Mastering the POSSIBILITIES
Musical Masterworks goes high-tech for virtual 2020-21 season
On a temporary stage erected in front of the pulpit in Old Lyme’s lovely but mostly empty First Congregational Church on a recent October Saturday morning, classical pianist Andrew Armstrong is seated at a Steinway grand piano. Standing next to him with an 18th-century Stradivarius perched on his shoulder is concert violinist James Ehnes.
The carpeted aisles of the nave and balcony are clustered with thick electrical cables that lead behind the apse into the church offices beyond — all in service to a number of strategically placed video cameras and room microphones. Technicians in jeans and T-shirts stride purposefully, duct tape in hand, from one station to the next, performing final tasks on a checklist of readiness. In one of the rear offices, sound engineer Ian Dobie and producer Erica Brenner are respectively positioned at a mixing board and a laptop equipped with musical scores.
In casual fashion, without seeming to have any particular plan or starting point, Armstrong and Ehnes, dressed in dark suits, start playing their instruments, engaging in elegant contrapuntal jabs or interweaving rapid and disparate melodies in back-and-forth, catch-me-if-you-can fashion.
A dazzled observer, curious to know what demanding bit of repertoire the pair is finessing, turns to Edward Arron and whispers, “What are they playing?”
Arron, a cellist and the creative director of the Musical Masterworks chamber music series, smiles and says, “Oh, they’re just fooling around.”
“Fooling around.” Such is the elite classical musician version of the “soundcheck” stereotype.
In this case, Ehnes and Armstrong are on hand for the inaugural concert of the 2020-21 Musical Masterworks season. This is the 30th anniversary of Musical Masterworks, and the series’ home has always been First Congregational Church with its superb acoustics and intimate sightlines.
In this year of plague, though, the Masterworks organization is having to adapt to comply with safety concerns and regulations. And, as with untold numbers of artists across multiple disciplines, the solution is virtual performance.
As such, the only “audience” is comprised of Arron — on site in a supervisory capacity since a program of Beethoven violin/piano sonatas doesn’t require his musical contributions — a few members of the Masterworks board and team, a four-person crew of video, audio and production professionals, and a reporter and photographer.
In addition to the Saturday concert, here is the remainder of the Musical Masterworks schedule. The date refers to when the concert will be taped in Old Lyme’s First Congregational Church. Each performance will be released for online viewing within two weeks of taping.
Dec. 19 — Beethoven Birthday Celebration with Ehnes Quartet including James Ehnes (violin), Amy Schwartz Moretti (violin), Che-Yen Chen (viola), Edward Arron (cello)
String Quartet in c minor, Opus 18, No. 4
String Quartet in C Major, Opus 59, No. 3 “Razumovsky”
String Quartet in B- flat Major, Opus 130
Feb. 13, 2021 — Rieko Aizawa ( piano), Todd Palmer (clarinet), Edward Arron (cello)
Mozart: Trio in E-flat Major, K. 498 “Kegelstatt”
Poulenc: Sonata for Clarinet and Cello and Piano
Ravel: Jeux d’eau for Solo Piano
Brahms: Trio in a minor, Opus 114
March 13, 2021 — Randall Scarlata (baritone), Jeewon Park (piano), Edward Arron (cello)
Mozart: Variations on “Ah! vous dirai-je, maman” for Solo Piano, K. 265/300e
Schubert: Das Rosenband, Im Frühling, and Früh ling ssehnsuc ht, for Voice and Piano
J.S. Bach: Suite in C major for Solo Cello, BWV 1009
Schumann: Dichterliebe (A Poet’s Love) for Voice and Piano, Opus 48
May 1 — Gilles Vonsattel (piano), Tessa Lark (violin), Edward Arron (cello)
Handel: Sonata in D major for Violin and Keyboard, HWV 371
Ives: Piano Trio
Corigliano: STOMP for Solo Violin (2010)
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio in d minor, Opus 49