By Lyn Bronson
Anita Pontremoli & Stephen Geber
Hidden Valley Music Seminars always seems to present interesting concerts. This week was “Cello Week” combining a cello master class and a concert by cellist Stephen Geber and pianist Anita Pontremoli. Walking into this concert with members of what turned out to be a rather large audience, we received a surprise. Expecting to hear an evening of cello and piano music, we were greeted by the sight of five chairs and five music stands in front of the piano. We soon discovered that the evening was going to kick off with an impromptu performance by five young participants in the Stephen Geber Cello Master Class, and, accordingly, out trooped the five young cellists, Graham Cullen, Nathan Watts, Andrew Bader, Seth Trimble and Bradley Forrest Berman. Although having only arrived the day before with hardly any time to practice as an ensemble, they managed to perform a very decent rendition of Paganini’s “Perpetual Motion” arranged for a cello ensemble.
Next came the featured performers of the evening Stephen Geber and Anita Pontremoli, who launched into a dark and emotionally involving reading of Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70. This performance confirmed, if indeed it needed confirming, that the cello is a gorgeous instrument capable of thrilling resonance and expressive timbre aptly suited to Schumann’s romantic ideas. The piano writing, equally dark and richly detailed, added immeasurably to the effectiveness of the ensemble. The two performers obviously have often performed together, and their collaboration in this concert was in a word, superb. Geber played with a full rich sound and displayed a knack for making music that is both joyful and natural. Pianist Pontremoli was impressive for her easy (well, she made everything look easy) and richly detailed collaboration.
Geber introduced the second work of the evening, Mendelssohn’s Song Without Words in D Major, Op. 109, saying that he wanted to dedicate the performance to the memory of Peter Meckel’s wife, the late Adrienne Meckel. This particular piece, not as well known as many others from the collection of Songs Without Words for solo piano, was elegiac in mood and received a warm and passionate performance from the two performers.
Bringing the concert to a close, we heard the masterpiece of the evening, Rachmaninoff’s Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 29. Geber informed the audience that this work is actually a “Sonata for Piano and Cello.” This was evidenced by the complexity of the piano scoring. Typical of Rachmaninoff’s piano writing, there are thousands of notes, complicated chordal structures, and awkward fast moving passages written to accommodate Rachmaninoff’s large hands (he could easily span the interval of a twelfth). Although Pontremoli had the dominant role, both musicians found much in the score to absorb our attention throughout. The crown jewel of this piece is the glorious Andante slow movement with its lovely long drawn out melodic lines that never seem to end. It was lovely.
Peter Meckel and Hidden Valley provided a nice reception following the concert that encouraged members of the audience an opportunity to chat with the artists.
End
