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The music of the violin was the focus Thursday evening at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music.
Arnold Steinhardt, violinist and founding member of the Guarneri String Quartet, joined PAM faculty members for a program of chamber music: two works by Johann Sebastian Bach and one by Felix Mendelssohn.
Both Bach works were for small ensembles, composed sometime during his years in the court of Cothen (1717-1723), led by Prince Leopold, a music fan and talented player (violin, viola da gamba and clavier). For the Trio Sonata in C Major, Steinhardt was joined by violinist Michael T. Jamanis, harpsichordist Hedi Salanki and cellist Sara Male. The Trio is a violinists' showcase, with the harpsichord as accompanist and the cello providing a sort of bass line for the ensemble.
Jamanis and Steinhardt have distinctly different styles, and part of the fun of the piece was hearing the styles complement each other, although occasionally their styles clashed, particularly in the slower movements. The Trio is in four movements, starting with a ruminative Adagio, followed by a speedy, fugal Alla breve, the Largo and ending with a lively, upbeat Gigue. The performance really came together in this "Jig," a real country dance with the violins chasing each other, ending up together in fast and furious duets.
Bach's Sonata in E Major featured Steinhardt, Male and Salanki. Like the first work, the sonata is in four movements in the same arrangement: slow-fast-slow-fast. The harpsichord played a slightly different, more prominent role in the proceedings. After a somber, serious beginning the second movement's merry little melody comes as a surprise. The third movement, another meditative section, benefited from Steinhardt's expressive, even romantic, playing. A lickety-split Allegro brings the piece to a rousing conclusion.
The highlight of the evening was Mendelssohn's three-movement 1838 Sonata in F Major, given a blazing performance by Steinhardt and Xun Pan. The triumphant opening, which sounds like a call to arms and a song of victory, brought the listener into an entirely different sound world, one with sudden mood shifts from mourning to dancing, from meditating to exulting. Steinhardt's playing in the central Adagio section had an almost vocal, singing quality. And the mood shifted again in the last movement, a furious, exultant race to the finish line.
Steinhardt will perform at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music tonight, this time with the Festival Orchestra, again featuring the works of Bach and Mendelssohn.
For more information call 399-9733 or visit www.paacademymusic.com.
E-mail: epatton@lnpnews.com
