Olmos Ensemble
A rhapsody for the clarinetist
May 9, 2011Since joining the San Antonio Symphony as principal clarinetist a dozen years ago, the Ukrainian native Ilya Shterenberg has consistently impressed with the beauty of his tone and the complete reliability of his technique, whether with the orchestra or in chamber music, mainly with the Olmos Ensemble. On the rare bad day he was merely excellent. On the innumerable good days, his playing gave immense pleasure.
May 7 was his best day yet. Joined by the splendid pianist Colette Valentine, Mr. Shterenberg earned rhapsodies of praise for his account of Carl Maria von Weber’s Grand Duo Concertante, apex of the Olmos Ensemble’s closing concert of the season in First Unitarian Universalist Church.
All the stars were in perfect alignment for this landmark of the early Romantic literature. Mr. Shterenberg’s tone was flawless, his sense of rhythm unmatched, his digital facility in the virtuosic finale limitless. Ms. Valentine was an ideal partner -- assertive but not overpowering, smartly shaping the phrases and matching the clarinetist’s panache.
There was much else to like in the program. The concert opened with works by composers who were unfamiliar to me.
The German-born American Bernhard Heiden, who died in 2010, was represented by his Sonata for horn and piano. It was formally traditional -- opening and closing allegros (the first heroic, the last cheery) flanking a deliberative slow movement with a furious center. The harmony and counterpoint recalled Heiden’s teacher, Paul Hindemith, but, in contrast to Hindemith’s granitic tendency, there was a yielding, sensuous quality to this music that rewarded the supple phrasing of hornist Jeff Garza, in top form, and Ms. Valentine.
From the Frenchman Eugène Bozza came “Shepherds of Provence,” a set of four slight but charming descriptive pieces for oboe and English horn. The yearning melody of the third piece, “Beneath the Stars,” was particularly fetching. Oboist Mark Ackerman and his gifted student Mason Tran played with beautiful open tone and excellent teamwork.
The concert closed with Beethoven’s Piano Trio in E-flat, Op. 1, No. 1, with oboe (Mr. Ackerman) and bassoon (Sharon Kuster) substituting for the originally scored violin and cello. The first and third movements did not seem very idiomatic for the double reeds, especially the oboe, but the lyrical adagio and the breezy finale worked well. Ms. Valentine again impressed with her beautifully supported lines and, in the finale, her crisply defined runs and spirited phrasing.
Mike Greenberg
