Old and new, timelessly played

By David Weininger, Globe Correspondent | February 1, 2010

The New England String Ensemble’s Saturday concert had a simple, and effective, structure. In the middle were two 20th-century pieces, vastly different in their languages; bookending them were fugues by Mozart and Beethoven, works that came out of their composers’ late-in-life fascination with Baroque counterpoint. The intertwining of tradition and modernity made for a program that hung together exceptionally well.

Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue in C minor had a warm, rounded sound, though it lacked some needed rhythmic energy. Following it was Astor Piazzolla’s “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires,’’ for violin and strings. Though written for a conventional concerto grosso ensemble, it’s infused with the feel of Argentine tango and uses all sorts of unusual sonic effects. Much of its interest lies in the lengthy violin solos, which range from flashy virtuoso runs to smoldering lyricism. All of these were dispatched with the requisite fireworks by Irina Muresanu, whose combination of fire and poise made the performance irresistible. A couple of cello solos were admirably performed by Joshua Gordon.

Luciano Berio’s “Chemins IV’’ for soprano saxophone and 11 strings is based on an earlier piece for solo oboe. The piece opens with the repeated statement of a single note by the saxophone; the rest of the piece represents a kind of journey away from and back to that note, which always seems to be lurking somewhere in the texture. The solo part darts restlessly through the instrument’s range while the strings offer a murmuring, static backdrop. It’s an ingenious clash of opposites, and the difficult solo part was played brilliantly by Dennis Shafer.

Closing the evening was an arrangement of Beethoven’s “Grosse Fuge,’’ the tangled and knotty string quartet movement that’s had as profound an afterlife as anything the composer wrote. It usually comes off as brash and aggressive, but Federico Cortese, conducting with a strong beat and clear gestures, emphasized balance and transparency, allowing a listener to hear the whole score with remarkable lucidity. At times there was a little too much restraint, and one wished for more of the angularity that gives this piece its continuing relevance. But the strings brought off this difficult piece well, as they did the entirety of the program.

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