Chamber music was written, and named, for the small salons where it was traditionally performed. There was a crowd of 600 in Koerner Hall on March 6 enjoying the Glenn Gould School Chamber Competition finals, a competition that was reminiscent of a high-level concert from start to finish.
The Glenn Gould School Chamber Competition spotlights the talented chamber music ensembles at the school, who vie for more than $11,000 in cash prizes, including the Grand Prize of $5,000.
If the architect van der Rohe said that God is in the details, yesterday, the Royal Conservatory of Music brought the audience an enjoyable experience from the very first moment. Barry Shiffman, Associate Dean & Director of Chamber Music at the Glenn Gould School, introduced the event and acted as master of ceremonies impeccably.
This is no small detail. Schiffman received the audience with empathy and elegance, honoured the main sponsor (the instrument builder Robert Williams, R.S. Williams and sons) with distinction, and kept the sparkle in his words until the end.
The Competitors
Following the order of the evening’s concert, Sejong Trio performed Beethoven’s Clarinet Trio in B flat Major, op. 11. They played this very well-known piece with technical expertise, balancing the energy between piano (Chelsea Ahn), cello (Sua Kwuoun) and clarinet (Eugene Jung). Jung, at the beginning of the last movement, had some technical problem with his instrument, but he solved it so quickly with a piece of black suede that, in livestreaming, was not noticeable. By the way, it was an exceptional streaming (available now on the website here), which not only captured the sound as it was heard in the hall but also offered the shots and images needed.
In contrast to certain contemporary musicians who seem to have to show what they suffer playing their instrument, Sejong Trio conveyed how much they enjoy playing music. That was one of the common characteristics of all five ensembles, so one has to think that part of the credit goes to the Glenn Gould School.
To put the brakes on such lightness, the duo Tikvah, which means Hope in Hebrew, offered a somewhat Wagnerian Verdi’s Six Romanze. Mezzo-soprano Jessica Lyublinsky sang them with precision and gravitas. But precisely, her almost contralto-like ease in reaching those tones and the lack of vibrato in her voice (something Callas would have killed for at the end of her career) left the early romanzas somewhat flat. For his part, the pianist, Jonathan Alter, seemed to want to provide more joy. They reached an agreement with the interpretation of Two Hannah Szenesh Poems by Max Helfman, which were the best possible finale.
The Winners
The Morningside Trio won the night. Overall, and in the trio category. They played a sublime Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op.8 by Brahms, in which piano (Henry From), cello (David Liam Roberts) and violin (Anna Stube) seemed like one instrument, thanks to their coordination and blending. But the school is called Glenn Gould, and the great Canadian pianist is known, in addition to his chair, for his personality. Fortunately, Morningside has enough quality to, in the near future, develop their own personality.
Although its most frequent translation can be deceptive; the first meaning of sciòcco in the Grande dizionario della lingua italiana is insipid. After yesterday’s performance of Duo Sciocco (without accent, the accent was in their music), it will incorporate one more: exciting. Baritone Colin Mackey and pianist Karmen Grubisic gave such depth to their performance of Franz Liszt’s Tre Sonetti di Petrarca, S. 270, that the silences and pianissimos vibrated with emotion. The warmth Mackey brings to his playing with perfect control of the diaphragm and vocal regulators, as well as Grubisic’s delicacy in closing the pieces, moved the entire auditorium, which applauded their interpretation of Sing Me at Midnight by the Canadian composer John Greer. They were the winners of the vocal duo category.
The end held the big surprise of the night and the trio that, had there been an audience award, would have taken it. Renati Piano Trio, which for the jury came in second place in its category, performed two movements of two very different pieces, which came to underline the motto of the night: you can enjoy playing music. The Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, op. 49 by Felix Mendelssohn already offered a sample of the expressiveness of Yohali Montero on violin and her excellent blending with Samantha Yang on cello and Colin Chang on piano, despite being each so different in their interpretation. Where the personality of this group emerged was with Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No.2 in E Minor, op. 67. If Shostakovich had been alive, no one would have asked him to tell a joke, but this trio’s interpretation emphasized the rhythmic quality of the piece rather than the composer’s obscurity, giving it a new life that the audience and yours truly applauded effusively.
An audience, by the way, well prepared. They never applauded between movements, coughed discreetly (every day, dozens of people die, or should die, of coughing at concert halls around the world) and were not overly supportive of their friends or relatives if they were on stage. On the other hand, many people applauded for the fact of enjoying the music and left even more satisfied, not only for the pleasure that the evening had given them, but for the certainty that in the future musicians will continue to enjoy making music as much as the public, and sometimes the critics, who listen to it.
If you are left wishing you had gone, we at Ludwig van Toronto can’t rent you our time machine, but we can recommend the winners’ concert on April 10 at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre.
- By Antonio Peláez Barceló for LvT
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