by The ambitious and expansive SummerFest, organized by the La Jolla Music Society, is taking several intriguing multidisciplinary risks in 2025: Tap and rhythmic dance combined with violin and banjo (August 17); jazz soprano Cecile McLorin Savant’s synergy with baroque instruments (August 16); and Tasting Notes, a culinary mashup of food and music (August 14).
And SummerFest demonstrated on Wednesday night that it is capable of taking such chances while still producing its staple chamber music in a stylish manner.
Brahms’ Cello Sonata in E Minor, played by renowned cellist Lisa Weilerstein and SummerFest music director Inon Barnatan, was the evening’s main event at The Conrad. The industry’s bible, Gramophone magazine, named Weilerstein and Barnatan’s 2022 interpretation the best of all time despite 230+ recordings, including industry standards by Rostropovich, du Pr, Yo-Yo Ma, and Casals. This was due to the fact that it respected Brahms’ score, paid attention to the long line and details, and achieved a live-like feel in a studio recording.
The performance on Wednesday featured all three, yet it had the intensity of a live show in the acoustically rich Baker-Baum Hall. The piano occasionally overpowers the cello’s lower-register sound, despite Brahms treating the two instruments as equals. In the first two movements, Barnatan judiciously adopted a more supporting approach, allowing Weilerstein’s deep, earthy, and agonizing tone to reverberate. Barnatan let loose in the third movement, playing with such ferocity that the intensity of his and Weilerstein’s recording exceeded it.
Get La Jolla Village News in your inbox community news that connects and informs.
Register to receive breaking news, the Times of San Diego daily at 8 a.m., and free weekly La Jolla news. Update whenever you want. You acknowledge and agree to the terms by clicking “Sign Up.”
Barnatan’s Looking Back, Looking Forward theme for the evening’s three works, as lecturer Michael Gerdes explained in the pre-concert, alludes to Brahms’ quotation of Bach’s Art of the Fugue in the cello sonata: Koechlin’s modeling of the instrumentation of his Quatres petites pieces on Brahms Horn Trio, and Glazunov’s drawing inspiration for his own quintet from Schubert’s two-cello String Quintet in C Major (which will be performed at the Summer Festival on August 20). Regarding Looking Ahead, all of these pieces were worthy of a passionate hearing, but none of them was really groundbreaking.
Even though Koechlin’s Quatres petites pieces didn’t sound particularly musical, they were definitely well-written, served as a good palette cleanser, and allowed Stefan Dohr, the principal horn of the Berlin Philharmonic, to get the audience excited for his performance of Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings on August 15. Dohr demonstrated his versatility and beauty of tone even in Koechlin’s comparatively easy horn part, particularly in the final scherzando, which he achieved with a timbre that was almost trumpet-like.
Alexander Glazunov (1865–1936) was once heralded as the leader of our nationalist composers, but his legacy today is one of unfulfilled promise. He was even urged by Tchaikovsky: “You are brilliant, but something keeps you from growing in depth and breadth.” (Tchaikovsky said, “a certain lengthiness and absence of pauses,” when Glazunov pressed for specifics.)
Get neighborhood news in your inbox. It’s free and enlightening.
Become one of the 20,000+ individuals who receive breaking news alerts and the Times of San Diego in their inbox every day at 8 a.m.
Weekly updates from San Diego communities have also been provided! You acknowledge and agree to the terms by clicking “Sign Up.” Choose from the options below.
Glazunov’s quintet demonstrates creative competence, melodic originality, rhythmic appeal, and an ear for mood and color contrasts, despite the fact that he was only 26 when he created it. To make an impact, though, it required the fervor and top-tier musicianship that SummerFest provided.
Concertmasters, principals, Grammy nominees, career grant recipients, and/or festival artistic directors made up the quintet’s five musicians. Tessa Lark, the lively and nimble first violinist, was arguably the most exceptional of all, as she brought the first and third movements to life. The fourth movement (Allegro moderato), which is based on Russian folk music, was almost rocking thanks to Elliott, who played the higher-register cello part, and Li, the first violist in the Chicago Symphony.
The ultimate response to those who would rather such underappreciated music remain unheard was to place the final half of Wednesday’s performance in such convincing hands.
