How electrifying can classical music be? I had the opportunity to answer that question with a resounding “very,” thanks to Cactus Pear Music Festival, hosting their 28th Season, Spur of the Moment. The idea behind this summer’s chamber music series was to showcase thrilling works by composers you’ve never heard of and ones you can’t get enough of. Along with this, the audience got a feel for how different a piece is when performed live, rather than on a CD.
I sat in on Friday night’s show, “On the Fly,” the third in the four-concert series over two weeks. Their cold opener was by Rebecca Clarke, a fascinating composer whose writing style catches any audience's attention effortlessly. Clarke had a difficult, yet eventful upbringing. Issues with her family resulted in her being cast out and forced to grow up in the world quickly and alone. Music was her solace and ticket to success. Today, her compositions showcase her originality in color, passion, and structure. Violinist Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio and pianist Jeffrey Sykes captured that essence for the audience and I, right from the first note of Clarke’s piece “Midsummer Moon.” Every pause was met with a whispered “wow” as time passed much slower in-between. It was an incredibly precise and purposeful presentation, and the gentle ornamentation from Sant’Ambrogio put me at ease.
No different was Beethoven’s Piano Trio Opus 70, No. 2. Now introducing the cellist for the night, Lachezar Kostov, who joined the other two on stage. The music was too alive to be confined to the pages for this trio of virtuosic performers. This trio features Beethoven’s light colors (what I would say a good morning sounds like) in the first movement, dark colors in the second movement (didn’t know he could be dramatic with just three instruments, did you?), and a mix of both timbres for movements three and four. Musically, they emanated their respect for Beethoven’s writing in every phrase and intense dynamic. Their stage chemistry was truly powerful and the energy in the room was incredibly infectious; so much so that it was met with a standing ovation.
To introduce the finale for the night, Sykes spoke on George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris,” explaining it was originally written for two pianos before being orchestrated. Gershwin hoped to express the sound of a classical-jazz blended landscape, much like an unfamiliar, but romanticized city. The dream duo of tonight’s closer featured Jeffrey Sykes and Christopher Taylor at duo pianists. It felt to me as though Gershwin finished writing the last note and sat back to listen to the full performance in the audience with us. The tune had Sykes and Taylor dancing in their chairs, and I was enjoying every bit of it. The overall performance sounded like a wholesome conversation between two friends, as I was a spectator of two great pianists jamming out and having a blast.
Coming out on the other side of the performance was a refreshing experience, and it seemed as though I wasn’t alone. The audience showed a resounding amount of praise that there were four curtain call bows. Cactus Pear Music Festival’s On the Fly was a spectacle to behold, and I have never witnessed such an invigorating performance or set of performers. In other words, the show was a treat high in vitamin B. Each individual soloist shined on their respective instruments, and they rocked the stage in every passage.
