From l-to-r, Rachel Mercer, Angela Park and Scott St. John. Source: Chamberfest web site.
The Chamberfest concert of November 28 put the spotlight on (now) Ottawa composer Kevin Lau and also served as the Ottawa launch of Lau’s latest CD. Several of his pieces found on the disc were heard, paired with Maurice Ravel’s Piano Trio in A minor (1914).
It was a fortuitous pairing because there is much kinship between Lau (b. 1982) and Ravel (1875-1937), as Lau readily admitted in a pre-concert talk. Both speak to the listener at a deeply emotional, sometimes rapturous level. As the composer says in Notes with the CD, his music aims to offer “a glimpse into an emotional and spiritual reality quite distinct from the ordinary, ‘objective’ world.”
The centrepiece of the concert and the CD was and is his 3-movement Under a Veil of Stars (2022). The first movement (“The Stars Are Never Still“) evokes a child’s dream of twinkling stars, wonder and adventure. The second (“Land of Poison Trees,” after William Blake’s poem) takes an adult turn in struggle and revenge. The final movement (“In That Shoreless Ocean…”) is a meditation on grief and death that ends in quiet transcendence. The work appeals on first hearing, and having listened to it several more times now, I can attest that the feeling endures.
Source: Yehonatan Berick web site.
Under a Veil of Stars is dedicated to the memory of Yehonatan Berick, Rachel Mercer’s partner who passed a way suddenly in 2020, at the age of 52. They and Angela Park performed for ten years under the name AYR Piano Trio. I guess that with the replacement of Berick by St. John, they’re still looking for a new name — SJAR just would’t do!
Also heard at the concert were Lau’s Intuitions No. 2 (for violin and cello, 2020) and A Simple Secret (for the trio, 2019; inspired by de Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince; you can listen to it here). Additional tracks on the CD are The Dreamer (for piano, 2017), If Life were a Mirror (for violin and piano, 2020), Piano Trio No. 1 (2004) and Timescape Variations (for the trio, 2003). You can listen some of this on Lau’s web site.
In the performance of both Lau’s works and Ravel’s it was a joy to witness such musicianship of the highest quality, in a well-attended concert.
How unfortunate that Chamberfest persists in not providing patrons with a program, not even a list of works to be heard. One is supposed to memorize the program from a poster or find it on your phone. Like the NAC’s recently adopted practice, this trend (“we’re going digital!”) does a disservice to the performers, the music and the attendees.