When the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra began its Concertmaster Series of chamber music in 2012 under former concertmaster Gabriel Lefkowitz, its concept of attracting new audiences to alternative venues seemed very contemporary and cool. Housed in a backroom of a coffee shop in the Old City, and taking place on weekday evenings, the series hoped that musically eclectic, but non-regular, listeners who were open and curious about classical music might give it a try. What the series attendance revealed, however, was that there was already a significant Knoxville audience that was hungry for chamber music events that filled in the gap in the KSO’s other programming. After the series moved to the more accessible Knoxville Museum of Art after a couple of seasons, the series grew in popularity and in its scope of performances under current concertmaster William Shaub. One year ago, however, with the arts and music world shaken by the realization that live performances were incompatible with Covid-19 pandemic precautions, everything ground to a halt.
With the very concept of intimate chamber music performances still impossible, the KSO has—at least, temporarily—moved its Concertmaster Series into a traditional theatre environment that can accommodate both a limited live audience and the capability of live-streaming for those who prefer to watch and listen from home. Thankfully, Knoxville possesses a theatre—downtown’s Bijou Theatre—that not only has stunningly supportive acoustics for chamber music, but that can also accommodate small audiences and small ensembles, socially spaced.
Last evening found KSO concertmaster William Shaub and a number of his orchestra colleagues at the Bijou resurrecting the Concertmaster Series for a limited live audience. Unfortunately, the intended companion live-stream was struck by technical difficulties. [I understand a video recording was made and will subsequently be offered for viewing.] However, what that limited in-person audience experienced—including this writer—was a live performance that bubbled with intensity, energy, and confidence, all richly satisfying in the face of what had to be overcome. And, although I have learned to appreciate the KMA’s acoustics for the series in the past, last evening proved there simply is no substitute for a chamber music performance in an acoustic jewel like the Bijou.
Shaub began the evening with an intriguing and evocative solo violin work, Petrichor. The work was commissioned by Robin Smith for the KSO from Alexandra T. Bryant. The word petrichor refers to the pleasant smell in the air that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell. Bryant’s construction here is something of a metaphor for our current situation, one that Shaub presented with beautifully painted string colors that ebbed and flowed between tension and relief.
Something of a history lesson was next, with Shaub and violinist Sean Claire, violist Kathryn Gawne, and cellist Andy Bryenton, revealing the precocious 14 year-old Mozart’s first string quartet, No. 1 in G major, K. 80/73f.
Speaking of precociousness, the real ear-opener of the evening was a performance of 16 year-old Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat Major for Strings, Op. 20. Written for a private gathering at the Mendelssohn home in October, 1825, the work—an octet comprised of a double string quartet—has a natural balance between lyrical adventurism and harmonic substance that is irresistible, a quality that Shaub and his colleagues exploited with fervor. That fervor showed up as nicely controlled intensity as the eight players released some obvious pent-up performance energy, long delayed by the pandemic hiatus, and channeled it into Mendelssohn’s intention that the work should be played in “symphonic orchestral style” where “pianos and fortes must be strictly observed and more strongly emphasized.” This was particularly obvious in the third Scherzo movement and certainly in the Presto finale. The result was a performance that was satisfying in its solidity that may not have been repeatable in other venues.
Of course, finding a way through the Covid-19 recovery is an ongoing experiment, an experiment in which the KSO’s live performances are a part. Clearly, there are revelations about space and venues, and some lessons to be learned here that we can perhaps apply in happier and saner times.
