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Reviews

Review - from BerkshireReview.Net
by Michael Miller
5/11

Tannery Pond Concert Series Opens on May 28th Amerigo trio and Alon Goldstein playing Dohnányi, Debussy, and Brahms

1st Annual Tannery Pond Concert Series Opens on May 28th under Christian Steiner's Artistic Direction

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For several years now, I've been writing about the Tannery Pond Concert Series with special enthusiasm. No other other summer festival offers the same mix of established musicians of the highest level of accomplishment together with an equally exciting pool of emerging talent. these are young soloists and chamber musicians who have been playing independently long enough to have developed a fully-formed interpretation...and, I may as well say it...stage presence. The Director, Christian Steiner, as the foremost photographer of musicians (and also an outstanding pianist), is in daily contact with musicians at all stages of their careers, and this gives him a unique knowledge of the field. Beyond that, he is constantly travelling between Europe and the West Coast, attending concerts and fine-tuning his perceptions of young talent. I know of no concert organizer who has quite the combination of energy, determination to find the best for his program, knowledge, and taste.

Apart from that, the concerts take place in a Shaker Tannery, an atmospheric rustic structure built in 1834, now functioning as the assembly hall of Darrow School. It is small, seating 311 people. It is not only the most attractive concert venue in the Berkshires, it has superb acoustics, and the Series' Yamaha concert grand is an excellent compliment to its warm, but clear sound. More than any other concert series in the region, it is a labour of love, with Mr. Steiner—and occasionally his Sealyham terrier, Nikolai, introducing the concerts, with board members selling tickets and lemonade, and working as ushers, janitors, and florists.

The 21st Tannery Pond Concert Series will open on Saturday, May 28 at 6pm, followed by 6 events throughout the summer months, with one of Steiner's characteristic discoveries, the Israeli pianist Alon Goldstein playing together with the Amerigo Trio (Glenn Dicterow, violin, Karen Dreyfus, viola, Inbal Segev, cello). Ms. Segev has impressed and moved Tannery audiences before in a 2008 solo recital, Karen Dreyfus is a distinguished professor at Manhattan School of Music, and Glenn Dicterow is the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic. In 2009 Alon Goldstein, a pupil of Leon Fleisher, played a program of Bach, Brahms, Beethoven, Ginastera, and the young Israeli composer, Avner Dorman with extraordinary personality and power. He resembles his teacher only in the incisiveness of his playing; otherwise he blends natural musicianship and his own unique, almost but not quite eccentric temperament. Whoever goes to hear him and the Amerigo trio play Dohnányi, Debussy's Violin Sonata, and Brahms' G Minor Piano Quartet can expect to hear musicianship of generous energy and keen intelligence. The Tannery season opener will be an event not to be missed.

Christine Brewer hardly needs an introduction. One of the great voices of her generation, her rich, full soprano, which I can compare only to a fine old bourbon, heartfelt interpretation, and impeccable taste have graced many stages around the world in opera, orchestral concerts, and recital. She began performing at Tannery many years ago, and now she returns with Craig Rutenberg, one of a handful of accompanists at the very top of their specialization, to sing American songs, including those of Virgil Thompson.

Vassily Primakov at thirty-two has established a world-class reputation in relatively few years with his nuanced interpretations of Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, and others. Working with the admirable Bridge Records, he is one of the most active recording artists around, in a time when classical recordings are disappearing rapidly from the scene. His Mozart Concerto recordings, now progressed as far as two double-disc sets are among the best from any generation—as desirable for beginning collectors as well as those with shelves of recordings. The Schubert, Schumann and Rachmaninoff he will play come from the core of his repertory and should satisfy his many fans. I predict that this one will sell out fast.

Ilya Poletaev will be yet another young Russian pianist at tannery this summer, one with quite a different repertoire and approach from Ivanov and Primakov. He has established a reputation on both the modern piano and on historical keyboard instruments. The Philadelphia Inquirer recently praised his debut in Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (in both C.P.E. Bach's Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, Wq. 23 and Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor), singling out his "lively imagination" and "unfailingly gorgeous tone," and remarking that "in total it was an interpretation of considerable individuality." As a solo pianist, he has appeared with the Toronto and Hartford symphony orchestras as well as with Romania's Filarmonica "Mihail Jora" di Bacau and Orchestra J-Futura of Trento, Italy. Upcoming engagements include Medtner's Piano Concerto No. 3, with the Toronto Symphony under Peter Oundjian, and an appearance at the prestigious Klavier-Festival Ruhr. He was the First Prize winner of the XX Concorso Sala Gallo Piano Competition in Monza, Italy, where he also received the Audience Prize, the Bach Prize, and the Orchestra Prize. He recently captured First Prize at the prestigious XVII International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig and, as the winner, will appear in recital at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Also recently, Mr. Poletaev gave an acclaimed performance at the Caramoor Festival with renowned mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. He holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto as well as a doctorate and Master's degree from Yale, where he served on the faculty as a lecturer in Early Music. He was recently appointed Assistant Professor of Piano at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montréal. As far as I know, there will be no harpsichord or fortepiano on hand for Mr. Poletaev's recital, but the Bach Partita will give his baroque interests substantive representation. Enescu seems to be another special interest of his, as his recording of the complete works of George Enescu for violin and piano, with violinist Axel Strauss, will soon be released on the Naxos label. The Chopin, Debussy, and Liszt bring us back into traditional piano repertory, but, from what I've heard about Poletaev's playing, we should be ready for something original and surprising.

Andrés Diaz, cello, and Wendy Chen, piano, will complement Debussy Cello Sonata we'll hear on May 28 with his Violin Sonata, in a program which will include Chopin piano Etudes and Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata, as well as Piazzola's ever-popular Grand Tango and a solo cello work by Xi Wang.

Christian Steiner himself will join the Arabella Trio for a program which will include Debussy's Piano Trio, Beethoven's Piano Trio in E flat major Op. 1, No. 1, a piano trio by Rebecca Clarke, as well as more Piazzolla. The Harlem String Quartet with guests Carter Brey, cello and Misha Dichter, piano, will conclude the season with a rich program of classics at the core of the chamber repertoire, Mozart's D Minor String Quartet, the Schubert Quintet in C, and Schumann's Piano Quintet.

This should make for an satisfying summer of chamber music, generous in mainstream romantic works enlivened by the fresh viewpoints of young musicians. Along with this, the thread of Debussy chamber works will be an added pleasure.