BEETHOVEN FESTIVAL PARK CITY, Temple Har Shalom, Aug. 10
Louis Spohr is an under appreciated composer today. A younger contemporary of Beethoven who outlived the older composer by some 30 years, Spohr contributed significantly to the development of German romanticism. Among his many works is a considerable body of art songs that are worthy to be placed among the contributions to the form by Schubert and Schumann.
Kirsten Gunlogson
Sunday’s Beethoven Festival Park City concert included Spohr’s Sechs deutsche Lieder, op. 103, for mezzo-soprano, clarinet and piano, performed by mezzo Kirsten Gunlogson, clarinetist Lee Livengood and pianist Melissa Livengood.
This set of six art songs is wonderfully expressive and idiomatically romantic. Gunlogson’s rich and vibrant voice is perfectly suited for this music. She captured the mood and character of each with her lyrically infused and lushly expressive singing that brought depth and dimension to the poetry.
This effusive interpretation was underscored by Lee Livengood’s seamlessly crafted and lyrical playing and Melissa Livengood’s sensitive piano playing.
Gunlogson also sang Ernest Chausson’s dark Chanson perpétuelle, op. 37. She crafted an evocative, expressive interpretation that brought out the emotional power of the poem. The eloquence Gunlogson brought to the work was complemented by the sensitive playing of Melissa Livengood and the string quartet consisting of violinists Blanka Bednarz, violist Leslie Harlow and cellist Cheung Chau.
After intermission, Bednarz, Chau and Melissa Livengood gave a powerful reading of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor.
Like so much of his music, the E minor Trio is angst ridden. Written towards the end of World War II, it’s overwhelmingly dark; there is also a pervading sense of imminent doom. The three musicians captured this emotional heaviness brilliantly with their acutely sensitive and nuanced playing. Their account was compelling and moving, thanks to their wonderfully articulated and executed interpretation.
The concert opened on the other end of the emotional spectrum with Amilcare Ponchielli’s operatic Il Convegno, a captivating divertimento for two clarinets played with exuberance by Russell Harlow and Lee Livengood. They captured the melodicism of the piece with their lighthearted and amiable reading.