Classical virtuosos show emotional dept

AUTUMN CLASSICS MUSIC FESTIVAL, Wednesday, Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah, through Oct. 8 (tickets 801-943-0169 or 435-649-5309)

The third season of the Autumn Classics Music Festival opened Wednesday with a concert featuring several returning artists, along with a welcome newcomer.

Violinist Charles Castleman is a well-known figure at this festival (as well as its parent festival, the Park City and Salt Lake City Music Festival). He brought his resplendent artistry to Wednesday's concert, opening with two dazzling virtuoso pieces.

Joined by pianist John Novacek, Castleman began with "Canto y Danza Aragonesa," a delightfully virtuosic piece by the early 20th century Spanish violinist and composer Manuel Quiroga. Although virtually unknown to audiences today, Quiroga was a celebrated violinist until an accident cut short his career.

And as a composer, Quiroga was no less renowned. Taking his cue from another Spanish violinist/composer, Pablo de Sarasate, Quiroga wrote in a wonderfully immediate and entertaining style. Castleman captured the vitality and romantic fervor of the "Canto y Danza Aragonesa" with his dynamic and energetic playing.

In a somewhat different vein, Castleman returned onstage and played Eugene Ysaye's Sonata for Solo Violin No. 6, which is dedicated to Quiroga. Perhaps the best known of the set of solo sonatas that Ysaye wrote, the one-movement piece is an immensely demanding work, craving the utmost in technique and brilliance from the violinist. And once again, Castleman played with amazing virtuosity and incredible musicality that emphasized the work's underlying lyricism.

After Castleman, it was clarinetist, and festival co-director, Russell Harlow's turn to bedazzle the audience in Libby Gardner Concert Hall with a couple of pieces. Joined by violinists Castleman and festival newcomer Airi Yoshioka, violist (and festival co-director) Leslie Harlow and cellist Thomas Landschoot, Russell Harlow gave a stunning performance of Carl Maria von Weber's "Introduction and Theme and Variations." A rather lightweight piece without much substance, it is nevertheless a wonderfully charming piece that places great demands on the clarinetist. And Harlow demonstrated his amazing technique and masterful musicianship to the fullest throughout the work.

The second piece the group played was Ramiro Cortes' arrangement of "Dido's Lament" from Henry Purcell's opera "Dido and Aeneas." Beautiful playing by the quintet captured the exquisite expressiveness and emotional depth of the piece wonderfully.

The concert concluded with Johannes Brahms' Piano Quartet in G minor, op. 26, played by Castleman, Leslie Harlow, Landschoot and Novacek. Unquestionably one of the composer's best from his early chamber works, the G minor Quartet is charged with emotion, passion and intensity. The foursome gave a radiant reading that captured the depth of emotions and expressions and brought the audience to its feet at the end of the demonic Presto finale.

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