Review: Chamber Music Fest at Leo Rich is a full plate
By: Cathalena Burch

The fact that the Leo Rich Theater was nearly full Tuesday is a testament to the popularity and appeal of the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music’s Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival.

Outside the 500-seat theater, it was a frigid night and the streets downtown were lonely. Most of the downtown hipsters apparently opted to stay home and catch up on “The Biggest Loser” or “NCIS.”

But inside the Leo Rich, a crowd of decidedly braver souls spent the evening mesmerized by a cast of top-notch musicians playing a program that mixed new works, warhorses of the repertoire and little-played gems.

It was an evening that has come to define the festival, now in its 17th year: Mix things up just enough to broadly appeal to fans of the new and the old.

Violinist Robert Davidovici and harpist Katerina Englichova started the evening with Saint-Saëns’ Fantasy for Violin and Harp, a delightfully quiet piece that mostly showcased the violin. Davidovici, a veteran of the international stage, played with a youthful exuberance, showcasing an energetic virtuosity. He was complemented by Englichova, whose gentle touch balanced out the violin’s more acrobatic lines.

The cast for Ravel’s little-played “Chansons madécasses” included the formidable baritone Christopheren Nomura, who brought lusty, lyrical vocals to the erotically tinged songs “Nahandove” and “It is good to lie down.” Ravel used those two love songs, based on the sensual poems of Evariste-Désiré de Parny, to bookend the more forcefully delivered tome of “Beware of the white men!”

Ravel wrote the piece in 1926 and it is rarely played today, which is a shame. The piece calls for the unusual musical combination of flute, cello and piano - roles played with admirable integrity by flutist Carol Wincenc, cellist Steven Doane and pianist Kevin Fitz-Gerald.

Doane had quite a workout Tuesday; in addition to the Ravel, he also was featured in John Harbison’s “November 19, 1828: Hallucination in Four Episodes” for Piano and String Trio, and the concert’s closer Schubert’s String Quintet in C major.

The American composer Harbison penned “November 19, 1828″ to honor Schubert; the title takes the date of Schubert’s death and imagines his ascent from earth to the afterlife.

The piece has some startling dissonance and references to its forefather including a short fragment in the rondo penned by Schubert himself.

Doane’s cohorts on this piece – violinist Axel Strauss, violist Roger Chase and pianist Bernadene Blaha – were especially impressive, bringing out the angst and frustration of the opening “Hall of Mirrors” movement. The passage has flashes of music that Schubert might have recognized but they are cast in settings that are just unfamiliar enough to frighten him as he made his way from his first life to his second.

The Harbison piece was a perfect segue to the concert’s second half, Schubert’s famous quintet.

Schubert wrote the piece, which calls for a second cello, months before his death in 1828. The Miró Quartet – the headlining quartet on this year’s festival lineup – anchored the piece with Doane. The twin cellos combined for a near orchestral effect particularly in the playful scherzo. But for most of the piece, the spotlight rested on the first violin, the Miró’s Daniel Ching.

Ching is technically proficient, coaxing a wonderful tone and sound from his violin. But it is his commanding stage presence and animated playing that mesmerized the audience most.

His wife, the Miró’s second violinist Sandy Yamamoto, has a similar performance ethic. Both were a delight to watch.

The Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival continues through Sunday.

To read the full review on the Arizona Daily Star website, click here.