I am not a music critic, nor what anyone would consider a classical music expert, but I do love classical music and chamber music in particular.
A couple decades ago at Yale, I would sometimes go hear the many talented students who gave free concerts. Last year, I bought my first subscription to the excellent Santa Barbara Symphony, whose conductor, Nir Kabaretti, earned the blessing of Zubin Mehta.
So I feel remiss in not having attended the Chamber Music Palisades until Tuesday, January 14th, a concert unfortunately scheduled on the day of the fire. It was like the LA Riots, which everyone in LA that day remembers for many reasons, not least the 90-100 minutes it took to drive what ordinarily took 15-20 minutes. (PCH was still not free and clear by the next morning and it truly did wreak havoc on the roads.)
I ate at Modo Mio for the first time in years (excellent and a bargain on pastas, by the way) and customers were all swapping their traffic stories. Angelenos can't bond over weather (since there is none in LA), so they bond over traffic. More than a few people at Modo Mio (and many more at Saint Matthews) told their LA Riots traffic tales as they awaited their spouses stuck in Westwood or Century City.
The concert started late because Alan Chapman, the multi-talented composer, lyricist, pianist, and KUSC radio host, was stuck somewhere on the Westside. But by the time Susan Greenberg, Alyssa Park and Brian Dembow, struck the first notes of the Beethoven Serenade in D Major (Op. 25), the beautiful new sanctuary at Saint Matthew's church was about two-thirds full.
Full disclosure: my parents have been neighbors of flutist Susan Greenberg for 40 years in the Palisades. Susan has played on over 500 films and enjoys a versatile career as soloist, chamber musicians, symphony player and recording artist. She has been a member for 36 years of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and played with the LA Philharmonic, New York City and LA Operas, the American Ballet Theater and the Joffrey Ballet.
I've known Susan's family all my life and because I was out of LA a number of years, didn't know very much about Chamber Music Palisades, her brainchild along with Delores Stevens, a pianist of astonishing power and intensity in an extremely petite package!
Ms. Stevens co-founded the Martha's Vineyard Chamber Music Society, now entering its 44th year. With Susan Greenberg, she founded the Chamber Music Palisades in 1997. Throughout her career, Ms. Stevens has been committed to sustaining a love of chamber music and contemporary composers, acting as Director of Chamber Music for the Young Musicians Foundation. Ms. Stevens has also been affiliated with Mount St. Mary's College and received an award from the National Association of Composers and the Presidential Award of Merit from the International Music Fraternity of Mu Phi Epsilon.
My mother told me that Susan was especially excited about Alyssa Park on violin and Brian Dembow on the viola, hoping that my classical music aficionado father who has attended concerts at Saint Matthew's on quite a few occasions, would come. But Dad is not a fan of modern composers.
I wish he'd come for the Beethoven, however, as I know he would have appreciated the stunning execution of this beautiful piece of seven movements. New York City native Mr. Dembow received a Juilliard scholarship at 11, playing with the New York and Sequoia String Quartets and winning a Grammy in 2001 for a landmark recording of the 68 String Quartets of Joseph Haydn for the Phillips Classics label.
Ms. Park, a part-time member of the UCLA faculty, made her professional debut at 11 in the Cincinatti Chamber Orchestra. Recognized by the New York Times upon her 1991 Lincoln Center debut as a violinist of "unusually strong technique" and "sense of music-making," Ms. Park is revelation even when playing something you don't particularly like.
I found the story of the Tzigane more interesting than the piece itself, but as one who quit playing the piano just as my teacher was arranging an audition for the Young Musicians Foundation, I was grateful for Mr. Chapman's mini-lectures before each piece. Sometimes, an understanding of an artist's motivation or historical influences deepens one's appreciation for the piece, but I do not think Ravel and I are meant for one another.
As the daughter of a man who worships Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms (and loves Haydn, Chopin, Mendelssohn, and Schumann) but has little use for the 20th-century composers, I have not been initiated into the beauties of Ravel or Shostakovich. I enjoyed the Ravel much more when Ms. Stevens' piano began but still experienced nothing short of awe at Ms. Park's virtuosity.
I did not know Debussy's Sonate , but Jacob Braun's cello blended seamlessly with Ms. Stevens' piano and I was moved to listen to more Debussy after this concert. Short of inspiring a commitment to take music lessons (again or for the first time), what more could artists of this caliber committed to music education hope for?
My least favorite piece of the evening was the Shostakovich Trio in C minor (Op. 67) in four movements. My untrained ear found it extremely redundant and depressing but still tremendous in its execution.
At 30 dollars a ticket for adults (free for students with any ID), the CMP is an affordable way to enjoy world-class musicians. The Palisades is lucky to have claim two as its own. If you're a Palisadian, I guarantee that you will run into people you haven't seen in decades. I saw one of our neighbors--a benefactor of CMP-- a carpool mom of mine at St. Augustine in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as well as Mimi Baer, a donor who was executive director of the school in my years.
With traffic being what it is, there are few ways to enjoy classical music of this caliber without risking a traffic-induced migraine. The Broad is wonderful but much more expensive. So for people in Santa Monica, Venice, Topanga, Malibu, and Marina Del Rey, the Chamber Music Palisades provides a hassle-free opportunity to hear some of the finest musicians in Los Angeles, artists who have performed all over the world.
The next concert is March 18th and features guest artists Ida Levin and Peter Myers performing Piazzola, Alwyn and Beethoven! I will definitely be there and maybe even drag Dad for the Beethoven.
You can reach CMP at 310-463-4388 or find more information at: http://www.cmpalisades.org/
