A Concert with Personality, Music on the Point had Jose Franch-Ballester on clarinet, and Jane Coop on piano. It truly was music with personality, as the interpreters played with their whole hearts. Franch-Ballester particularly, embodied the feelings in the pieces with his whole body. Coop provided a marvelous accompaniment, at times rivaling the clarinet. Ballester has experience rich in being a soloist and chamber music as well. Coop interestingly won first prize in CBC’s national radio competition.
The evening began with Three Intermezzi by Charles Villiers Stanford. First was andante espressivo, then allegro agitato, followed by allegretto scherzando. The first being very soothing, the second putting me at the edge of my seat, and the last adding a nice finishing touch to the piece. Overal this piece contained a beautiful interplay of melodies. The piano at times wonderfully accompanies the clarinet. These pieces switch back and forth between being homophonic and polyphonic. At times one instrument would be prominent, other times they would have equal prominence.
Next came the Grand Duo concertant for clarinet and piano by Carl Maria von Weber. First came allegro con fuoco, then andante con moto, lastly rondo:allegro. My favourite of the three being the andante con moto – due to its lyrical sad sounding clarinet part, and chordal piano part. This was a virtuosic piece, described as a double concerto without the orchestra. It was polyphonic, having imitation between the piano and clarinet. The second movement was bel canto, containing a beautifully sweet singing tone produced by the clarinet. It was also quite homophonic in texture. The third movement had the instruments talking to one another, imitating one another – sounding like squirrels running at one point.
Alan Berg’s Four Pieces for clarinet and piano began with the clarinet, and built up dynamically, and Franch-Ballester produced some low tones out of the clarinet. It had what I would consider an unconvential beginning. The remarkable thing about this piece, however is the amount of silence it contains. Silence speaks is what I found. The silence made what was played even more weighty and infliuential. In a way I found I did not like this piece, however I enjoyed the way it incorporated silence.
Johannes Brahms’ Sonata No.1 in F minor for clarinet and piano was the last piece of the night. It starts with allegro appassionato, andante un poco adagio, allegretto grazioso, and ends with vivace. It began monophonically with the piano, then came in the clarinet with an inquisitive melody. It quickly rises to great heights, but proceeds to mellow down. It seemed like the piano at times competed with the clarinet, but the clarinet managed to soar over the piano throughout the piece.
Overall, it was a good experience listening to a different instrument I didn’t have much experience with – the clarinet – and seeing how the accompaniment supported the pieces. There was good chemistry between Franch-Ballester and Coop, making the music that much more entertaining. The performance put on made me want to make music in a much more passionate way.