Brahms, Bartok, Bordellos and Beyond, the Perfect Mother's Day Treat

Returning to the Segerstrom Center for the arts,
I was once again whisked away to another world,
this time, an aural journey back to the folk roots of Hungary.
As part of the Pacific Symphony's Cafe Ludwig series, a special
Mother's Day performance of "Brahms, Bartok and Beyond" was presented
in the Samueli space. Different from the frosted wedding cake hall
I previously heard the Shostakovich concert in,
the Samueli Theater felt more like being in a sushi box, or square cello.
Instead of concert seating, little cafe tables were set up
in the audience with petite fors on plates awaiting one.
In the lobby, complimentary tea and coffee, hence the bistro vibe.
The Cafe Ludwig series has existed for a decade now, as part of the Pacific Symphony's
many innovative ways of experiencing classical music.
(as I posted in my last blog about the Pac Symph, in this day
and age, classical music requires a little more swag to attract new fans)
For the past seven years, pianist and radio personality Orli Shaham has
hosted the series, and we were fortunate to have her on this Mothering Day of
May 11, 2014.
The program started out with Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet by Gyorgy Ligeti,
a composer of Hungarian descent, who tragically lost most of his family in Auschwitz
eventually moving to the US to score films.
(his big claims to fame being 2001 A Space Odyssey and The Shining)
The Bagatelles explore Hungarian folk melodies as well as the "nature of the scale" in a "delicate, impassioned,
soulful and deeply moving" way as stated by Ms. Shaham. The piece is rarely performed
and each movement is only about 30 seconds, so, as was said in days of Vaudeville
if you don't like the act, it will be over soon.
Fortunately, all the Ligeti movements were enjoyable, from the circus acrobatics of the first movement,
to the dark landscapes of the second, the pastoral journey of the third movement possessing
a melody evocative of Wild Folk in the Hungarian woods, closing with the sixth movement,
a synergistic frolic through a Village Festival. Performed by the principal chairs of the Symphony
Benjamin Smolen on flute, Jessica Pearlman on Oboe, Benjamin Lulich on clarinet
 Rose Corrigan on bassoon and Keith Popejoy on French Horn, it revealed the importance
of musicians really knowing each other
in the musical language. There is a cohesiveness created (like in any legendary rock band)
of having performed so often together.
Next up were Three Folk Songs from Csik by Bela Bartok, known as the "Father of Ethnomusicology"
played by Jessica Pearlman on oboe and Orli Shaham on piano. Touching, captivating melodies
with Pearlman's sonorous smooth tone and Shaham's incredibly connected playing. The
latter really had the former's back, so to speak. There's a reason why folk music prevails;
it is of the people and speaks to our limbic brain, our instinctual
selves, of time gone by, still lingering in our DNA inherited from our ancestors.
Then Three Rondos on Slovak Folk Tunes for solo piano,
like a romantic lullaby turning into an energetic romp in the nursery.
As Ms Shaham explained, a melody coming back round again and again
(Five years of the music conservatory at USC, folks, and i never connected "Rondo" to "round".
I really shouldn't be admitting this in print)
To end the first half Benjamin Lulich and Orli Shaham played Bartok's Romanian Folk
Dances for Clarinet and Piano, a delicious, virtuosic, poetic piece that displays the dynamic capabilities
of the clarinet.   Mr. Lulich really told a story through his playing, he spoke through the instrument
in such a way that i could almost hear words in the notes.
Intermission, a refill of  Tazo china green tips tea
and back for the second half of the program; The Brahms Piano Quartet No.1 in G Major.
Ms. Shaham is such an erudite, eloquent host, and of course flawless passionate pianist;
a true consummate performer, like Liberace, only without the furs, cars and boy toys.
Joining her were veteran string principals, Raymond Kobler, violin, Robert Becker, viola and
Timothy Landauer on cello. There is something about the panache and gravitas that only comes
with time and having held the instrument for so many years. Together the three string players
made it sound like a full blended orchestra, with the fiery, flying fingers on the piano
charging ahead on top.
Brahms wrote the piece when he was only twenty eight, and though the last movement
is a "Gypsy Rondo" the flavor of the traveling people can be heard throughout the piece.
I always fancy I can hear the passionate influences of the brothels Brahms
played in as a child, (though allegedly the formative experience caused him great pain in his
personal life as an adult), but that could just be my biased interpretation.  I brought
my mother to the concert and together with my father she had raised me in the red light
districts of Europe, though in their defense these same quarters were also where students could
afford to live and the artists busked, instilling an early love of Variety Arts in me.
(I also was very partial to fishnet stockings and corsets as a teenager)
Bathing in the sound of Brahms and his multitude of musical ideas
culminated in the Zigeuner flair of the finale greeted by an instant standing ovation
from the enthused crowd.