Veteran local chamber series retains its vigour

by David Gordon Duke

MAGIC OF STRINGS
Vetta Chamber Music
West Point Grey United, Nov. 5

Two decades ago, violinist Victor Costanzi and cellist Eugene Osadchy decided to establish a modest, grassroots chamber series. Now in its 19th season, Vetta Chamber Music has enjoyed conspicuous success in bringing chamber music to a community audience. Based at the acoustically clean West Point Grey United Church, Vetta uses a flexible mix of mostly local musicians. Performances have the casual feel of friends coming together to enjoy playing great music for appreciative supporters. But they are by no means entirely ad hoc; most of the players share a complementary approach to style and tone, and combinations reflect this consistency.

Friday’s program began with a novelty — Three Preludes and Fugues K 404a, Mozart’s string trio version of Bach keyboard fugues, prefaced by Mozart’s own preludes. Interesting as it is to hear Mozart’s discovery of baroque counterpoint, the pieces are rather stodgy going.

His G minor Quintet K 516 is another matter. As director Costanzi pointed out, Mozart’s quintets are ineffably different to his quartets: Adding just one more viola makes the sound richer, more complex, perhaps even more autumnal. The dearth of existing quintet ensembles means these works are somewhat neglected in the regular run of chamber programs. On Friday, both the almost Mendelssohnian Allegro, and the minuet with its lovely viola duets, were overshadowed by the extraordinary slow movement. This chamber music treasure evokes Mozart’s great operative ensembles. Every instrument seems to be saying something of value, with each voice personal and distinct. The finale is a fresh and enchanting conclusion to a mature work of great sophistication.

In contrast, Brahms’ Opus 18 Sextet is imperfect in detail and difficult to make sound. Yet it remains one of Brahms’ most endearing early works, particularly in the incandescently sincere Allegro. Its Andante ma moderato variations gave violist Andrew Brown an opportunity to shine, demonstrating a robust, rich tone and solidly musical presence. Like the work, the performance had flaws, but was imbued with the good-natured generosity that Costanzi attributed to the work — and very much the underlying spirit of the entire Vetta enterprise.

Vancouver Sun
8 Nov. 2004

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