Camerata Pacifica plays its May program in Santa Barbara at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 11, in Hahn Hall at the Music Academy of the West.
Participating musicians include: Andrew Garland, baritone; Molly Morkoski, piano; Egle Januleviciute, keyboard; Bridget Kibbey, harp; Kristin Lee, violin; Paul Huang, violin; Ji Hye Jung, percussion; Jose Franch-Ballester, clarinet; Timothy Eckert, double bass; Adrian Spence, flute; Nicholas Daniel, oboe; Ani Aznavoorian, cello; and Richard Yongjae O’Neill, viola.
These great artists will perform Claude Debussy‘s “Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, (1894);” Erik Satie‘s “Gnossiennes Nos. 1 – 3 (1889–97);” Emma-Ruth Richards‘ “Hora de la Cerc (2011);” Maurice Ravel‘s “Don Quichotte à Dulcinée (1932-33);” Ravel’s “Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet, and string quartet (1905),” and Gustav Mahler‘s “Leider eines fahrenden Gesellen/Songs of a Wayfarer (1885).”
Quel fin de siècle!
Ending a predominantly French program with these beautiful Mahler songs is a masterpiece of creative juxtaposition. They suggest that Mahler, had he chosen to take up the challenge, might have caught the passionate ambivalence of Maeterlinck’s “Pelleas” better than either Debussy or Schoenberg.
Mahler died before the outbreak of the Great War, but he was already nostalgic for the world that war wiped out.
The opening bars of his “Fourth Symphony” are as delicate and shimmering with enchantment as anything in Ravel, who, as the only one on the program who actually saw action in the war, had made a conscious choice to ignore those monsters born of the sleep of reason and to create in his music a succession of nostalgic kingdoms.
The three songs of “Don Quichotte à Dulcinée” are too brief, but are otherwise perfect.
As the Narrator of Max Ophuls‘s “La Ronde,” Anton Walbrook strolls onto the screen in front of a refined city skyline: “Ah!” he exclaims, getting his temporal bearings, “We are in the Past! I adore the Past!”
It might be the motto for this concert.
Single tickets to this concert are $56, and may be enquired after in person at the box office, by phone at 884-8410, or online at http://cameratapacifica.org/season-tickets/order-tickets/.
There is also a performance at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 13, in Ventura and at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, in San Marino. For ticket availability and venue information, call 884-8410.
— Gerald Carpenter covers the arts as a Noozhawk contributing writer. He can be reached at gerald.carpenter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are his own.