Alex Greenbaum Offers a Tempting Buffet of Gems for Cello Solo at the San Diego Central Library
Cellist Alex Greenbaum played a noontime solo recital Friday at the San Diego Central Library to inaugurate Art of Elan’s new monthly concert series there. In words of welcome, Kate Hatmaker, the San Diego musical organization’s Artistic and Executive Director, outlined the musical intentions of this project, noting that the expansive cityscape view of downtown San Diego from this spacious corner room on the library’s ninth floor inspired her to propose this series to the Central Library.
Alex Greenbaum [Photo (c.) Kate Hatmaker]
Greenbaum titled his engaging program Sarabandes and Sojourns, a collection of a dozen short movements that spliced works by contemporary and 20th-century composers between five Sarabandes from the J. S. Bach Cello Suites. As cellist of the Hausmann Quartet, San Diego State University’s resident string quartet, and member of the Bach Collegium San Diego’s orchestra, Greenbaum’s artistry is highly appreciated by local music aficionados, and this recital offered an inviting opportunity to savor his playing on its own.
Most listeners recognize the Sarabande as a slow movement placed in the middle of a Baroque dance suite, but its history is surprising. In Mexico and Spain in the 16th century, the zarabanda was a quick, wildly erotic dance accompanied by castanets and guitar. For inexplicable reasons, French harpsichord composers in the late 17th century tamed it to become a slow, often majestic dance in stately triple meter. And J. S. Bach followed the French style in all of his Sarabandes for keyboard and string instruments.
In the Sarabande from the G Major Cello Suite, BWV 1007, Greenbaum’s rich sonority floated its somber themes with probing introspection, while the lithe, sunny arcs of the Sarabande from the E-flat Major Cello Suite, BWV 1010, benefitted from Greenbaum’s eloquent phrasing. Residing in the cello’s effulgent lowest range, the Sarabande from the D Minor Cello Suite, BWV 1008, featured glowing sustained double stops and eerie harmonics, which Greenbaum delivered with winning assurance.
I was moved by the spiritual aspirations expressed in contemporary composer Jessica Meyer’s “Delta Sunrise,” a paean to nature’s striking beauty painted in arching lyrical themes, and in Paul Brantley’s nostalgic meditation “. . . crystal tide forever . . .” based on the well-known American revival hymn “Shall We Gather at the River.” The fervor in Brantley’s persuasive harmonies would easily increase the numbers at the altar call of even the most tepid revival meeting.
Benjamin Britten’s “Lamento” and “Canto Secondo” from his Suite No. 1, Op. 72, from 1965 opens with high-pitched, angular wailing that descends into wistful, mysterious mid-range themes, deftly realized by Greenbaum. Cuban-American composer Tania León also evokes an elegiac mode in “To My Father” from her Four Pieces for Cello, a work that develops challenging rounds of expressive ornamentation.
In 1978, Italian composer Luciano Berio wrote “Les mots sont allés” (“The words have gone”) as a tribute to the noted Swiss conductor Paul Sacher. The composer created a theme with a discrete note for each letter of Sacher’s name, slowly joining and expanding these tones into a complex modernist labyrinth. The work’s austere beginning gives little hint of the intense, impassioned climax midway through the piece, after which the mood slowly sinks back to the quiet mood of the opening. Greenbaum’s compelling account of Berio’s work might have concluded his program, but true. to the title, a Bach Sarabande had the final word.
Although Kate Hatmaker did not request the audience to hold their applause until the end of the recital, the audience unanimously perceived that Greenbaum’s deft transitions between works made obligatory applause after every short piece unnecessary. At the end of the recital, the audience expressed its ample appreciation to the performer, and Greenbaum returned stage center for several bows.
These Art of Elan noontime concerts will be presented at the Central Library on the third Friday of every month, save December.
This concert was presented by Art of Elan and the San Diego Central Public Library on Friday, September 13, 2024.
Ken Herman, a classically trained pianist and organist, has covered music for the San Diego Union, the Los Angeles Times’ San Diego Edition, and for sandiego.com. He has won numerous awards, including first place for Live Performance and Opera Reviews in the 2017, the 2018, and the 2019 Excellence in Journalism Awards competition held by the San Diego Press Club. A Chicago native, he came to San Diego to pursue a graduate degree and stayed.Read more…