Music
CSQ Shines in North Hollywood
On Sunday afternoon, January 11 at 2 PM, we attended a
chamber music concert by the California String Quartet, which was a part of a
free chamber music concert series at the First Christian Church of North
Hollywood. At this concert, also, more people attended than was expected; the
ushers had to quickly photocopy additional programs for the latecomers.
The California Philharmonic features some of the finest musicians: Katia Popov and Lorand Lokuszta, violins, Alma Fernandez, viola, and Armen Ksajikian, cello. They were joined by special guest, Bruce Dukov on violin, and Cindy Lam on piano.
The program opened with Suite in G Minor, Op. 71 for Two Violins and Piano by Moritz Moszkowski, a Polish composer popular at the end of the 19th-century. While unfamiliar today – except for those occasional pieces that survive in certain piano method books – the suite was a readily accessible showpiece for Bruce Dukov, Katia Popov, and Cindy Lam. The opening movement, Allegro energico, is in sonata allegro form, with two contrasting lyrical themes. The Allegro moderato is a graceful waltz. A melancholy Lento assai follows, closing with a playful Molto vivace movement in ternary form with Coda that carries the piece to a glorious finish in G Major.
Cesar Franck’s Piano Quintet in F Minor was the central work on the concert. The composer was born in Belgium but worked professionally in Paris as an organist and composer. The three-movement work is a prime example of late French romanticism, and featured the talents of the California String Quartet and pianist Cindy Lam.
For refreshing lighter fare, Bruce Dukov rejoined Katia Popov for his arrangement of Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever in the Style of Wienlawski for Two Violins. His arrangement encompassed the spirit of the late 19th-century virtuoso, who would incorporate popular songs of the day and transform them into pyrotechnic displays for the performer. The duet was a delightful example of this tradition.
The concert concluded with a “Special Surprise”: an arrangement of Johann Strauss’ Radetsky March with the audience invited to clap along.
We encourage you to attend the concluding concert of the chamber music series on Sunday, June 6, 2010 at 2 PM. They will be joined by several guest artists to perform the famous Mendelssohn Octet and a Mozart Divertimento. For more details visit their website at www.californiastringquartet.com.
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