BWW Reviews: Bowdoin International Music Festival Friday Shines

Under new artistic leadership this summer after fifty years of visionary music making from festival founder, Lewis Kaplan, the Bowdoin International Music festival continues its tradition of world-class chamber and instrumental music led now by Phillip and David Ying. The Yings, together with their Quartet in residence continue to assemble the finest chamber musicians and soloists and to program a piquant blend of old and new music across a broad spectrum of periods and styles.The Friday evening, July 24th concert at the Crooker Theater in Brunswick, Maine, proved an admirable illustration of the scope of the programming and the depth of talent which comes to this coastal college town each summer to perform and teach.

The first half of the program paired 20th century English composer, Gerald Finzi's Interlude for Oboe and String Quartet, op. 21 with Beethoven's Piano Trio in E-flat Major, op. 70, no. 2. The lesser-known Finzi piece, performed by Kristin Leitterman (oboe), Yibin Li and Janet Sung (violins), Jeffrey Irvine (viola), and Jamie Clark (cello) proved one of the delightful surprises of the concert, demonstrating the composer's expansive range and his melodic gift. The assembled quintet played with a sensitive blend of delicate subtlety and sparkle, with Leitterman on oboe turning in a highly polished account.

The modestly unassuming, yet moving Finzi composition was then offset by a carefully sculpted performance of Beethoven's Piano Trio in E-flat Major, written in 1808 at the height of his powers. The trio of performers, Mikhail Kopelman (violin), David Requiro (Cello), and Yong Hi Moon (piano), gave a graceful, fluid reading of the four movements, building gradually from the quiet sensitivity of the opening "Poco sostenuto" to the virtuosic "Allegro" finale. The three artists played with poise and agility, with Moon's ethereal touch and limpid clarity on the piano lifting the entire performance to its heights.

After the intermission, the festival offered another juxtaposition of 20th and 17th century music in Argentinian Composer, Osvaldo Golijov's Last Round and J.S. Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in D-minor. The Golijov work presented a richly layered, complex tapestry of sound played with feisty brio by the Pacifica Quartet, together with Yefim Romanov and Hae Ji Kim (violins), Emily Brandenburg (viola), Minji Kim (cello), Kurt Muroki and Isac Ryu (double basses). Conceived as a tribute to Astor Piazolla and incorporating the rhythms of the tango, this intensely kinetic work is a passionate confrontation of two quartets, separated by two double basses, which seem to attract and repel before ultimately resolving in textured harmonies. All ten musicians played with precision and verve, mastering the patterned intricacies with ease.

The final work, Bach's double violin concerto, was confided to Maestro Lewis Kaplan and Renee Jolles, together with the Bowdoin Festival String Orchestra. Both soloists demonstrated the tonal richness and the intuitive give-and-take of great chamber artists. The seamlessness of Jolles' and Kaplan's interaction and their restrained, never showy, yet always brilliant reading made this the highlight of the evening.

The single regret in this magnificent evening of music is an on-going one: the somewhat dull acoustic of Crooker Auditorium, which, among other reasons, is the venue of choice because of its size, but one which is infinitely less appealing than the pristine concert hall ambiance of Studzinski Recital Hall. However, once one accustoms oneself to the dynamic, the sheer delight in the artistry of the festival's remarkable musicians prevails.

BIMF runs until August 8, 2015 in Brunswick, ME. www.bowdoinfestival.org 207-373-1400

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