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D’Angelo Performs Chamber MusicSyracuse Symphony Chamber Players Appear With D’Angelo in Delightful Recital. Elizabeth Mutesky Delivers Gifted Performanceby Wayne DemydaChamber music, is, by definition, music to be played by small groups (quartets, quintets, or trios) in small places. At least this is the setting in which the pre-Romantu. composers wrote, However, when chamber music written by Hobart’s own master Nicholas V, D’Angelo came to the colleges, Albright Auditorium was loaded with people. Chamber music has grown up in stature.Entitled “The Composer in Performance,” the program consisted of four of Mr D’Angelo’s compositions, written between 1961 and 1967. And for this Sesquicentenmai Celebration, the Syracuse Symphony Chamber Players were invited to present D’Angelo’s work to the campus community.The concert opened with “Brass Quintet No. 3,” a piece which offered a pleasant combination of tones from two trumpets, a French horn, trombone, and tuba. I he three movement “Quintet” carried a subtitle of “Conversations Three which, in m\ mind, created an image of a musical discussion. The contrast, contrapointal in style, between the sometimes assertive tuba and the hotly blaring trumpets is characteristic nt the verbal contests we frequently hold.The Cazenovia String Quartet handled the “String Quartet No. 2,” excellently.A highlight was the performance of the well-gifted musician Elizabeth Mutesky, who appeared to be something of a show-woman. Assuredness was reflected in her manner, but was by no means lacking in her artistry. When the music demanded smoothness she responded admirably; when a pizzicato technique was called for, she plucked the strings of her violin with an energy and skill comparable to anyone 1 have seen. When the movement was a ‘vivace’ she played as fast as was humanly possible and the several tremolos that cropped up in the“String Quartet No. 3”were noteworthy examples ot the finesse and power she possesses. Her fellow musicians, the other violinist, the man on viola, and the cellist, complemented her talent with excellent playing.The disappointment I encountered in “String Quartet No. 2” was the frequent reliance on dissonance which never quite allowed me to appreciate the strings as a whole. Just when 1 began to feel a pervading rhythm, the individual instruments broke down intoa preoccupation with their own sounds.The “Woodwind Quintet No. 2” ended the program with a“bang not a whimper.’’ 1 he total range of tones seemed to be covered, from the highest (flute), through the oboe, clarinet, and French horn, to the lowest (bassoon). Each instrument, except the French horn, took a dominant part, although the clarinet spaghettied (sic) through much ot the work. The most delightful movement was definitely the scherzo, a word meaning ‘joke in Italian, and a playful use of musical instrumentation, jesting with the listener's solemnity. This was the bassoon’s moment, the opportunity to appreciate the merits ota normally ‘background’ instrument.The last composition, also the earliest written, can speak for the program as a whole And it is a fine salute to the versatility and innovative.if not conventional,approach which Mr. D’Angelo brings to Chamber Music. Every‘Chamber’should be so fortunate in presenting his works. —,
Newspaper Details
Geneva Herald
Geneva, New York, US
Fri, Apr 14, 1972
Page 4
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NY, USA 31 Jan 2024
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