reviewvancouver: Tea & Trumpets Series - Songs My Mother Taught Me, John Jane

The central theme of this matinee concert, the fifth in this season’s Tea & Trumpet Series, is nostalgia. Its selected title comes from Antonín Dvorák’s Songs My Mother Taught Me from a cycle called Gypsy Songs, using poems by Czech poet Adolf Heyduk. Straight away, I must confess that my mother (who was a semi-professional British Music Hall entertainer) didn’t teach me any of the songs heard in this repertoire – Pity!

Dvorák’s Songs My Mother Taught Me is barely two minutes in duration and is the fourth and most famous of his seven-song cycle, Gypsy Songs, Op. 55. It most certainly highlights the timelessness of music, that has passed through generations.

The program centre-piece was Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir d'un lieu cher (Memory of a Beloved Place) performed by assistant concertmaster David Lakirovich. Scored for solo violin with piano accompaniment, the first movement Méditation was written in Switzerland. Scherzo and Mélodie (second and Third movements) were composed in the same year while the composer was a guest of Nadeja von Meck in Ukraine, which is obviously the "beloved place" of the title. The work exemplifies Tchaikovsky's mastery of violin writing, using a wide range of timbres which Mr. Lakirovich skillfully demonstrated.

The first offering of the afternoon was actually Felix Mendelssohn’s light and airy Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written when he was just seventeen. It was the first of two pieces of incidental music from this suite. The other performed later in the concert was the Intermezzo. Beginning with the woodwind section, the work is cheerful, without being blithe.

Next was Tchaikovsky’s lively Sleeping Beauty Waltz. The Russian master’s Sleeping Beauty ballet has always crouched behind his other two great ballets: The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. However, Waltz from the first act is the most recognizable. Maestro Bui’s reading is both subtle and expansive.

Edward Elgar’s Salut d’Amour is a love song dedicated to his then fiancé Alice. He originally composed for solo violin and piano, and according to host Christopher Gaze gave it the title of Liebesgruss (love greeting).Its poignant harmonies, driven by Elgar’s feelings about Alice shine through this ode to his soon to be wife.

There is an inherent sadness embedded in Maurice Ravel’s haunting tone poem Pavane pour une infante defunte as it embarks on a longing for past grandeur. I would consider it to be near the top of emotional classical pieces by any metric. The laid-back melody gracefully drifts through the orchestra, showing that Ravel’s Pavane is sensuous, and yet detached from reality.

The final work in the program was Felix Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony, or more formally titled Symphony No.4 in A Major, Op.90. Just as Mendelssohn was moved to write the Scottish Symphony after a fulfilling vacation in Scotland, he was similarly moved to compose the Italian Symphony on completing a visit to Italy. This afternoon, we only heard the 4th movement 'Saltarello.' Maestro Bui’s attention to rhythm and phrasing keeps this music sounding lively.

Tea & Trumpet patrons have become accustomed to not leaving the Opheum until hearing an encore. This concert was never going to be the anomaly. Dvorák’s charming Humouresque, a piano cycle consisting of eight pieces, fitted well with the program’s theme.