United States Various – Colburn Presents Viola Plus: Martin Beaver, Margaret Batjer (violins), Tatjana Masurenko (viola), Peter Lloyd (double bass), Alexandra Hötz (soprano). Los Angeles Viola Ensemble and students. Thayer Hall, Colburn School, Los Angeles, 1.2.2025. (LV)
Brahms – String Quintet No.2 in G major, Op.111; Sonata No.2 for Viola and Piano, Op.120
Nejat Başeğmezler – Turkish Viola Ensembles
Tchaikovsky – Romance, Op.6, No.6
Rachmaninoff – Romance, Op.4, No.3 & 4
Kodály – Intermezzo for String Trio
Olga Lockenkopf – ‘Flying Lighthouse’
Vaughan Williams – Piano Quintet in C minor
On Sunday afternoon, Tatjana Masurenko brought her Viola Plus series, inspired by the series she established at the Mendelssohn Hochschule in Leipzig, to the Colburn School. In acoustically warm and clear Thayer Hall, which had sold out all 189 seats, the three-part program embodied the essence of chamber music. Renowned faculty members played alongside future superstars, creating music that felt as fresh and exciting as when it was first composed, with Brahms happily sharing the stage with Olga Lockenkopf, among others.
Brahms’s grand String Quintet in G major opened the program, with Masurenko and Charlotte Stickel infusing the music with a rich mahogany quality, blending beautifully with streams of seamless melody from the two violinists. Muyan Yang soared into the stratosphere with her gorgeous intonation, using portamento sparingly yet effectively, and touching in her intimate dialogues with Ethan Mayer’s sincere, almost tactile tone.
As always in this final burst of high spirits, which Brahms may have initially intended as his farewell, it is the cello solo at the very start of the first movement that not only tests the player’s abilities but also sets the tone for the entire performance. Eugene Lin nailed the low D on the C string and, from there, rose heroically through the ensemble with precise tone and expansive phrasing, setting the entire piece into incandescent motion – and demonstrating why he was just accepted into the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Following Brahms, Nejat Başeğmezler’s three Turkish dances, composed for and performed by Masurenko’s Los Angeles Viola Ensemble, wove strands of folk music decorated with exhilarating toe-tapping episodes, lively solos and the occasional use of the viola as a percussion instrument (no viola jokes, please).
After the first of two intermissions, Alexandra Hötz captivated hearts with romantic flair in songs by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, singing with impeccable pronunciation, radiance and range, while Masurenko and pianist Samuel Glicklich added color with commentary and sighs. Then, in Brahms’s transcription of his late E-flat major Clarinet Sonata, Masurenko illuminated the melodies with serene, lyrical warmth, and Glicklich responded with quiet poetry.
Kodály’s lovely Intermezzo introduced the concert’s third part and was played with persuasive ease and elegance by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra concertmaster Margaret Batjer alongside violist Sam Tatsuki and cellist Nathaniel Yue. This was followed by the world premiere of Olga Lockenkopf’s five-minute ‘Flying Lighthouse’ for the unique combination of viola d’amore, viola and tuba. Apparently inspired by an actual lighthouse in the Arctic swept away by a huge wave, the music generated its energy through arpeggios, pizzicatos and intentionally scratchy sounds, concluding with a deep sigh from Seth Carter’s tuba. As one of fewer than twenty members of the US Viola d’Amore Society, Masurenko was pleased to have commissioned this work for her series; in fact, she premiered Lockenkopf’s ‘Reflections’ for solo viola earlier this year in China (comparable to Britten’s reflections on John Dowland’s Lachrimae, she told me).
The program concluded with Ralph Vaughan Williams’s early Piano Quintet, featuring the same instrumentation as Schubert’s Trout Quintet. It was led by Colburn’s violinist Martin Beaver, who helmed the Tokyo Quartet from 2002 until its final concert eleven years later. Peter Lloyd provided a wonderfully eloquent bass, cellist Shengyu Meng showcased her poise and virtuosity and Glicklich tackled the immense piano part – at times reminiscent of a Romantic Russian concerto – with seemingly little effort and a great deal of passion. It was stormy late Brahms in the opening Allegro con fuoco, densely lyrical in the Andante and endlessly modulating in the final, aptly-named Fantasy movement. And, of course, as befitting a series devoted to music where the viola plays a central role, it also featured some impressive viola solos.
Laurence Vittes