Napa Valley's Music in the Vineyards summer festival draws a devoted group of enthusiasts to its 17 concerts, often held in small winery spaces. Friday's concert was no exception. Three disparate works were heard by 65 people in a barrel-aging cave at the Stag's Leap Winery on Silverado Trail.
Fanny Mendelssohn's first published work, Songs (Op. 1), got things off well. Baritone Timothy Jones' voice was forward but never raucous in the acoustic of the cave's concrete walls and granite floor. Accompanied by pianist Jeffrey Sykes, Jones had a firm command of German diction and conveyed the bracing individuality of each of the six lied, if at times monochromatically. "Why Are the Roses So Pale?" (No. 3) featured dark vocal colors and undulating arpeggios in the piano. Sykes used the lid-up piano's shift pedal almost exclusively, bringing a mellow sound to No. 4, "May Song," and giving an animated and boisterous reading of No. 5, "Morning Serenade." The last was the most similar to the composer's brother Felix Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words, and Jones sang it with great abandon and style.
Jeffrey Sykes
Brahms' Piano Quartet in A Major (Op. 26), which ended the program, received a passionate performance by Sykes, violinist Guillermo Figueroa, violist Ara Gregorian, and cellist Anthony Ross. Frequently during the protracted four movements, the passion became a victim of the cave's acoustics, with the piano covering the high strings and the ensemble entrances coming unevenly. The contrapuntal first movement Allegro got a muscular, bass-heavy performance, and the opening chorale of the Adagio was elegant and lovely. From my stage-right seat, Ross' cello was the most penetrating voice, often leading the ensemble and mirroring Sykes' thematic statements.
Music Not to Die For
Coming after the intermission's gratis wine, this early Brahms quartet saw the attention of some audience members waver. At the end of the extended Scherzo, Sykes commented, "Yes, it's longer than his other pieces, even the Requiem, and someone had to die for that work!" The finale was agitated to the last note, with everyone pushing the Hungarian dance rhythms and enjoying the odyssey.
Easily the highlight of the evening was Rebecca Clarke's Piano Trio, composed in 1921 and performed expertly by Sykes, violinist Daria Adams, and cellist Ross. Percussive chords from the piano led to the first theme, which was stated in sinister-sounding blocks by Ross and was quite reminiscent of Ravel. Ross had difficulty with several of the transitions in this demanding music, but the movement ended pianissimo in a perfectly gauged fermata. The following Andante is at the spiritual center of the piece. It features a mournful, nostalgic theme passed from violin to cello and then carried by Adams over the cello's ground bass line. This was rapturous music, multihued and ardently played.
An Allegro vigoroso concluded Clarke's potent trio. It was an "off to the races" romp with intricate figurations, glissandos, and pedal point from the piano, not at all like Ravel. In the songful interlude, Adams took the helm, alternating voice leading with Ross and the declamatory piano line.
Along with the Louis Vierne Piano Quintet heard the previous week, Clarke's Trio was a happy series discovery, deserving the standing ovation and, I hope, additional future North Bay performances.
Santa Rosa resident Terry McNeill produces classical piano recitals in the three-county Concerts Grand series, and he is currently researching the lives and artistry of keyboard titans Anton Rubinstein and Josef Hoffmann.
