Ensemble Liaison & Friends - Concert 3: Brahms & Messiaen

Featuring:
- Brahms - Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114
- Messiaen - Quartet for the End of Time

Ensemble Liaison:
- Svetlana Bogosavljevic - Cello
- David Griffiths - Clarinet
- Timothy Young - Piano
Friend:
- Wilma Smith - Violin

I just attended this concert on a whim after deciding that I did not want to attend it two hours before the concert because of my cough and unfinished assignment. Just one hour prior to the concert, I finished my assignment and decided to go to the concert. 10 dollar is the ticket price. The attraction of the concert for me is the Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time of which I will attend again in the November play by MSO chamber players. Also, I haven't heard any of these two works before. So, I was really thrilled to find two gems.

I have often read that Brahms' late chamber music works are best described as autumnal. Listening to this Clarinet Trio I can clearly see why. Every time I closed my eyes to be more intimate to the music, the only thing that I can picture of is the a line of trees with yellow leaves falling down from them. Autumnal is really the best way to describe this Clarinet Trio. All four movements are gorgeous, but the heart of the piece for me is the lyrical second movement. Near the end of this movement, there was this passage I found so sublime where the theme is played by the piano while the cello and clarinet provided a wonderful accompaniment - tears rolled down my cheek. The end of the final movement was quite virtuosic as well rounding up a very nice piece. I can't wait to discover Brahms' more famous Clarinet Quintet after this.

While Brahms' piece charmed with its melancholy and melodic lines, Messian's piece affected the listener with its strong depiction of the end of time. There are 8 movements in the piece, some movements are very short, while some movements are very very long due to its 'slowness'. The movement that made the most impression are the third movement for solo clarinet, played wonderfully by the clarinetist. The fifth movement for cello accompanied by piano and the sixth movement where all of the instruments played together playing the 'Dance of fury' and the last movement which is very similar to the fifth movement for violin accompanied by piano. Bird calls are plenty in the piece, most notably in the mysterious first movement and also in the second movement.

I am very impressed with the quality of the musicians in this group. They are all at very high standard. What actually impressed most in the experience of attending this concert is the intimacy between instruments playing in chamber music. The dialogue between instruments are very intimate and very interesting. Tonight's experience is very new to me and I wouldn't mind paying another 10 dollar for another concert like this.