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Playing to a nearly full house of eager concertgoers last weekend as part of Harriman-Jewell’s first Discovery Concert of the season, young violinist Chloë Hanslip and collaborative pianist Ashley Wass’ program of Beethoven, Szymanowski, Stravinsky and Saint-Saëns projected a steady trajectory from labored and uninspired to easy and enjoyable.

Beethoven’s Sonata No 8. for Violin and Piano in G major was refreshingly outside of Hanslip’s norm. However, after hearing it she should stick with twentieth-century to contemporary works and maybe venture back to the Baroque, eschewing Classical and Romantic altogether. She overcompensated on attacks especially in the Allegro vivace and the double stops of the second movement were unbalanced. Wass also seemed to struggle with this piece at times performing heavy-handedly and other times with a curiously uncharacteristic harpsichord-like staccato.

Karol Szymanowksi’s Myths was a marked improvement over the Beethoven. It was a dazzling display of techniques, all performed ably with a technician’s adroitness. Hanslip transcended technician—she brought life and drama to the three contrasting character pieces. The climax of “La fontaine d’Aréthuse” elicited amazed gasps from the audience and rightfully so. Here was the passion and fervor missing from the Beethoven. Her con sordino technique was beautiful as she capitalized on the full extent of the innate timbre change. Harmonics throughout the work were pristinely accurate. The opening quarter-tone trill of “Dryades et Pan” was jarring, aggressive, and otherworldly. Myths was a challenging piece for the performers and the Discovery Series audience alike. I commend Hanslip and Wass for tackling the entire piece instead of just the first movement as is typical.

When Hanslip began Stravinsky’s Suite italienne, I heard an audience member in front of me exclaim, “This is Stravinsky?” It is a deceptive piece. Using Pergolesi themes, Stravinsky adds his own compositional techniques into the piece pulling the audience along for the journey. Hanslip and Wass conveyed this progression as well, displaying upright primness in the opening movements and outright jocularity in the latter. I was as impressed with their navigation between the belligerent and the sentimental as I was with the delightful performance.

Hanslip and Wass’ rendition of Saint-Saëns’ Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in D minor was the first time I have enjoyed a live performance of Saint-Saëns. Performances of his music all too often strike me as wishy-washy. Such was not the case with this duo. They played with such precision, I could see the music before me as if reading from the score; it was magical. The third movement especially was a well-oiled musical machine of blazingly crisp sixteenth notes.

I wish the Harriman-Jewell Series would implement a pre-concert recording about concert etiquette or include a friendly reminder in their programs similar to those employed by the Northland Symphony for their Discovery Series concerts. I did not mind the applause between movements as the audience was clearly enjoying the performance. I found the conversations occurring around me incredibly rude and bothersome however. I was not the only one. At intermission another concertgoer sarcastically questioned “Are we at the circus?” I couldn’t agree more. True, these concerts are meant to introduce wonderful emerging artists to an audience. It is just hard to achieve that goal when you have to listen over other patron’s conversations.

REVIEW:
Harriman-Jewell Series Discovery Series
Chloë Hanslip, violin
Friday, October 15, 2010
Folly Theater
300 W 12th St, Downtown Kansas City, MO
For more information visit http://hjseries.org

By Lee Hartman

Editor-in-Chief; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Lee Hartman holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (D.M.A., M.M.) and the University of Delaware (B.M.). At the University of Delaware, he received a Dean's Scholar position enabling him to pursue an individually designed academic program combining music education and composition. At the University of Missouri-Kansas City he served for three years as the Assistant Director to Musica Nova, the conservatory's new music ensemble, while teaching a variety of composition classes.

In 2007 he was invited to both the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík, Iceland and the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China to give lectures and master classes in composition. In the summer of 2009, Hartman served as an orchestra manager for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Aspen Opera Theater Center for various performances. He serves on the National Executive Committee of the Society of Composers, Inc. as Submissions Coordinator. His primary composition instructors include James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Paul Rudy, John Beall, and Jennifer Margaret Barker. He currently teaches music theory at the University of Central Missouri and general music classes at Park University having previously taught at UD (2007–08) and UMKC (2006–07).

His compositions can be found at http://www.leehartmanmusic.com