Cellist shines at Park City festival

PARK CITY INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL, St. Mary's Catholic Church, Thursday, through Aug. 15 www.pcmusicfestival.com

PARK CITY — The Park City International Music Festival kicked off its 20th season Thursday with a concert that put the spotlight on the young and promising cellist Denise Djokic.

Djokic, who was featured in all three works on Thursday's program, made her festival debut in stunning fashion. She is a marvelously talented and intelligent performer. She plays with conviction and with an innate understanding of the music. Her artistry combines technical mastery of her instrument with impeccable taste and consummate musicianship. She is one musician who deserves to become a regular member of the Park City festival.

Pianist Robert Moeling teamed with Djokic to open the concert with Brahms' Sonata for Cello and Piano in E minor. The E minor is quintessential Brahms, filled with fervent energy and impassioned vitality. And the two artists captured the essence of the work magnificently with their exquisite and sensitive interpretation.

The opening Allegro non troppo was notable for Djokic's beautiful playing, which brought out the intense emotions and underlying expressiveness that define this movement.

The Allegretto was given a wondrous reading. The duo captured the quiet emotional outpourings and subtle expressions of this movement with their eloquent interpretation.

The third-movement Allegro was played with dramatic flair and immaculate articulation, while the finale was played with a light hand that deftly underscored the less serious nature of the music.

Djokic and Moeling were joined by violinist Philippe Djokic and violist Leslie Harlow for a captivating performance of Faure's intensely moody Piano Quartet in G minor. This is one of the most expressive chamber works to come out of 19th-century France. Faur deftly combines French melodicism with German earnestness. Sweeping gestures, powerful emotions and dramatic turns of phrases are enveloped within a lushly romantic harmonic language. The foursome captured this distinct character of the work wonderfully with their radiant performance.

The other work on the concert was Peter Schickele's Quartet for Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano, in which Moeling and Denise and Philippe Djokic were joined by clarinetist Russell Harlow. This captivating piece was given a luminous performance that brought out the lighthearted nature of the music perfectly.

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