already knew the fine qualities of the Amernet Quartet from hearing it at the Rhinebeck Chamber Music Series, and of pianist James Tocco from recordings. Their combination proved to be an inspired collaboration.
The program began with Mahler’s incomplete Piano Quartet inA Minor, its one movement finished when the composer was only sixteen. While there are just a few hints of the dramatic and innovative symphonies to come, the piece is still an impressive work of late romanticism, especially coming from such a young composer. You would never have known the performers learned this piece specifically for our performance; they were really into it, playing with intensity and flair. The same was true of Edvard Grieg’s String Quartet No. 2, in F, of which the composer completed only two movements. Grieg supposedly had trouble with large -scale forms, so it’s a pity he didn’t live longer, since the first movement of this quartet is uncommonly dramatic and elaborate for him, and thoroughly successful. It and the second movement, a typical Grieg Norwegian dance, came off splendidly in this well-considered performance.
I have heard Brahms’s famous Piano Quintet in F Minor literally dozens of times. But I’ve never heard a more compelling performance than the one Tocco and the Amernets gave us Sunday afternoon. It seems the basic plan of the performance was revealed by the decision to open the piano lid all the way and to have the pianist play with uninhibited power. This guaranteed a large-scale approach. It could also have led to balance problems, but there weren’t any, due to Tocco’s experience and the Amernets’ fervor. This was huge, almost orchestral Brahms playing, never lacking in subtlety and seasoned by some wonderfully relaxed rhetorical bending of tempo. The fourth movement opened with affecting mystery and closed with thrilling energy. Trust the Maverick audience to know when it hears something special; this performance was greeted with a tremendous outburst of applause, shouting, stamping, and anything else we could do to express our excitement.
Leslie Gerber Woodstock Times August 30, 2007
Segovia, Spain Concert Review, November 5, 2007 Saturday, December 1 2007
Punto final
Un momento de la actuación del Cuarteto de cuerda Amernet. / FERNANDO PEÑALOSA (07/11/2007) Con un gran cuarteto y un programa atractivo han decidido las Jornadas de Música Contemporánea clausurar sus actividades este año.
El cuarteto Amernet procede de Miami y se conocieron en la Juilliard School de Nueva York, una buena cuna que está dando grandes talentos en el panorama musical mundial de hoy en día.
Abrieron con una obra grande del género cuartetístico, el nº3 de Bela Bartok; es un cuarteto complejo que se toca seguido en todos sus tiempos y da la sensación de ser una obra corta, aunque no es así. Es una obra fuerte que entra en harina nada más empezar, la versión fue impecable en fuerza y detalles. La simetría de los sonidos que tanto preocupaba al autor estaba empezando a estar presente en la partitura y llegará a perfeccionarse en el cuarteto nº4.
A continuación ofrecieron una obra de un compositor presente en la sala, el “Cuatro” de Orlando García. Es una obra escrita hace diez años para el Miami string Quartet y está basada en el número cuatro, cuatro son los músicos, cuatro las secciones de la obra, cuatro profesores que influyeron con sus orientaciones en el autor y es muy importante su objetivo principal: despojar al oyente de la sensación objetiva del tiempo. Es una música que deja una sensación de inmaterialidad y atemporalidad muy relajantes.
De Dimitri Yanov-Yanovsky tocaron la obra Chang Music IV, una obra “orientalizable” y que utiliza como sonidos de percusión los golpes en las tapas de los instrumentos de cuerda. La obra que cerraba el programa, y las jornadas, era “Sombra de la tierra II”, la I ya está grabada en CD, de Flores Chaviano. Es una obra muy viva y de contrastes que se origina en un caos sonoro, de esos típicos del lenguaje de la música contemporánea, para llegar a un equilibrio sonoro muy claro que rinde algún tributo al rico folklore cubano y que nos lleva al principio del programa, Bela Bartok que siempre se sustenta, como todos los grandes músicos, en el folklore, lo que le hace independiente del momento en que se escribe la obra y la sustenta en la tradición que es lo que nos salva porque no es plagio, que diría don Eugenio D´Ors, el Xenius de hace tanto tiempo y tan poco.
El Amernet es un gran cuarteto y su forma de tocar es esa que, segura de gran técnica como individuos y como conjunto, se encara con las obras de una manera decidida y resuelta, sacando todo lo que dice el autor en la partitura y añadiendo algo más, ese algo más tan importante que es el sentido musical.
Como resumen de estas jornadas se puede decir que han sido un éxito de público muy notable, también en lo musical y que sin lugar a dudas necesita mayor amplitud de miras: mayor auditorio, mayor dotación para la contratación de nuevos conjuntos, etc… para que pueda ser comparable con otros eventos que se celebran en distintos puntos de la geografía española.
Rafael Aznar
The Amernet's 2006-2007 Season Continues Monday, October 22 2007
Recent highlights of the 2006-07 include a collaborative performance on the Chameleon Series in Ft. Lauderdale in December. The Amernet performed Mozarts D Major Quartet, K.575 and two cello quintets with Iris van Eck. The first was Boccherini's well known C Major, which features prominent first cello solos, and the other was a virtually unknown quintet by Glazunov. This is a beautiful piece, that deserves fair credit, in a genre dominated by the unparalleled Schubert C Major Quintet. This was our first performance of the Glazunov- and not our only this season.
Early January, we kicked off the New Year by recording Fredrick Kaufman's Urban Quartet. This remarkable quartet was written in 2005 for the Amernet, and was just nominated for a Pulitzer by Lukas Foss.
A week later we performed in Naples , Florida at Trinity-by-the-Cove. This series takes place in a charming church with beautiful acoustics. The program included works of Shostakovich and Grieg.
The end of January was very busy, with performances on Sunday Afternoons of Music at the University of Miami . This concert featured the Brahms Piano Quintet with James Tocco, a great pianist, who is our dear friend and mentor.
We left for New York in time to be there for the coldest day of the year (a plummet of over 80 degrees from Miami ) and to play on Barge Music. We had a lot of fun seeing our friend Olga Bloom, and playing a New York premier of a terrific bassoon quintet by Russell Platt, who writes for the New Yorker. The bassoonist was Peter Kolkay, who recently took the position at USC ( Columbia , SC ) Other works were by Mozart and Grieg.
From NYC, we went to Cincinnati , our former home base for many years. We caught up with old friends, ate at our favorite Indian restaurant-Ambar- and then did what we really went there for. That was to perform a concert at CCM in memory of Henry Meyer who was in many ways our closest and dearest teacher for so long. He was a Holocaust survivor, and a member of the LaSalle Quartet that was in residence for forty years at CCM. He passed away in December, and we were honored to perform a concert in his honor with James Tocco, Lee Fiser and Yehonatan Berick. The program included works of Schubert, Mozart, and Brahms, as well as a moving recording of the Beethoven Cavatina by the LaSalle Quartet.
We did a repeat feature of the Brahms piano quintet with James Tocco in Indianapolis , for Ensemble Chamber Music Society, and the Indianapolis premiere of Joel Hoffman's 3rd String Quartet which was commissioned by the Caramoor Center for the Arts for the Amernet String Quartet during our 2004-2005 residency there. We also played Beethoven Op.18, no.4 in C minor.
February brought with it our 2nd annual String Seminar at Florida International University . This year our special guests were violinists Zvi Zeitlin and Shmuel Ashkenasi, violist Roberto Diaz and cellist, Marc Johnson. The 4-day event took place February 8-11 and included master classes in violin, viola and cello, as well as chamber music. This year our student guest ensemble was the Ares Quartet from the Curtis Institute.
The faculty concert was February 9th , and featured the following works and artists: Schubert String Trio with Shmuel Ashkenasi, Roberto Diaz and Marc Johnson; Glazunov Cello Quintet with the Amernet String Quartet and Marc Johnson; Schubert Rondo with Zvi Zeitlin and the Amernet String Quartet and Mendelssohn B-Flat Major Viola Quintet with Shmuel Ashkenasi, Marcia Littley de Arias, Michael Klotz, Roberto Diaz and Javier Arias. February 11th was the student chamber music concert with performances by the FIU Student String Quartet of Mozart G Major 1st movement and Schubert Rosamunde 1st movement. The Ares Quartet from Curtis played the first two movements of Schubert's Death and the Maiden and the Mozart D Major K.575.
