Seldom-played works get their due at music fest

AUTUMN CLASSICS MUSIC FESTIVAL, Temple Har Shalom, Park City, Oct. 10.

Alexaander Glazunov is a composer whose music is almost never played.

That's especially true for his works for string quartet. These are never heard in the concert hall, and there are only a few recordings of them and none of them readily available.

It's a shame that they've been relegated to obscurity because Glazunov is a remarkable composer whose music deserves to be played and in particular the quartets.

They are absolutely wonderful and ought to find a permanent place in the repertoire.

The Autumn Classics Music Festival opened its final concert of this year's series Sunday afternoon with Glazunov's "Five Novelettes," op. 15, no. 1, played by violinists Monte Belknap and Philipe Djokic; violist Leslie Harlow; and cellist Tom Landschoot.

The "Novelettes" are delightfully melodic and unassuming and that's how the group played them.

They captured the irresistible melodicism with their lyrical and nuanced playing. It was radiant and vibrant.

Particularly captivating was their reading of the slow third movement ("Interludium in modo antico"). Their playing was eloquent with long fluid lines and nicely crafted phrases.

Another composer whose chamber music is almost never played is Joaquin Turina. As with Glazunov this neglect isn't deserved. Turina wrote some compelling works that show him to be a major voice of the repertoire, even though his output is fairly small.

The other piece on the first half of Sunday's concert was Turina's Quartet in A major for Piano and Strings, op. 67, played by Djokic, Harlow, Landschoot and pianist Robert Moeling.

The piece is evocative and tinged with the sounds of his native Spain and faintly colored with impressionistic harmonies. It seems odd yet it's wonderfully effective.

The quartet brought passion and seriousness to their playing. They captured the poetry in the music, especially in the slow and moving outer movements, while bringing spice to the lively middle movement. It was presented with seamless delivery and a fine sense of lyricism.

The final work on the program was Béla Bartók's "Contrasts," for Violin, Clarinet and Piano, played by Djokic, clarinetist Russell Harlow and Moeling.

The three gave a compelling reading of the bold outer movements while playing the slow middle movement with subtle inflections and finely crafted expressions.

e-mail: ereichel@desnews.com