by Nick Stubblefield
A church in Bedford-Stuyvesant might not be the first place one expects to experience classical music, but that's where you can find the Brooklyn Center for the Arts, home to a new nine-part classical concert series in the heart of Brooklyn. Last Thursday, the series kicked off with clarinetist Sam Boutris and pianist Levi Vutipadadorn for a free, well-curated program of works from four beloved composers.
The program started with Brahms' melodic, often tender Clarinet Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 120. Brahms' music is highly dynamic and sometimes brooding, giving Boutris ample opportunity to showcase his elegant, mature phrasing and subtle dynamics. It wasn't a flashy way to start the program, but served to ease the audience into the evening.
The tone lightened with selections from Mozart operas, with Boutris and Vutipadadorn channeling Mozart's infectious energy. In The Marriage of Figaro, Vutipadadorn adeptly translated the buoyancy of the plucking strings to the keyboard, which gave the music a driving energy. In the "Queen of the Night" from The Magic Flute, Boutris' clarinet took the place of the soprano. The iconic repeated high notes were clean and well-articulated, just like a skilled soprano.
The second half of the program opened with Franz Liszt's piano suite "Vallee d’Obermann" from Années de pèlerinage. Aside from mastering the technically demanding passages with confident precision, Vutipadadorn managed to use the dynamics of the piano to convey feelings of loss and torment in a soulful, rhythmic give and take. Parallel, cascading hand movements brought the music to its climax, showcasing the sheer physical requirements required for taming this piece. But, it was Vutipadadorn's passion and intensity that elevated the music to a fine emotional pitch.
Carl Maria von Weber's Grand Duo Concertant, Op. 48, for clarinet and piano, closed the program. Full of energy with delightfully synchronized passages between piano and clarinet, it was a fun and enthusiastic exclamation point to the evening.
Classical Thursdays continues every Thursday at the Brooklyn Center for the Arts from now through November 17th. It's a rare and special thing to experience high-level live music for no charge in a comfortable New York City venue.