Milestone concert honors pianist William Ransom’s four decades at Emory University | EarRelevant

CONCERT REVIEW:

Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta
September 14, 2024
Emerson Hall, Schwartz Center for the Arts
Atlanta, GA – USA
David Coucheron & Jessica Wu, violins; Joseph Skerik violas; Guang Wang cello; William Ransom, piano.
Frédéric CHOPIN: Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23
Claude DEBUSSY: L’isle joyeuse
George GERSHWIN: Rhapsody in Blue
Antonín DVOŘÁK: Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81

Mark Gresham | 17 SEP 2024

Saturday’s concert by the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta (ECMSA) at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts officially celebrated artistic director William Ransom’s 40th anniversary on the faculty of Emory University. It was also one day after Ransom’s birthday, so the other musicians participating that evening presented him with a candle-studded cake onstage honoring both occasions.

Ransom performed the first half of the program alone. He performed three solo piano works beginning with Frédéric Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op 23 (1835), a piece renowned for its range of expression from tender, lyrical passages to turbulent and virtuosic flourishes. The piece opens with a mysterious, somewhat foreboding motif, leading into a sweeping, lyrical main theme. Ransom’s fluid interpretation brought out the inner contrasts of the piece, highlighting Chopin’s ability to blend poetic expression with fiery technical brilliance.

The second piece on the program, Claude Debussy’s L’isle joyeuse (1904), transported the audience into an entirely different sound world. Inspired by the Rococo painting “L’Embarquement pour Cythère” by Jean-Antoine Watteau, the piece uses shimmering textures and fluid harmonic shifts to create a vivid musical depiction of an idyllic island. Ransom navigated the work’s complex layers of rhythm and tone, from its opening with bright, cascading arpeggios to its dynamic climax, exploring the full breadth of the piano’s sonic possibilities. Debussy’s use of whole-tone scales, unconventional harmonies, and intricate dynamics all came to life under Ransom’s hands, creating an atmosphere prioritizing mood and color over traditional form.

Closing the concert’s first half was a solo piano rendition of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (1924). The piece is a quintessential example of Gershwin’s ability to fuse American jazz with European classical traditions. Ransom captured its energetic spirit while making it genuinely “rhapsodic.” Even if I can’t entirely agree with every interpretive choice, Ransom allowed the music to feel mostly spontaneous without violating its overall trajectory.

In the second half of the program, three members of the Vega Quartet—violinist Jessica Wu, violist Joseph Skerik, and cellist Guang Wang—plus guest first violinist David Coucheron, joined Ransom in performingAntonín Dvořák’s Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81.

The first movement (“Allegro ma non tanto”) opened with a lyrical cello melody by Wang, which was soon echoed by Coucheron’s violin, setting a tone of gentle dialogue between the strings and piano. The performers highlighted the contrasts in dynamics and texture as Dvořák’s music alternated between flowing, pastoral melodies and more vigorous, folk-inspired rhythmic sections.

In the second movement (“Dumka: Andante con moto”), Dvořák’s use of contrasting themes in a seven-part rondo based on a melancholic slow melody with livelier dance sections in between was particularly well-rendered. Skerik’s viola contributed warmth and depth to the melancholic sections, while the ensemble navigated the shifts between the movement’s varying moods well.

The third movement (“Scherzo: Furiant”) exuded rhythmic vitality, and the performers delivered, capturing the spirit of the Bohemian dance at the heart of the music, with a slower trio section in the middle (“Poco tranquillo”) also derived from the furiant theme.

The light-hearted and spirited final movement (“Allegro”) brought the performance to an exhilarating close. Here, the musicians showcased their technical prowess with fast, sweeping passages and vibrant interplay between the instruments.

The ensemble demonstrated cohesive playing throughout the work, creating a compelling and engaging close to the concert. ■

EXTERNAL LINKS:

Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta: chambermusicsociety.emory.edu
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts: schwartz.emory.edu

About the author:

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.

Read more by Mark Gresham.