GOING UNDERGROUND

 The Parker Quintet in the Crypt

(photo by Justin Buschardt)

As a group of us music lovers were led down dimly lit flights of stairs into the Neo-Gothic crypt of the Church of the Intercession , we had an interesting thought. Fans of Andrew Ousley and Death of Classical will follow him anywhere--not only to spooky crypts but to cemeteries (see our review of October 17th)--from lower Manhattan to Washington Heights to the farthest reaches of Brooklyn. 

We asked ourself "Why is this so?" It has something to do, of course, with the quality of the performances he curates, perhaps to the feeling of exclusivity the events produce, to the originality of the concept. One is not just going to Lincoln Center to sit with hundreds of other people shuffling programs and glancing at their cell phones. On the contrary, these events are always compelling, never boring.

So there we were following Mr. Ousley down into the crypt, phones stored off board, entering a small room lit only by candles  (lots of candles as you can see from the photo). We observed that the space has room for only a small audience of music worshippers, all of them quiet as mice and completely attentive to the excellent Parker Quartet. The group of musicians comprised violinists Daniel Chong and Ken Hamao, violist Jessica Bodner, and cellists Lee Hyun Kim and guest artist Jay Campbell.

This rather unusual quintet formation brought a different texture to the aural experience.  Although we are familiar with most of Schubert's six hundred (!) songs, we are far less familiar with his chamber music, much of it composed for the parlor. This work,  stood out because the presence of two celli  is uncommon. The work was finished two months before Schubert's untimely death and lay rather dormant for a quarter of a century!

There was something about the work that reminded us of Beethoven's late quartets. In spite of this String Quintet being composed in the key of C Major, there is little about it that is cheerful. Rather it is intense, profound, and often disorienting with many unusual changes of key.  We can scarcely recall the opening theme, since Schubert seems to have cast aside his gifts for melody and focused more on texture. So, we were relieved to hear the second more lyrical theme. We enjoyed the duet between the pair of celli.

It wasn't until the Adagio that we felt ourself to be on familiar territory; the gloriously melodic A section was interrupted by a contrasting fiery mid-section. We tried to remember where we had heard it before because the melody was memorable.

Our attention was captured often by pizzicati in the cello. Let us mention that Mr. Campbell was a guest artist for the night, playing usually with the JACK Quartet, regulars at The Crypt and the Catacombs of Greenwood Cemetery. 

We have never witnessed an audience so enraptured. No one moved for the entire hour. No one shifted in their seat. No one coughed. The music held everyone spellbound. As a matter of fact, audience members drifted off into the night in some kind of daze overwhelmed by the multi sensorial nature of the experience. We hope, Dear Reader, that you will soon attend one of the Death of Classical evenings and experience it for yourself.

© meche kroop