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This reviewer wonders how many of the audience members at Summerfest's final concert series on August 1 and 2 had ever heard of Danish composer Knudage Riisager.  Very few, probably, including this writer.  So we are all indebted to Summerfest for bringing us, at the culmination of its 2009 season, a fascinating and sprightly work by a little known composer which simultaneously served as a delightful end to the season and a reminder of the kind of thanks our community's cultural life owes to Summerfest's unique programming.

Leading up to the Riisager piece were three rather more traditional chamber pieces, one a selection by Baroque composer Attilio Ariosti ("La Rosa" from The Flowering and Fading of Love), one by the giant Czech master Antonin Dvorak (selections from the string quartet setting of his song cycle Cypresses), and one from Franz Schubert (Der Hirt auf dem Felson, translated as The Shepherd on the Rock).

Soprano Rebecca Sherburne of the vocal faculty of the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance was the "star," if that word is appropriate for chamber music, of the concert's first half.  In the Ariosti piece she and the other instruments began tentatively, perhaps calibrating downward their volume and passion due to the restrained chords from the harpsichord, but by the fourth movement when the full five-piece ensemble got going, it was unbridled excitement all the way, with an exciting and vigorous ending.  The instrumentalists in the piece included flutist Sharon Finney, violinist Mary Grant, cellist Mark Gibbs, and harpsichordist Rebecca Bell.

The richly romantic tones of the Dvorak string quartet offered a stark, and welcome, contrast to the restrained Baroque opening, with Gibbs' cello providing a rich and firm foundation for violinists Mary Grant and Doris Dai Janssen, along with violist Michael Kimber.  Dvorak was not above an occasional dissonance, pleasingly resolved, and after a number of beautiful floating melodies played by the various instruments, the number ended on a soft note.

Not so the Schubert, which called for coloratura from the soprano as well as the other instruments of the trio.  In this one, clarinetist Jane Carl and pianist Melissa Rose joined Sherburn in a score filled with running scales, high-flying melodies, vigorous playing and a spectacular ending, with Sherburn tossing high notes to the rafters. It was great stuff, as testified by the audience's warm applause.

The real highlight of the concert, though, was the four-movement Divertimento for String Quartet and Woodwind Quintet by Riisager.  For the summer's final selection Summerfest brought out nine musicians. Violinists Grant and Janssen were joined by Kimber and Gibbs on the string side, and for the woodwind quartet Summerfest presented Finney, guest oboist Brian Greene, clarinetist Jane Carl, bassoonist Joshua Hood, and Kelly Cornell on the French horn.

Riisager's music is alternatively lyrical and sprightly, throwing in a share of dissonances and modern effects, but not without charm and often resolved.  This listener detected the substantial influence of the French master Francis Poulenc.  Almost every member of the group had at least a short solo or duet opportunity; a favorite was the opening comic bassoon solo in the third movement, reminding one of a croaking (but very melodious) frog.  The composer displayed a gift of writing for a number of different instrumental combinations, and finished it all with a brilliant upbeat conclusion. 

An easy piece it is not, and the musicians' ability just to hold it together with so many instrumentalists operating without a conductor was impressive in itself.  Hopefully we will hear more of Riisager's music in future summers.

Thank you, Summerfest, for a series that brings us both the old and the new in chamber music.

REVIEW:
Summerfest IV
Cypresses
Saturday August 1 at 7:00 p.m.
White Recital Hall
4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MO

Sunday, August 2 at 5:00 p.m.
St. Mary's Episcopal Church
1307 Holmes, Kansas City, MO
 www.summerfestkc.org/

By Don Dagenais

City Classics Music and Dance Columnist; Classical Contributor

A lifelong classical music fan, Don Dagenais is a frequent preview speaker for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and has taught classical music and opera courses at several Kansas City venues. He has served on the boards of directors of a number of performing arts organizations including the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Lyric Opera Guild, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, Opera Volunteers International, the Civic Opera Theater of Kansas City, Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony, Octarium, and the Friends of the Symphony.  He has been the past president of most of these organizations and is current the president of the Friends of the Symphony. 

Dagenais co-authored a history of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, published on the occasion of its 50th anniversary (2007) and has written books on the histories of both the Lyric Opera Guild and Opera Volunteers International, as well as an introductory book for opera novices (Your Passport to the Opera).  He has received several local and national awards for outstanding volunteer work for the arts, including a lifetime achievement award from The Coterie Theatre in 2000, the Kansas City Musical Club's annual award in 2001, a Partners in Excellence Award from Opera Volunteers International in 2002, a Bravo Award from Opera Volunteers International in 2004 and a community service award from the Daughter of the American Revolution in 2008 honoring him for his community service to the arts.

In addition to his music interests, Don is president of the board of directors for the Metropolitan Ensemble Theater and has served on the boards of The Coterie Theatre and the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, serving as president of each organization.  He publishes newsletters for seven arts organizations.  When not involved in the performing arts, Don is a senior real estate attorney with Lathrop & Gage LLP in Kansas City, Missouri, where he has practiced law since 1976 after graduating from the Cornell Law School.