September 6, 2024
Emerson Hall, Schwartz center for the arts
Atlanta, GA – USA
Jessica Wu & Amy Schwartz Moretti, violins; Joseph Skerik & Yinzi Kong, violas; Guang Wang & Charae Kreuger, cellos; William Ransom, piano.
W.A. MOZART: Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, K.478
P.I. TCHAIKOVSKY: String Sextet in D minor “Souvenir de Florence,” Op. 70
Mark Gresham | 9 SEP 2024
The 2024-25 season of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta (ECMSA) kicked off this past Friday with a Cooke Noontime Series concert in Emerson Hall at Emory University’s Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, followed by a reception for its artistic director William Ransom, who marks his 40th anniversary with Emory University’s music department this season.
A distinguished pianist and professor, Ransom founded the ECMSA in 1992 to elevate chamber music at Emory and within the broader Atlanta community. Drawing inspiration from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the ECMSA has since grown into the Southeast’s largest chamber music organization.
As artistic director of ECMSA, Ransom balances fundraising and programming responsibilities with a passion for bringing together emerging and established musicians. His vision for ECMSA has contributed significantly to fostering a dynamic musical community at Emory, grounded in a shared love of music and collaboration.
Friday’s concert opened with Ransom and three members of the Vega String Quartet—violinist Jessica Wu, violist Joseph Skerik, and cellist Guang Wang—performing Mozart’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, K.478.
Composed in 1785 and cast in three movements, Mozart’s Piano Quartet No. 1 for piano, violin, viola, and cello, is notable for its dramatic intensity and structural clarity and ingenuity, marking it as one of the earliest masterpieces in the piano quartet genre.
The musicians immediately grabbed attention with the opening “Allegro” with its stormy energy and bold use of the G minor key, creating an atmosphere of tension and urgency. The second movement, “Andante,” offered a lyrical and reflective contrast, in which Ransom’s piano took the lead in an elegant, sensitive dialogue with the strings. The final “Rondo” brought a lighter, lively, but no less impactful conclusion. Their four musicians’ sense of ensemble was noticeably on the money from beginning to end.
Next on this intermissionless program, three guest musicians—violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti, violist Yinzi Kong, and cellist Charae Kreuger—joined Wu, Skerik, and Wang onstage for Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence. Notably, Moretti was filling in for the Vega’s first violinist, Emily Daggett Smith, who gave birth to her first son, Walter, earlier that morning.
Composed in 1890, Souvenir de Florence is a string sextet that encapsulates the composer’s impressions of Florence, Italy, celebrated for its rich, melodic writing and intricate interplay among the musicians, offered a vivid musical portrayal of both the city’s vibrant life and its reflective moments.
The piece began with a vivacious and dance-like “Allegro con spirito,” followed by a serene and reflective “Andante con moto,” which captured a sense of nostalgia and longing. The third movement, “Allegro moderato,” introduced a playful and spirited theme. With the “Allegro vivace” finale, the six musicians brought the work to a lively close, weaving together themes from earlier movements in a joyful celebration. It was a genuinely breathtaking performance that deserved its enthusiastic ovation.
The joyful celebration continued after the concert with a reception for Ransom upstairs in the Schwartz Center’s Chase Galley. This concert and reception was the first of two events celebrating Ransom’s 40 years with Emory University. The next celebration, the formal “William Ransom 40th Anniversary Concert,” will take place September 14, 2024, at 8 pm, as part of ECMSA’s Emerson Series.
In addition to his work at Emory, Ransom serves as artistic director of the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina and the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival in Florida. ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta: chambermusicsociety.emory.edu
- Schwartz Center for Performing Arts: schwartz.emory.edu
Read more by Mark Gresham.
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