January 24, 20221
“KSU Faculty Recital”
Morgan Hall, Bailey Performance Center, Kennesaw State University
Charae Krueger, cello; Robert Henry, piano; speical guest Kevin Lyons, trumpet
J.S. BACH: Suite No. 2 in D minor BWV 1008
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN : Sonata No. 4 in C major, op. 102, No.1 for Cello and Piano
Carson COOMAN: Lyric Trio for Trumpet, Cello and Piano, Op. 71
Sergei RACHMANINOFF: Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19
Mark Gresham | 28 HAN 2022
January has been a month of concert cancellations and postponements due to the recent spike in the COVID 19. Still, one that did not cancel was Monday’s faculty recital at Kennesaw State University’s Bailey Performance Center by cellist Charae Krueger with pianist Robert Henry and guest trumpeter Kevin Lyons. The concert in Morgan Hall was open for attendance by an in-person audience and accessible by live video internet stream for which KSU was a pioneer long before the pandemic made it a necessity for many. We chose that latter option for this review.
Three of the four works on the program were strong examples from the core cello repertoire. The remaining piece was an appealing, approachable contemporary trio for the unusual combination of trumpet, cello, and piano.
Krueger opened the recital unaccompanied with the Suite No. 2 in D minor for solo cello, BWV 1008, by Johann Sebastian Bach. Except for an uncomfortable opening section of the second movement, the “Allemande,” the Suite made for an excellent start to the program. The contemplative “Sarabande” was especially attractive among the set. Aside from that, she seemed to push the music forward.
Mr. Henry then joined Ms. Kreuger for Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata No. 4 in C major, op. 102, No. 1 (1815, published a year later). It is a short Sonata with a remarkably concentrated form, with only two movements and a structure similar to the Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Opis 101 (1816). These works mark the beginning of Beethoven’s third and final stylistic period. In this performance, one could feel the composer truly shake off boundaries of inherited classical sonata structures.
After intermission came the most intriguing piece on the program, Lyric Trio for Trumpet, Cello, and Piano, by American composer Carson Cooman, a native of Rochester, New York, who resides in Boston, Massachusetts.
Composed in 2007, the work has six movements. The composer describes it as a kind of “American travelogue,” often portraying “types” of places that one can find in locales throughout America, their sounds and landscapes inspiring the music’s colors and rhythms. The titles follow that same suit: “Red Darkness,” “The Thousand Candles,” “Windswept,” “Whispering Wings,” “Towards Light,” and “Let Evening Come.” The last one takes its title from a poem by American poet Jane Kenyon (1947–95). The composer describes the final movement as being pervaded by “a spirit of acceptance in the midst of a vivid landscape,” which gives the work a “contemplative, yet affirmative close.”
Cooman’s Lyric Trio is well-suited to “singing” character of American of brass playing. Guest trumpeter Kevin Lyons joined Krueger and Henry for this most gratifying performance. An excellent discovery and programming choice by Krueger.
Krueger and Henry closed with the “Andante” movement from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19 (1901). This third movement (in E♭ major) is considered the best of the sonata’s four. It possesses a charming melodic quality which Krueger and Henry gradually built up to a powerfully emotional climax. It was a fabulous way to cap off this satisfying evening of music. ■
Mark Gresham is publisher and principal writer of EarRelevant. he began writing as a music journalist over 30 years ago, but has been a composer of music much longer than that. He was the winner of an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for music journalism in 2003.
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