UW Gazette, April 17, 1996 Conducted by Jan Narveson April 7: The Easter factor kept the audience modest at the concert of the Duo Turgeon, Edward Turgeon and Anne Louise-Turgeon, Piano, winner of the First Prize at the world duo-piano competition in Prague last year. It took little time to see why. This is a remarkably smooth and phenomenally capable pair. In Mozart's pretty Andante and Variations, K. 501, they were perfectly poised, wonderfully precise, and engagingly sonorous. And in Schubert's superb Fantasy in f, it was clear that they understood what this powerful piece was about. The opening nicely captured the sweet melancholy, with an undercurrent of the tragic; in the stormy sections between, they were completely on top of every technical requirement; and at the end, with the return of the main theme in its sudden modulation and excursion into the depths, they were stunning. Between were three charming little duets by Karel Husa, done to the proverbial 'T'. There isn't space to detail their accomplishments in Debussy's charming Petite Suite or three Brahms Hungarian Dances, but one simply has to mention the closing Mendelssohn, Allegro Brillant, which has a veritable fusillade of notes and in which they were surpass ingly brilliant, indeed. As more than one member of the audience remarked afterward, this duo is like a single pianist with four hands, so well paired are they. Perhaps they are too smooth - with such playing, one can get the impression that these extremely difficult pieces are a breeze! But of course they are nothing of the sort. This simply is a fabulously well-matched and capable team, who will surely become one of the notable duos of the day. It was a pleasure to be in one of their first concerts for the public in their native Ontario. Friday: The K-W Symphony's April Pops Concert was under the baton of and selected by, Music Director Chosei Komatsu. The idea was that it was going to be spring and this would be "Music of Spring, Music of Love", and with a bit of imagination one could empathize. As usual when the Maestro conducts, the orchestra played very well in this program of lightish classics and some Broadway and movie music. Strauss's Voices of Spring, the Barcarole from Tales of Hoffman (with beautiful flute passages from our two flutists), and a couple of wedding marches - the one from Lohengrin (all 55 seconds of it?) and Mendelssohn's justly celebrated one from the Midsummer Night's Dream (just a bit too stately, not quite exuberantly joyous enough) were supplemented by Mascagni's Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana, conducted by Karl Rainer, violinist of some local note, who won the opportunity at a lottery and did a very nice, competent job (but maybe just a tad too slow?) - greatly aided, as he modestly pointed out, by our super orchestra which sounded gorgeous. And a 10-year old violinist, Eugene Nakamura, student of Ed Minevich, took over the stage with Hubay's upscale- Gypsy piece Hejre Kati. This young man was suitably impres sive: as coolly professional as can be, despite his diminutive size (he looks about 6 rather than 10). He not only poured on the coal technically in this showpiece, but his body language and demeanor were 100%. Another prodigy, for sure - and certainly one to generate the highest hopes. After intermission, Beauty and the Beast, which seemed a bit thin, a Symphonic Scenario from South Pacific which zipped tantalizingly but unsatisfyingly through every tune in the show, the music from John Wiliam's score to Superman, which seemed much too good for its purpose, surrounded the gem of the evening, the grand Waltz from Swan Lake, a stunning piece, beautifully and lovingly performed. Saturday: At KWCMS Music Room, Moshe Hammer & Norbert Kraft, violin and guitar, returned for the third (and, in this project, last) year for another chunk of music for vio lin and guitar by the legendary Paganini. In fact, they played only Sonatas nos. 1 and 18, both charming works, not deep but very agreeable to the ears and nicely constructed. In these pieces, Kraft operates strictly in an accompanying role, while the violinist gets to soar. And soar he did, with some of the most ingratiating violin tone anywhere, and with his usual precision in the many scalar passages - each note set in place just right in relation to its neighbors, a model of lovely instrumental work. But for many people the top of the evening was represented by Hammer's performance of the Andante and Allegro from Bach's Solo Violin Sonata No. 2. The audience was held absolutely transfixed in that beautiful slow movement, an aria, accompanied by the other strings, that is equal to any of the great heart-tearing arias in the Passions and cantatas. This performance will stand out in memory for a long time as the absolute model of how this movement should go; the ensuing fast finale was, again, perfectly paced and etched. Stunning - and it made one drool once again at the thought of this artist launching an all- out foray into these inimitable works. Manuel de Falla's Suite Populaire Espagnole is a delightful work from some opposite corner of the spectrum from Bach. Here, the delightfully varied accompaniment gives the guitarist more than plenty to do; despite a few technical glitches, Kraft's performance was just what this rich music wanted. His sound reaches out and grabs the audience, bringing this piece to vivid life; of course the solo line in the violin was also full of character. Inimitable playing, in short. Mauro Giuliani's Rossiniana, op. 121 is a monster piece, an operatic collage for guitar; there were a few more glitches in this one, but again, it made for very attractive listening. The full house at the Music Room got value for money, we'd say, at this top-of-the-line concert. Sunday: The K-W Chamber Orchestra's April concert offered another whopper program, opening with Ralph Vaughan Williams's lovely rhapsody, The Lark Ascending, with concertmaster and KWS veteran Paul Macnaughton, violin solo. He played surpassingly well, and very much right on the spirit of this delicate piece. There are usually some out-of- the-way surprises on conductor Graham Coles's programs, and this time it was a pleasant one indeed: Eduard Lalo, 2 Aubades. The orchestra responded well to this one, too, with strings playing with good discipline; the winds on this occasion were good ones, but some were new and balance was not ideal throughout the evening. Despite Macnaughton's contribution, the featured soloist of the evening was veteran pianist Sydney Bulman- Fleming in Mozart's 25th Concerto, in C, K. 503. Though the orchestra was short on subtlety, they supported the soloist pretty well, and he himself was, as always, splendid. What matters above all in Mozart is getting those long, long lines in just the right shape -- bar-by-bar Mozart is a no- no. Professor B-F excels in this; we've heard plenty of internationally celebrated pianists who are not nearly his equal in this regard. And as everything was also in good technical control, this performance was a real joy. One intriguing bit was the cadenza, written by one Jonathan Goldman, a math-philosophy McGill graduate. While possibly a tad too strong in the heroic mold, it was certainly ear- catching without being outrageous. After intermission, Corelli's Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 4 in D again found the orchestra in very good shape, reminding us of the Handel work of this type from a previous concert. The final work was Schubert's Symphony No. 6 in C, a lovable piece from the young composer that needs a light touch. The KWChO was a bit too too heavy too often, and its finale was rather slower than one would have liked. What it did have was Schubertian cadence, and a musical smile where welcome - which is in most of the work. More nice sounds from the wind players helped things out muchly, and on the whole this was another winner from this orchestra. Forthcoming: Tonight: The Canadian Chamber Ensemble's Third Millennium series ends with a program of recently composed Canadian works, tba. At Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU. Tickets at door, about $10 for adults, $5 for students. Friday: NuMus Concerts' fourth concert of the season is Love Songs, with the Mirror Image vocal ensemble. Works of Claude Vivier, Michael Vetter, and Peter Hatch, at the Button Factory, 25 Regina St., 8:00. $15/$10 at door. Sunday, April 21, 2:30: The KWS Serenade Series features the fine Russian-Canadian pianist Andrew Burashko, in Chopin's 1st Concert. Conductor John Barnum leads in Morawetz, Carnival Overture, Kodaly, Galanta Dances, Dvorak, Notturno, and Liszt's stirring tone poem, Les Preludes (yes, of "Lone Ranger" fame) 578 1570 for tickets. Sunday at 3:00: The Wellington Winds' final concert of the season is called "Canada in Song" and offers "original band music by Canadian composers" - marches, concert music, and folk song medleys by various. Composer Donald Coakley conducts his own Lyric Essay for Band. Sue Doran, soprano, provides some live lyrics, and clarinettist Larry Moser is also featured. At Grandview Baptist Church, Kitchener. A week later exactly, it is repeated at Woodside Bible Chapel, Elmira. April 21-22: Two concerts by the outstanding Lafayette String Quartet at KWCMS Music Room grace the late weekend. This ensemble is now resident quartet at University of Victoria, and has a pedigree of enthusiastic reviews from several years of concertizing, including many performances at the Music Room. On Sunday, the Lafayette Quartet's first concert is Mostly Mozart: K.428 in E flat and K.465 in C ("Dissonant") flank Haydn's Op 55/1 in A - affording the chance to compare the two heroic figures of the pure classical era, as well as an evening of surpassingly beautiful music. Tickets $19 (sr., $14; st. $12 - subscription price. Student at-door price, $11. 886-1673 for information and reservations; tickets also at UW Arts Centre, Reader's Ink and WordsWorth Books in Waterloo. On Monday, the second concert also features Yariv Aloni, viola, and former violist of the Penderecki Quartet, in Mozart's inimitable Viola Quintet in Eb, K.614. This very late quintet shows Mozart at the very height of his powers, and in the ironic high humour of such works as Cosi Fan Tutte. Also Schubert's astonishing Quartettsatz, and Beethoven's Op. 74 ("Harp") in Eb. $23; sr., $18; st $15. Combined ticket to the two Lafayette concerts: $38/$28/$24. At-door price for students is $12. Tickets, same sources as preceding. Sunday, April 28: At 3:00, the Wellington Winds concert (see 21st above) repeated at Woodside Bible Chapel in Elmira. April 28 at 7:30 p.m., Centre in the Square: The K-W Symphony Youth Orchestra in concert. Caesar Frank's Symphony in d minor is the main item on the agenda; there's also Rossini's Overture to the Barber of Seville, and Two Pieces for Strings by William Walton (from his famous score to the movie version of Henry V). Tickets are modestly priced for this ensemble, which is worth a listen even if you don't have a youngster playing in it.