25
Jan
2005
After a hot, delectable meal, what would be better than to relax, listen to live music, and enjoy the company of friends? Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart would have agreed. During his lifetime, he wrote hundreds of pieces that were classified as house music, meant to be performed for friends and guests in the home.
Last weekend’s Mid-Winter Mozart concert, which included pieces written by Franz Josef Haydn, Antonin Dvorak, and Mozart, was hosted by the Quad City Symphony and presented several examples of house music, or hausmusik.
The mansion-esque Outing Club’s ballroom provided an expansive venue for the four musicians to perform, complete with Corinthian columns and lavish chandeliers. The January 22 concert, preceded by dinner, did have a feel of a friendly gathering, although the room was a bit large and devoid of furniture apart from the chairs on which we sat and two strangely modern-looking swing-arm floor lamps on the stage.
The setting did enhance the social atmosphere. Almost everyone got up during the intermission and circulated the room, drinking wine or just visiting with friends. When the musicians took the stage for the final Mozart piece, they had to dim the lights several times to indicate they were ready to begin. And when the concert was over, everyone traipsed downstairs to share their reactions to the concert and other conversation over coffee and chocolates.
Violinist Allen Ohmes and cellist Charles Wendt started the evening with Haydn’s Duet in D Major for Violin & Cello, Hob. VI:D1. The sound was a bit bare, although the rich tone of both players helped to offset sparse instrumentation. A far cry from the full orchestra concert, the chamber setting allowed us to hear individual instrumentalists’ performance, both nuances of tone and rare sour notes. Rather than following a conductor, the performers listened to and watched each other to keep the music together.
The Dvorak piece, Terzetto in C Major for Two Violins & Viola, Op. 74, was more interesting. Deborah Dakin on the viola and Dawn Marino-Ohmes joined Allen Ohmes on-stage while Wendt took a break. The two violins and viola produced a more robust, treble sound, which I found relaxing and engaging. Each movement introduced themes that repeated several times.
The first movement began with a sweet, somewhat slow melody that digressed to a faster interlude and ended with a powerful unison line. The second movement was faster-paced. During much of the piece, the instrumentalists played independent lines that intertwined; it was difficult at times to discern which musician was playing what part.
I really enjoyed a device in which they played a melody and then repeated it, playing on the bridge of their instruments, which produced a whispy, echo-like sound. The third and final Dvorak movement began very slowly. As it gained more movement, trills, tremolos, turns, and unexpected changes of tempo and feel decorated the piece. Near the end, the first violin took the lead while the viola and second violin held accompaniment tremolos. Then all three joined in the frenzied, confident close.
Mozart’s Quartet No. 19 in C Major for Two Violins, Viola, & Cello, K. 465 (“Dissonance”) brought all four featured musicians to the stage. Mozart introduced main themes and returned to them repeatedly. Several times during the composition, the piece came to an abrupt halt, and then the musicians commenced in a totally different style, feel, key, or tempo. After a while, it was a bit jolting.
The first movement began with a mysterious, slow sound, which engaged me right away. Soon, it sped up with a faster melody. Both violin and cello carried the melody line several times. I enjoyed several passages in which the musicians played most of a melody in unison, only to split into harmony on the last few notes. The second movement was lyrical and relaxing, while the third was serious but quick. Finally, the fourth movement presented all four musicians’ skill – fingers were flying up and down the fingerboard on all four instruments.
The mansion-esque Outing Club’s ballroom provided an expansive venue for the four musicians to perform, complete with Corinthian columns and lavish chandeliers. The January 22 concert, preceded by dinner, did have a feel of a friendly gathering, although the room was a bit large and devoid of furniture apart from the chairs on which we sat and two strangely modern-looking swing-arm floor lamps on the stage.
The setting did enhance the social atmosphere. Almost everyone got up during the intermission and circulated the room, drinking wine or just visiting with friends. When the musicians took the stage for the final Mozart piece, they had to dim the lights several times to indicate they were ready to begin. And when the concert was over, everyone traipsed downstairs to share their reactions to the concert and other conversation over coffee and chocolates.
Violinist Allen Ohmes and cellist Charles Wendt started the evening with Haydn’s Duet in D Major for Violin & Cello, Hob. VI:D1. The sound was a bit bare, although the rich tone of both players helped to offset sparse instrumentation. A far cry from the full orchestra concert, the chamber setting allowed us to hear individual instrumentalists’ performance, both nuances of tone and rare sour notes. Rather than following a conductor, the performers listened to and watched each other to keep the music together.
The Dvorak piece, Terzetto in C Major for Two Violins & Viola, Op. 74, was more interesting. Deborah Dakin on the viola and Dawn Marino-Ohmes joined Allen Ohmes on-stage while Wendt took a break. The two violins and viola produced a more robust, treble sound, which I found relaxing and engaging. Each movement introduced themes that repeated several times.
The first movement began with a sweet, somewhat slow melody that digressed to a faster interlude and ended with a powerful unison line. The second movement was faster-paced. During much of the piece, the instrumentalists played independent lines that intertwined; it was difficult at times to discern which musician was playing what part.
I really enjoyed a device in which they played a melody and then repeated it, playing on the bridge of their instruments, which produced a whispy, echo-like sound. The third and final Dvorak movement began very slowly. As it gained more movement, trills, tremolos, turns, and unexpected changes of tempo and feel decorated the piece. Near the end, the first violin took the lead while the viola and second violin held accompaniment tremolos. Then all three joined in the frenzied, confident close.
Mozart’s Quartet No. 19 in C Major for Two Violins, Viola, & Cello, K. 465 (“Dissonance”) brought all four featured musicians to the stage. Mozart introduced main themes and returned to them repeatedly. Several times during the composition, the piece came to an abrupt halt, and then the musicians commenced in a totally different style, feel, key, or tempo. After a while, it was a bit jolting.
The first movement began with a mysterious, slow sound, which engaged me right away. Soon, it sped up with a faster melody. Both violin and cello carried the melody line several times. I enjoyed several passages in which the musicians played most of a melody in unison, only to split into harmony on the last few notes. The second movement was lyrical and relaxing, while the third was serious but quick. Finally, the fourth movement presented all four musicians’ skill – fingers were flying up and down the fingerboard on all four instruments.
