Review of Perlman Music Program (PMP) Hear & Now Concert featuring PMP alumni Rachel Lee Priday, violin and David Kaplan, piano

Comment Off 377 Views

From Classics to Experimental Here and Now PMP Opens

December 4, 2014

By: Lisa Yellin and Kenney DeCamp

Thursday, December 4th Perlman Music Program/Suncoast (PMP) performance by Rachel Lee Priday, violin, and David Kaplan, piano, was in Kaplan’s words “an exchange of ideas.” The program included contemporary works by Marcos Balter and Matthew Aucoin along with Schumann-Dietrich-Brahms and Beethoven. Priday and Kaplan, who met at PMP, deliberately chose the works they presented: Priday chose Sonata F-A-E by Schumann-Dietrich-Brahms because it was a collaboration of three composers; Kaplan chose Re: No Subject by Marcos Balter because it was a piece he had played a decade ago at the Tanglewood Festival and had always wanted to perform again; Matthew Aucoin’s Celan Fragments was chosen because he is a Harvard friend of Priday and the final piece, Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 9, in A major, Op. 47 (Kreutzer Sonata) by Ludwig van Beethoven, was a piece they had played together in an adult collaboration at PMP. And at the time it was composed was considered a contemporary piece.

Priday and Kaplan’s versatility as performers was quite evident and Thursday night’s performance highlighted their skill and versatility. They were able to not only seamlessly perform works by the masters, but also engage the audience in listening to contemporary music that playfully jumped from words to music and back again. As one patron said during intermission “this is a valiant attempt to do something unique and imaginative” and it was “brave of them to experiment and present such contemporary compositions to an established Sarasota audience.”

The PMP/Suncoast Hear and Now Concert Series features alumni concerts. Kaplan explained that earlier in the program’s history PMP included piano along with strings and that is how Priday and Kaplan met. Though their age difference kept them apart socially, both agreed that the program bridged age differences and treated all participants as equal making music together.

The Chicago Tribune has described Rachel Lee Priday as having “irresistible panache” while the Boston Globe says David Kaplan’s piano playing has “grace and fire” – and the Sarasota community’s response to their performance validated these descriptions. It was a pleasure to sit, relax and enjoy this variety of music and experience our young performers present new works along with the masters. It was also truly a pleasure at the after-party to drink champagne and toast and mingle with these fine musicians.

 

 

##

December 4, 2014 @ 7 pm: Hear & Now Concert
Rachel Lee Priday, violin and David Kaplan, piano at the Sarasota Opera House (followed by Meet the Artists Reception)
www.perlmanmusicprogramsuncoast.org
Performing…

Schumann/Dietrich/Brahms – F-A-E Sonata
Matthew Aucoin – Celan Fragments
Marcos Balter – Re: No Subject
INTERMISSION
Beethoven – Kreutzer Sonata

at the Sarasota Opera House
61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota, FL 34236

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

About the author

Editor of Don411.com Media website.
Free Newsletter Updated Daily