Chamber music festival Utrecht will keep you in the party mood

Those days between Christmas and New Years are a little strange. Sometimesit’s like they don’t exist at all. You’ve just had two and a half days ofpartying, and in a week you’ll need that feeling again. A week is too short tosober up, so you better hold on to the party spirit. The International ChamberMusic Festival Utrecht will once again help considerably with this thiswinter.

The festival was founded and is led by star violinist Janine Jansen; theconcerts with her remain highlights. Visitors to the opening on Tuesday wereunlucky: Jansen had to cancel due to illness, but promised to play the otherconcerts.

Like on Wednesday evening, when you could participate in ‘Kerkenmarathon’: 45minutes of chamber music in three churches, with a refreshing (and obligatory)walk in between. The great apotheosis will be in your head all evening asanticipation: Janine Jansen herself will play in the last church, togetherwith her guest programmer, violist Amihai Grosz.

Clap of the evening

In every church, one of those well-known ones sounded first on Wednesday_cello suites_ from Bach. In the Geertekerk, chocomel or Glühwein behind theteeth, Pablo Ferrández also opened with a highlight: a smooth, lively, clevernarration of the First. Then he moved into it Second string quartet byAnton Arenski. The variations on a theme by Tchaikovsky, to whom Arenskydedicated the piece, were especially lively in all directions.

After a stop in the Lutheran Church, with a much more businesslike Thirdcello suite by Zvi Plesser and a terribly difficult to play and therefore abit wobbly horn quintet by Mozart, you landed in a packed Nicolai church. Thencame the blow of the evening: Janine Jansen rehearsed all day and then felttoo tired to play.

Also read an interview with Janine Jansen: ‘ Sometimes music is sopoignantly beautiful that I have to cry’

You forget that sadness a bit with a special version of the Second cellosuite : not for one cello, but two, in an arrangement by Plesser and hispartner Hillel Zori. They separated the suites, divided them between twocellos and added harmony notes that Bach insinuates, but can never make soundon one cello. Ferrández was allowed to take Zori’s place for once. Again thereis an emphasis on the darkness, with voices chasing each other in the depths.Bach suddenly sounds very full. It is musically very interesting, but in termsof experience not as strong as a cello solo. It is precisely that desolationof one cello that plays so insanely beautifully that grabs you by the throat.

The replacement for Jansen and Grosz came in the form of the young Norwegianstring quartet Opus13, which after their programmed part of the evening (a_Langsamer Satz_ by Anton Webern) remained seated. They already played a partfrom their concert on Friday: the second part from the Second string quartet(opus 13, hence) by Mendelssohn. With that they erased an unexpectedly largepart of the sadness for Jansen: how practiced, clear, warm and chargedtogether that sounded! That boded well for their Friday afternoon concert.

Classic

International Chamber Music Festival Utrecht. Heard: “Church Marathon,”12/28. Until 30/12, Utrecht.

Info: chambermusicfestival.nl