Great Barrington — Close Encounters with Music (CEWM) Artistic Director Yehuda Hanani knows the general whereabouts of the finest musicians in the world, and he has been using that knowledge to deliver chamber music bliss to Mahaiwe patrons for over three decades. On Sunday, December 15, he is bringing to the Mahaiwe 14 hot-shot chamber musicians from New York City—and I say hot-shot because these people have performed with such respected ensembles as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, A Far Cry, the Manhattan Chamber Players, The Knights, Sybarite5, Frisson, Eighth Blackbird, Seraphic Fire, Sejong Soloists, Music from Copland House, Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, and the Jasper String Quartet.
The Vivace Chamber Orchestra has an obvious desire to provide audiences with accessible, elevated musical experiences. Accordingly, the ensemble’s program on Sunday includes Tchaikovsky’s Romantic period masterpiece, the beloved “Serenade for Strings” in C major, Op. 48, and Barber’s impossibly gorgeous “Adagio for Strings.” The Adagio, originally the second movement of Barber’s String Quartet, Op. 11, has become the semi-official American music for mourning, performed at the funerals of John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, Princess Grace of Monaco, and at countless memorial services.
Also on Sunday’s program, Edvard Grieg’s five-movement work for strings, the “Holberg Suite,” reflects a blend of Baroque elegance and Romantic expressiveness. And Luigi Boccherini’s Cello Concerto in B-flat Major, G. 482, is a celebrated work for cello from the Classical era that, owing to its elegance and expressive style, is sometimes mistakenly attributed to the Baroque period.
CEWM describes the Vivace Orchestra musicians as the “crème de la crème” of chamber music players and their sound as a “precision-instrument orchestral voice”—because that is the whole idea behind such ensembles as the Orpheus, The Knights, and the Vivace ensemble. The idea is to play orchestral repertoire as if it were chamber music. And the effect can be truly mesmerizing, because there is nothing like the sound of an ensemble playing with perfect unanimity.
Mr. Hanani describes Sunday’s program in characteristically colorful fashion:
I’m delighted to welcome 14 amazing string colleagues of the Vivace Chamber Orchestra to our December 15 concert. It’s an ebullient, joyous holiday feast of the highest artistic caliber, with a fantasy voyage/nostalgia trip to days bygone. Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Barber and Boccherini await you in the time machine!
A reception on the Mahaiwe stage follows Sunday’s concert. You are invited to meet the musicians and enjoy a light repast from Authentic Eats by Ukrainian chef Oleg.
Hear the Vivace Chamber Orchestra at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Sunday, December 15, at 4 p.m. Tickets are available here.
