HEAVENLY SOUND

Avi Avital and Bridget Kibbey in The Crypt

We imagine that the Crypt of the Church of the Intercession is still resounding with the heavenly music provided last night by harpist Bridget Kibbey and mandolinist Avi Avital. We are always captivated by novelty and the combination of harp and mandolin opened aural doors for us. The stone arches and vaults of The Crypt amplified the overtones of the two stringed instruments in such a fashion that we were transported to new places.

Andrew Ousley's Death of Classical is famous for providing unique entertainments in unique venues and The Crypt is just such a venue. His presentations are of an exclusive nature with room for about sixty music lovers; we are always thrilled to be a part of this group, even when they applaud in the middle of a work. We wonder whether they are ignorant of the work itself or ignorant of concert etiquette but wish they could be instructed not to interrupt the flow.

The two main pieces on the program were song cycles by two 20th c. Spanish composers. Manuel de Falla composed Siete Canciones Populares Españolas for Soprano and Piano in 1914, settings of folk songs from different parts of Spain. We have lost track of the number of times we have heard it in recital. It has been transcribed for guitar but hearing it performed by this novel pairing of instruments was a completely new experience.

We cannot deny that we heard the words in our mind's ear, especially sung by Isabel Leonard, but the emotional connection was somewhat altered. Most remarkable for us was the devastation we felt during "Asturiana". An individual approaches a pine tree for consolation and the tree wept along with him. A simple idea but so heartbreaking!

Joaquin Rodrigo, another compositional titan from Spain, composed Cuatro Madrigales Amatorios in 1948. They cover a variety of amatory situations from the grief of an unmarried woman to the excitement of a young man infatuated with a woman with loose hair. Nor in this case were we able to ignore the words which we know so well from vocal recitals. Perhaps this even heightened our appreciation.

The program also included Marc Lavry's 1945 Three Jewish Dances which carried no vocal baggage. We simply enjoyed the three wedding dances, the first of Ashkenazic and klezmer derivation, the second of Yemenite origin, and the final Israeli entry of Hava Nagilah, the dance known as the Hora.

Mr. Lavry composed the dances for piano and there were originally more than three. Later he orchestrated them for violin and piano, and then for violin and orchestra. We listened to a few of these versions online and we must say that we preferred what we heard last night.

We have always loved the harp and have a memory of hearing legendary harpist Nicanor Zabaleta playing a solo recital at the 92nd St. Y, which convinced us to make our life in NYC! Since then, we have only heard the harp as part of the orchestra but always love the sound. What a treat to hear it once more up close and personal.

We know next to nothing about the mandolin but found it to be highly expressive and given over to interesting techniques like the tremolo. It isn't every day that we get to hear such unique textures as the two instruments created together.

An encore of Brazilian jazz had us suppressing a samba in our seat!

© meche kroop

TIME FOR THREE

Charles Yang, Ranaan Meyer, and Nicholas "Nick" Kendall

Last night's venture beyond our comfort zone was, uncharacteristically, a huge success. We have learned that someone with excellent curatorial skills can lead us down unusual pathways and open our ears to something we didn't expect to love. Andrew Ousley, the mastermind behind Death of Classical--comprising The Crypt Sessions at The Church of the Intercession as well as The Angel's Share at Green-Wood Cemetery--knows how to provide superb evenings of unmitigated delight to a small select audience, of which we were thrilled to be a member.

Last night at The Crypt we had a musical experience that satisfied our soul by virtue of a trio of artists sharing their music in a magical space deep underground, lit only by candles. We were enthralled by the melodic and harmonic invention and the intensity with which the three men related to one another, their instruments, and the audience. Taking notes would have distracted us from this intimate experience. We just listened.

Most of the vocals were handled by Charles Yang who plays a mean violin; giving the double bass more melody than we've ever heard was Ranaan Meyer; Nicolas "Nick" Kendall contributed his violin magic and all joined for what might be called "backup singing" but which we would call texture.

Some of the numbers they performed were originals, some were composed for them, and yet others were "covers", although our lack of knowledge of popular music prevents us from naming them. We had the feeling that there was a considerable degree of momentary improvisation. As in any chamber group there was nearly constant eye contact--but no scores to dilute the intimacy.

The three artists are clearly classically trained and our minimal knowledge of string technique allowed us to recognize double stops and pizzicato. However, there were other techniques that we hadn't seen before like strumming and plucking. Mr. Meyer did things to his double bass that we usually think of as ways a man might touch a woman--caressing, stroking, tapping, and light scratching.  Yes, these artists do love their instruments!

With such unfamiliar music we felt free to associate. At times we thought of The Beatles, at times Bluegrass music with its lively banjo, at times the kind of Country Music one might hear at a hoedown, as well as folk tunes which we could not quite place. All these styles were perfectly integrated into a pleasing and absorbing whole. The program was predominantly happy music until the end when the trio played music that sounded deep and sacred.

We were not alone in our enthusiastic appreciation. The Crypt holds less than 50 music lovers but the deafening applause gave the impression of hundreds. The trio has played in some mighty grand venues but we were grateful for the intimacy. The connection between the artists and the audience provided a unique experience, one that we are not likely to forget!

We might add that Mr. Ousley has another series up his sleeve and if you follow Voce di Meche on Facebook you will be among the first to find out--which is a good thing because Death of Classical events sell out immediately.

© meche kroop