Kevin & Bryan Matheson, Helen Rifas at rehearsal
(More photos above right under Photo Galleries)
By Susan Paynter
On Friday evening, January 11, Emmanuel drew a large crowd from around the county for Music for Flute, Harp and Strings: Celtic to French Impressionism, the second of five chamber music concerts in the Chatham Concert Series.
The evening featured Helen Rifas, principal harpist of the Greensboro Symphony and Flutist Julee Hickcox of the Roanoke Symphony along with the Classic Strings Duo of the Matheson brothers: Kevin on violin and Bryan on viola.
In a concert series tradition, one piece was performed by a young music student. This evening’s young artist was Monifa Williams of Danville. Ms Williams is a music student at Old Dominion University and play’s in the university’s wind ensemble and symphony orchestra.
Harpist Rifas alternated between a concert harp and a folk harp. The first had a set of pedals; the second was equipped with keys that required setting in. She began the program with traditional solo Celtic pieces and was later joined by Flutist Hickcox for the enduring favorites “I Saw Three Ships” and “Danny Boy.”
Before intermission the two were joined by Bryan Matheson and his viola for the three-movement Debussy “Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp.” The light and lyrical French Impressionist sonata reflected the unusual Spring-like weather outside.
Young Ms. Williams followed intermission with “Jade,” a flute solo written by Pierre-Octave Ferroud.
A short surprise piece was added to the program when the Mathesons, Rifas and Hickcox played a heavenly “Happy Birthday” for the flutist’s father-in-law who was in the audience. A fascinating story followed the birthday fete.
Matheson explained that in preparing for this concert he’d hunted for a piece written for all four instruments on the program. Finally, he found an obscure score that had been discovered in an old musical archive and posted online by a Danish museum: C.F.D. Hoffmann’s “Quartet for Harp with Flute, Violin and Viola.”
The composer is unknown to the musical world. Even the proper names behind his initials are a mystery. But it was a lovely piece of three movements with a pleasant melody. One wonders what other treasures may be collecting dust in unknown corners of the world.
The program continued with the music of Jacques Ibert: two interludes for flute, violin and harp. In spite of its French composer and its French Impressionist classification, to this writer the music had a decidedly Spanish feel. During the Second World War, Mr. Ibert’s music was banned by the Vichy government and he left France for a while in self-exile. Perhaps his travels had taken him to Spain.
Wrapping up the program, the Mathesons on strings and Ms. Hickcox on flute played four of seven movements of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Serenade for Flute, Violin and Viola” opus 25. In the second movement particularly, it was such fun to watch the Matheson brothers. They were so on top of their game, and obviously having so much fun with a piece they must have played together countless times, that they infected the audience with their enthusiasm.
When an encore was demanded, all hands were on deck for the Celtic-sounding “To Zanarkand” by the famous Japanese videogame composer Nobuo Uematsu!
Throughout the program, all the musicians played with strong assurance. The clear, airy tones of Hickcox’s flute, the heavenly, waterfall quality of Rifas’s harps, and the vim and vigor of the Matheson’s string instruments presented attendees with a gratifyingly pleasant concert.