Friends Of Music Achieve Another High Point 25 Years After Its Start

By June S. April

A full house, enthusiastic applause and a standing ovation last Sunday afternoon were testimonials to an excellent program that closed Newtown Friends of Music’s 2002-03 season, its silver anniversary. Not only did the afternoon’s guest musicians, Quartetto di Venezia, choose a program of wonderfully melodic pieces to perform, but the performance was also flawless in its presentation.

This is the quartet’s second tour of the United States and it is a whirlwind, coast-to-coast, heavily booked schedule. Theirs is an international reputation, having received positive acclaim from performances hosted in Japan, Latin America, Europe and South Korea.  They have made numerous recordings including two Beethoven Quartets, Opus 18 and 59 (both number 3), which share proceeds with UNICEF and Il Canale.

The Italian composers Luigi Boccherini and Verdi were both honored during the April 6 concert in the auditorium of Newtown’s Edmond Town Hall, the former with a performance of his Quartet in A Major, Opus 8 No 6 and the latter with Quartet in E minor.

Markland Taylor observed in his program notes that Haydn and Boccherini fathered the style of music we know as chamber music.  The nature of the program’s five pieces served as a musical overview of 200 years of the Italian contribution to this genre, which was appropriate considering the original intent in the founding of Newtown Friends of Music was to bring chamber music to Connecticut.

There is always so much to be discovered through music.  Many in the audience, including this reviewer and the aforementioned Mr Taylor had never heard of the composer of one of the quartets.

Antonio Bazzini (1818-1897) was a highly regarded violinist and composer that time seems to have pushed to one side. His Concerto in E flat Major, Opus 76, No. 3 was absolutely beautiful. And the lyrical operas of Puccini are in part a debt to Bazzini, who happened to be one of Puccini’s music teachers.  That the short piece for strings, I Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums), should be played following Bazzini’s Quartet was fitting.

There are some thematic hints of the ever-popular Four Seasons that Antonio Vivaldi is most known for (thanks to some movies) in the Quartet in G Major, RV 151, “Aalla Rustica.” The performance by Quartettto di Venezia was mesmerizing and uplifting. They were as one, yet each instrument, each “voice,” so to speak, is of equal importance.

The years of playing, rehearsing, knowing and clearly liking one another have created a level of sharing magnificent music that is all too rare.  The eagerness with which the four musicians performed an encore, a non-Italian work by Dmitri Shostakovich – the polka from a piece called “The Age of Gold” – only affirmed their love of music.  Its comical nature brought smiles to the audience and the technical mastery brought a final burst of appreciative applause.

In a brief interview with Floyd Higgins, the first president of NFoM, it was impressive to listen to the names of the numerous outstanding, world reknown musicians that have come to perform at Edmond Town Hall.  Ani and Ida Kavafian, Richard Goode, Emerson Quartet, to cite but a few of the individuals and groups, and many, many more that appear in New York and great performing centers around the world. All of this is offered at no cost to children under 14 who attend with their parents or a guardian, and even at a very reasonable cost to those purchasing tickets.

There were two letters of recognition sent to NFoM before the opening concert of the 2002-03 season, both of which were reproduced in the program book. One came from Newtown First Selectman Herbert C. Rosenthal and the other was courtesy of State Representative Julia B. Wasserman. They acknowledge the efforts and success of Newtown Friends of Music to the area, to the young people within the area, and to NFoM’s cultural contribution to the town. They also expressed the importance of the outreach programs, launched a few seasons ago, that bring musicians into the schools the day after their concerts to share and work with Newtown students.

NFoM-sponsored concerts are traditionally followed by receptions in the town hall’s lobby, allowing audience members to mingle and share their initial concert impressions with each other. These receptions have also allowed music lovers the chance to meet many of the musicians who have just been featured in a casual atmosphere. The opportunity of meeting and speaking to these talented people just moments after their performances is in itself a unique and meaningful part of each concert experience.

Last Sunday was no exception, but the party atmosphere was kicked up a notch as NFoM celebrated the conclusion of its 25th year of bringing such quality music into Newtown.

The Mary Hawley Room – a side room to the lobby of the historic town hall building, and a room not usually open during the post-concert receptions – was opened last weekend and had been “festively and elegantly decorated with white tablecloths, candles, spring colors of pink and yellow flowers as a centerpiece, pink and yellow balloons … and enough delicious cake to feed an army,” according to notes jotted by NFoM President Ellen Parrella this week. It was a good thing the special room had been opened, as Mrs Parrella’s note adds that the celebratory space was “full to overflowing.”

“Mrs Calla Sellner, who organized and chaired the gala reception,” wrote Mrs Parrella, “and her helpers poured some 300 glasses of [non-alcoholic bubbly] that even children were able to drink, and cut as many slices of cake. No one left hungry.

“Both the spirit and the body of the audience were well restored on a sunny Sunday afternoon, between snowstorms,” continued Mrs Parrella’s note. “Glowing with pleasure at just having heard some outstanding a not often performed music … autograph seekers and well-wishers surrounded the artists. A grand time was had by all.”

In addition to the performers, it is the dedication of the volunteers who devote themselves to the financial and artistic success of this organization is to be applauded.