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The Brentano String Quartet concluded JCCC's Performing Arts Series 2009-2010 season with Brahms' Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in B Minor, Op. 115 (featuring Charles Neidich, clarinet) and Schubert's String Quartet in G Major, Op. 161 (D. 887) last Saturday night. Beyond that informational introduction, this otherwise could be, and - given my general tendency towards verbosity - maybe should be, a very short review.

Here is the very shortest version:  The Brentano String Quartet was flawless.

Now - flawless can be a dangerous and misleading word. In the strictest sense, nothing is ever really flawless. And even after a "flawless" concert if you talk to the performers and ask for a self-critique, there will always (trust me...always) be things they felt weren't quite perfect. Such is the nature of the artistic pursuit of true perfection - an unattainable goal that remains ever elusive:  more of a journey, as the saying goes, than a destination.

My definition (and general philosophy) of "flawless" follows:  in a very large ensemble like an orchestra, some imperfections can get lost. In a Mahler symphony, for example, if the 22^nd violinist is a little flat, or flabby on rhythm, or in a coma, it is possible that this could go unnoticed. Conversely, in a solo performance - like a piano sonata - the performer is very prominent and only has to be concerned with themselves (and with the possible exception of John Cage's "4:33", comas would be problematic). Perfection is what they make - or don't make - of it.

It's the small- to moderate-sized ensembles where the real challenge lies, and in that sense a string quartet (or quintet with a 5^th instrument - like the clarinet) is kind of like flying a 747:  a gazillion things have to go right for a successful "flawless" trip, but one misfire anywhere in the process can bring it crashing to earth really, really fast. And by that analogous measure - for pitch, intonation, rhythm, timing, dynamics, cohesion, virtuosity, execution, interpretation, etc., etc., etc. - I honestly could not hear or see a single flaw in Brentano's performances.

Having long been a fan of Brahms' string work - particularly his four symphonies and trios - I was looking forward to hearing the quintet with clarinet.  The program notes indicate that by 1891, at age 58, Brahms was feeling like "it was time to prepare for the end." Whether this sentiment was literal or figurative on his part, the fact is Brahms would be dead within six years. But it was during these six years that he had a burst of energy directed specifically at chamber music (his last symphony wasbeen 6 years prior, in 1885), and directed even more specifically at the clarinet.

Brentano and Neidich melded seamlessly to produce a mature interpretation of this later work. It is hard to imagine a different instrumentation. Much like the difficulty picturing the actor who didn't get the part in what becomes an iconic role, the warm themes of the work are perfectly suited to the clarinet (try picturing Al Pacino - no kidding - as Han Solo and you'll get the idea). The personal warmth that comes through conveys not only that Brahms was writing for the clarinet, specifically, but for a specific clarinetist, as well (Richard Mühlfeld). While one could certainly discern a reflective, if not "mortal", disposition in the work, it is regularly interspersed with a glimpse of Brahms' trademark and upbeat rhythmic motifs. While the majority of the work focuses on reflective themes, nothing in the piece suggests that Brahms' was in any way - musically or otherwise - "preparing for the end."

The Schubert presented an entirely different mood and, written barely two years before his death, brought a more ominous sense of urgency. Invigorated by a nearly constant juxtaposition of tension and release, major and minor themes and pensive and reflective moods, Schubert's exhausting exploration of his themes received the full intensity of Brentano's meticulous scrutiny. The recurring, double-bowed themes were executed with surgical precision, particularly in the cello.

I came away from these performances feeling as though I had heard very near the interpretations that Brahms and Schubert intended, and applauded, in the most mature, technically-perfect executions of any classical repertoire I have heard anywhere this season. I've never been a particularly demonstrative concert-goer, but after both pieces completed, one man in the audience broke the silence - both times - with an extremely loud and enthusiastic "BRAVO!"

He was right.

REVIEW
The Performing Arts Series at JCCC
Brentano String Quartet with Charles Neidich, clarinet
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Johnson County Community College
12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS
www.jccc.edu/TheSeries

By Christopher Guerin

Traditional and New Classical music, and Theatre Contributor (Past writer)
Christopher Guerin holds degrees in Music Education, Music Business, and Music Theory & Composition, the latter from the University of Massachusetts (Lowell) College of Music where he co-founded the college's Composers' Guild, and, in 1985, won the Artin Arslanian Composition Award. During college, he also obtained some musical theatre experience as a member of pit orchestras for Threepenny Opera and My Fair Lady. Since 1989, Christopher has been in the very non-artistic corporate sector, where his creative energies have been put to more mundane endeavors 

Christopher credits his musical motivations to his late father, who was concertmaster of the Springfield (MA) Community (pre-cursor to the city's current Symphony) Orchestra and performed popular music on radio in the 1930s. Christopher began his classical training in 1972 at age 10, began teaching at 16 (continuing to take private students throughout college), and traveled extensively with a youth orchestra - including to New Zealand in 1980. After college, and until 1989, Christopher focused on the business end of music as a successful sales manager for one of New England's largest music chains.

Over the past 20 years, Christopher's expertise has focused on medicine as a life risk underwriting officer for a large Midwest insurance group. His past duties included responsibility for risk underwriting in Pacific Rim markets where he traveled extensively to Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand and Burma. Time permitting, he has continued to compose intermittently throughout this period. Christopher is married to Paula, a fellow musician he met during college, and together they have "composed" their magnum opera in three very creative children - an architecture student (go K-State!), an aspiring classical pianist, and a budding writer/journalist. He and his wife relocated from Massachusetts to the Kansas City area in 1997.