This past Sunday I attended one of many classical concerts that the Lake San Marcos Chamber Music Society (L.S.M.C.M.S.) hosts. The one I sat in on was their season opener at the San Dieguito United Methodist Church. It featured Michele Zukovsky (clarinet), Daniel Rothmuller ("cello), and Joanne Pearce Martin (piano) as they performed an all-Brahms program. The musicians presented three pieces by Johannes Brahms: "Sonata in F major for "Cello and Piano, Op. 99," "Sonata in F minor for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 120 No. 1," and "Trio in A minor for Clarinet, "Cello and Piano, Op. 114." The performance of "Sonata in F major for "Cello and Piano, Op. 99 Allegro vivace" was truly an amazing experience and was my favorite piece of the concert. The piece started out fortisimo: violent and frantic. Within twenty measures it faded to pianissimo. During the entire piece, the dynamics ranged in and out of this spectrum. The tone color of the "cello was sharp, flighty, and eclectic while the piano represented tonal characteristics of power, joy, grace, and sorrow. The pitch of the number varied from soprano to bass although it stayed mostly in the baritone register. It was measured in thirds and there was some syncopation involved when the "cello would deviate from the beat set by the piano. During the piece, both the piano and "cello would imitate each other in a counterpoint fashion. It seemed as though at times the "cello would command the piano and vice versa. The texture was definitely homophonic because of this. Overall I give this concert four and a half (out of five) stars. It would have been perfect if only the artists had added more passion to their work. They played the pieces beautifully but showed little outward emotion. This, I believe is crucial to any great performance and enhances the experience and emotion of the entire piece by getting the audience involved; Making them not only see but feel the struggle that the artist has to express the notes on paper.
