The past two weeks have seen more snow than student recitals. Only three musicians have graced Harper Hall thus far, but they’ve done so in an exemplary fashion. Senior Dana Abbo sung an ambitious program last Jan. 7, followed two hours later by junior Laura Friestad’s thoughtful clarinet recital. A week later, on Jan. 14, clarinetist Abby Herrick gave their junior recital, featuring a formidable and complex repertoire.
The vastness of Abbo’s program certainly incites awe. She presented multiple Baroque masterworks, alongside Romantic Lied, both American and French art songs, as well as arias excerpted from 20th-century opera. Such ambition might give way to a disjointed concert, but Abbo held it together with remarkable ease.
“I chose a lot of the pieces I was singing because I was really drawn to their text,” explained Abbo.
Beginning with “The Letter for Emily Dickinson” from Lori Laitman’s “Fresh Patterns,” Abbo offered a moving rendition of the dream-like song. She was joined by senior Jonathan Bass on piano, who matched the sensitivity of Abbo’s voice.
For the subsequent Schubert Lied, “Der Hirt Auf dem Felsen,” Abbo and Bass were joined by senior Tucker Hall-Klingensmith on clarinet, whose melodic touches added a welcome color to the atmosphere.
To close the first act, Abbo sung with a host of colleagues: junior Eli Jordan and sophomore Tomás Avilés on violin, junior Nick Chrisman on cello and senior Henry Giles on harpsichord. The resulting ensemble delivered an unforgettably exciting performance of Handel’s “Al dispetto di sorte crudele.”
Among the highlights of the concert’s second half was “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen” by J.S. Bach. Abbo and Bass handled the frequently melismatic lines with complete fluency. At the same time, these cadenza-like motives appeared completely natural and expressive. Abbo’s tone was of particular note, as it achieved a resounding purity throughout.
To open, junior Laura Friestad began a set of miniatures, “Cinco Bocetos” (“Five Sketches”) by Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra. The works defy simple description; they are brief but colorful tone poems. A general evocation of nature appears throughout, confirmed by titles such as “Canción del campo” (“Song of the countryside”) and “Canción de la montaña” (“Song of the mountain”).
Friestad, now joined by junior Kai Outzen on bassoon, delivered a genuinely moving performance of Beethoven’s
“Duet No. 2 for Clarinet and Bassoon.” Although the two instruments blend well, their highly characterized tones preserve independent playing. Both musicians consistently brought out a profound lyricism.
The first movement from Bernhard Henrik Crusell’s “Clarinet Duo No. 2” was next. The clarinet virtuoso Crusell is little-known outside his native Finland but composes works with a touching Mozartian classicism. Friestad was now alongside their older sister Audrey Friestad, with the performance’s highlight certainly being the joint precision with which the two performed.
For their finale, Friestad was joined by another family member, this time their twin brother Keith Friestad on piano. They performed the “Olive Orchard” from Adam Schoenberg’s “Picture Studies.” Its meditative atmosphere was brought out tastefully by the Friestad duo, ending the program on a relaxing note.
Junior Abby Herrick bolted into their clarinet recital with Witold Lutosławski’s energetic “Dance Preludes.” In typical Lutosławski fashion, the set pairs a traditional melodic approach with harmonies derived from folk and modernist music. This intriguing combination creates a tricky performance risk, where overemphasizing one aspect sacrifices the other.
Fortunately, Herrick balanced both and effectively emphasized the rhythmic dance elements which give the compositions their title. Joined by collaborative pianist Nick Towns, the duo easily treaded the highly syncopated sections throughout, particularly in the third “Allegro giocoso” movement.
For the final two works, Towns left the stage. Herrick would now begin a pair of unaccompanied clarinet pieces. Although one gains general freedom in unaccompanied performances, there are new challenges to face: no piano to keep tuning in check and no collaborator to share the pressure.
“Dramatic and deeply human” is how Herrick described their next work, “For an Actor: Monologue for Clarinet (in A)” by Israeli composer Shulamit Ran. Armed with dual music stands, it was Herrick’s most abstract work yet; they described it as “much like a virtuosic actor playing a complex role.”
Indeed, the work was highly theatrical and sudden, while immense leaps permeated throughout. Particularly striking were the intense multiphonics, where special fingerings result in the sounding of multiple pitches simultaneously.
Herrick’s final work, Heinrich Sutermeister’s “Capriccio for Unaccompanied Clarinet in A,” effectively summed up the program. It recalled the Lutosławski’s dance-like aesthetic, alongside virtuosic elements which defined the Ran, although in both respects it was more laid-back and given in a touching interpretation by Herrick.
With many more weeks of Winter Term, Harper Hall is sure to be increasingly busy as further recitals occur. The first three have given large shoes to fill for future performers!