Reviews

Mariko Anraku and Friends

Newtown harp music program intriguing

by Jim Pegolotti
News-Times Music Correspondent

Mariko Anraku, the harpist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, brought heavenly harp music to Newtown on Sunday afternoon. This lovely young woman, appearing in a brilliant red dress, opened the season for the Newtown Friends of Music. She also brought friends of her own - the Avalon String Quartet, a flutist, a clarinetist, and a narrator - to present an intriguing program.

A concerto by G F Handel (1685 - 1759) began the program. It was actually his "Organ Concerto in B flat" transcribed for harp, and was played with consummate cohesion by the Avalon Quartet and Anraku. The two outer movements were joyous and perky and the internal reflective movement lovingly treated.

Anraku then took center stage in "Impromptu," a work for solo harp by Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924). The eight-minute work was written as an examination piece for a professor friend of Faure. Every string of the harp appeared to be utilized, from the lowest to the highest.

Accenting a charming melody that appeared to float above arpeggios and glissandos, Anraku passed the test beautifully.

A peculiar composition for harp and string quartet ended the program's first half: "Conte Fantastique," by Andre Caplet (1878 - 1925). The work attempts to depict in music Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Masque of the Red Death."

Before the music began, Elliott Forrest (host of "Breakfast With the Arts" on A&E) briefly summarized the plot. During a plague, a prince summons his friends to his castle fro a grand masked ball, believing they are safe within the walls. Suddenly among them appears an uninvited masked figure "Death." Midnight tolls and everyone dies.

The music combines both impressionism and chromaticism. It is at first foreboding, an agitated harp, then short phrases broken off. In the middle of the 20-minute work is a lengthy section of restless, dour music for the dancers. After the sounding of midnight by the plucked harp, the work ends fitfully. A second hearing would provide a better sense of the composer's intentions, although this reviewer believes the central section went on too long.

Variety must spice any program that features the same instrument in all works. In the second half, Anraku provided this by choosing compositions that included wind instruments. There is something special in the sound of flute and harp, and that showed clearly in "Concert a Cinq" by Belgian Joseph Jongen (1873 - 1953), for flute, violin, cello and harp.

The excellent flutist, Michael Parloff (principal flutist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra) provided a mellow tone in harmony with the harp.

Jongen wrote the work in a romantic vein, in the spirit of Cesar Franck, sometimes with an oriental cast. Since the program did not indicate the work had separate movements, the audience, assuming a one-movement work, provided lengthy, appreciative applause at a brilliant effervescent ending. But two more equally entertaining movements followed.

One of the most famous works for harp completed the program: "Introduction and Allegro" by Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937). Here clarinetist Patrick Messina joined flutist, harpist, and Avalon quartet (Blaise Magniere and Marie Wang, violins; Che-Yen Chen, viola; Sumire Kudo, cello). The instrumentalists provided an interpretation that emphasized Ravel's musical qualities, sensuous sounds, long lyrical lines, and strong emphatic conclusions.

The audience, having been tricked once before, remained silent at the conclusion of this work. Flutist Parloff quickly leaped to his feet and stated succinctly: "That's it." A lengthy ovation followed.
Because for most this was probably their one and only concert of works featuring a harp, some explanation of the modern harp would have added greatly to the enjoyment. For example, why did the harpist find it necessary to tune the harp at the beginning of every piece, and what are the musical functions of the harp's pedals?

Potential education aside, by the end of the concert there were no doubts in the minds of the good-sized audience in Edmond Town Hall that Anraku was a superlative harpist who had complete command of that largest of all instruments. With this concert, the Newtown Friends of Music began their second quarter century with their desired hallmark of imaginative programming and outstanding artists.