John Frayne | Serious Brahms versus soft, luxurious French Ravel

The main works of the Sinfonia da Camera concert on October 26 reflected the German seriousness of Johannes Brahms in contrast to the soft and luxurious French sounds of Maurice Ravel. But the concert opened with a short work, “Overture,” by contemporary African-American composer Jessie Montgomery. This work was written while Mongomery was composer-in-residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which will perform for the first time in 2022. “Overture” opened with unison strings announcing a simple, direct, intense theme. The full orchestra later joined the strings in a brief development, before the work opens with a beautiful chorale-like ending. This work excelled in concentrated effort with satisfactory results.

The most important work during this concert was Brahms’ monumental Piano Concerto No. 2. This work, one of the longest piano concertos in the repertoire, encompasses an enormous range of styles and musical effects in its four movements. The soloist in this work was Timothy Ehlen, longtime professor of piano at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Music. Ehlen has given concerts and performed with symphony orchestras in many parts of the world. With pianist/conductor Ian Hobson on stage, this was a case of pianist-supporting pianist, with both Ehlen and Hobson aware of the challenges of this enormous work.

This work by Brahms requires a wide range of keyboard skills, both the ability to produce powerful phrases at the piano and the delicate touch to float the softer passages, which resemble the Intermezzi of Brahms’s advanced years.

This range of skills was depicted in high relief by Ehlen. From the heroic passages that opened the first movement, Ehlen took over the piano solo part of this mighty score, but could retreat to gentle lyrical playing when necessary. Ehlen continued the grandiose style in the second movement, responding to Brahms’s call for apppassionato playing. In the third, slow movement, Ehlen showed the intimate emotions of Brahms, and principal cellist Jun Lee opened and closed this beautiful movement with a sweet tone and delicate phrasing.

In the finale, Ehlen showed a charming lightness of touch as Brahms offered the listener some relief from the earlier tensions of this work. Throughout, Hobson and the Sinfonia players provided strong support for Ehlen’s solo playing, especially from the horns, under the baton of Bernhard Scully. The exciting conclusion of this Brahms concerto was followed by very strong applause, with many in the audience responding enthusiastically to the beautiful playing of the soloist, orchestra players and conductor.

The rest of the program was devoted to Ravel’s music, and the contrast between Ravel’s clear orchestration and Brahms’ desire for emotional depth could not be greater. The first work was Ravel’s ‘Mother Goose Suite’, with five vignettes from famous French fairy tale collections from the late 17th century. This music first appeared in a piano version for four hands, designed to be performed by young people. The orchestral version transported us to the wonderfully subtle interweavings of Ravel’s orchestral wizardry. Particularly delightful were the contrasts in ‘The Conversation of Beauty and the Beast’, in which Beast was evoked by the growls of bassoon and contrabassoon.

The last work on the program was “Alborada del gracioso” (“The Morning Song of the Clown”). Ravel was born in France near the southern border with Spain, and his mother was Spanish. Ravel loved to reflect the special qualities of Spanish music, and this ‘Alborada’ was a piano piece from a collection called ‘Mirrors’, later orchestrated by the composer. For me, this work has the power of a bomb that will explode soon. The work jogs along with a guitar-like accompaniment, and its brilliant planes are interrupted by the fortissimos of the complete orchestra. This boisterous, devilish work offered the ideal relief at the end of a wonderful evening of making music. In response to joyful applause, many members of the orchestra were called upon by conductor Hobson for solo bows, and then for bows of the entire Sinfonia for the delightful collective effort.

John Frayne hosts “Classics of the Phonograph” on WILL-FM on Saturdays and, in retirement, teaches regularly at the Osher Lifelong Learner Institute in Champaign. His email address is [email protected].