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I love hanging out with musicians. Their talent never actually rubs off on me, but I get goose-bumps being with them. So when I was invited to a rehearsal before InConcert Sierra's recent Petite Panache concert, I felt like an insider.
In casual clothes pianist Ken Hardin, violinist Richard Altenbach and cellist Wolf Sebastian, newcomer to Petite Panache, look so human, as opposed to the otherworldliness they exude in performance. There's unfamiliar Beethoven, a rare duo for violin and cello, the manuscript, says Altenbach, “not autographed, but in Ludwig's hand, in his early yet sophisticated style, on paper he used at that time.”
“That's a strange modulation,” comments Sebastian.
“That's how we know it's Beethoven,” says Altenbach.
It was Sebastian's idea to play the Dvorak Piano Trio. Neither Hardin nor Altenbach had played it before. For Hardin it was an eight month undertaking. It's hard to believe that a few days earlier the trio had not played it together, so in sync do they seem.
With Aileen James performing in the concert, I have been asked to take her role as host for the preconcert Meet-the-Artists Forum. Sebastian has never played an ICS concert. He is impressed by the half-full auditorium for the Forum.
“You haven't seen anything yet,” promises Hardin.
And sure enough Sebastian opens to a nearly full-house audience of more than 275.
“A much larger audience than for similar concerts in LA,” he says, amazed. “I could feel their warmth.”
“That's why so many of our performers want to come back,” said Julie Hardin, ICS executive director.
Both Sebastian and Altenbach play unaccompanied Bach, towering pinnacles of the repertoire, grabbing the audience by the throat. Then the Beethoven; then Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Haydn, better known as a masterly orchestral showpiece, in a piano-four-hands arrangement played by longtime duet partners Hardin and James. Something is lost, something gained in the duet arrangement, acknowledges James.
“We are trying to recreate the complexity of an orchestra. It's a challenge showing the intricate inner melodies which are more discernible when played by different instruments.”
But then there are fewer notes so the texture is clearer, and video projection of the pianists' hands helps show the flow.
After the intermission James can sit back and enjoy the Dvorak, a ravishing work, too seldom heard. It's a work of German romantic richness, influenced by Dvorak's close friend Brahms. There is soaring melody, yearning themes, an intense slow movement. Finally Dvorak lets loose. After all he is Bohemian, not German, and can indulge in his familiar Czech rhythms and folk influences. It's a spectacular performance, the audience on its feet before the last chord has faded. “It's the best we've ever played it,” rejoices Hardin.
And afterward? A wind-down from the adrenaline rush at an informal dinner with the performers, sponsors, ICS board members, and some of the volunteers who make such performances so successful. And me. Insider.
Charles Atthill lives in Alta Sierra. Never wear all-black to a concert lest you be mistaken for a performer or an usher.
In casual clothes pianist Ken Hardin, violinist Richard Altenbach and cellist Wolf Sebastian, newcomer to Petite Panache, look so human, as opposed to the otherworldliness they exude in performance. There's unfamiliar Beethoven, a rare duo for violin and cello, the manuscript, says Altenbach, “not autographed, but in Ludwig's hand, in his early yet sophisticated style, on paper he used at that time.”
“That's a strange modulation,” comments Sebastian.
“That's how we know it's Beethoven,” says Altenbach.
It was Sebastian's idea to play the Dvorak Piano Trio. Neither Hardin nor Altenbach had played it before. For Hardin it was an eight month undertaking. It's hard to believe that a few days earlier the trio had not played it together, so in sync do they seem.
With Aileen James performing in the concert, I have been asked to take her role as host for the preconcert Meet-the-Artists Forum. Sebastian has never played an ICS concert. He is impressed by the half-full auditorium for the Forum.
“You haven't seen anything yet,” promises Hardin.
And sure enough Sebastian opens to a nearly full-house audience of more than 275.
“A much larger audience than for similar concerts in LA,” he says, amazed. “I could feel their warmth.”
“That's why so many of our performers want to come back,” said Julie Hardin, ICS executive director.
Both Sebastian and Altenbach play unaccompanied Bach, towering pinnacles of the repertoire, grabbing the audience by the throat. Then the Beethoven; then Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Haydn, better known as a masterly orchestral showpiece, in a piano-four-hands arrangement played by longtime duet partners Hardin and James. Something is lost, something gained in the duet arrangement, acknowledges James.
“We are trying to recreate the complexity of an orchestra. It's a challenge showing the intricate inner melodies which are more discernible when played by different instruments.”
But then there are fewer notes so the texture is clearer, and video projection of the pianists' hands helps show the flow.
After the intermission James can sit back and enjoy the Dvorak, a ravishing work, too seldom heard. It's a work of German romantic richness, influenced by Dvorak's close friend Brahms. There is soaring melody, yearning themes, an intense slow movement. Finally Dvorak lets loose. After all he is Bohemian, not German, and can indulge in his familiar Czech rhythms and folk influences. It's a spectacular performance, the audience on its feet before the last chord has faded. “It's the best we've ever played it,” rejoices Hardin.
And afterward? A wind-down from the adrenaline rush at an informal dinner with the performers, sponsors, ICS board members, and some of the volunteers who make such performances so successful. And me. Insider.
Charles Atthill lives in Alta Sierra. Never wear all-black to a concert lest you be mistaken for a performer or an usher.
