The Spoleto Festival, a vast fine arts extravaganza in Charleston, SC, is world famous for bringing together some of the best-known musicians for a series of incredible annual performances. This Musical Heritage Society album features a remastered (in 2003) live chamber music performance from the 1987 Spoleto Festival and includes such luminaries as pianist
Jeffrey Kahane, violinist
Joshua Bell, and cellist Carter Brey. The disc opens with Brahms' C minor Piano Quartet, the opening of which is performed with great care, lovely sound quality, and attention to intonation. As is so often the case with chamber ensembles thrown together with successful solo performers, these fine qualities heard at the opening do not extend throughout the performance. As the texture thickens, the dynamics increase, the tempo accelerates, and the sound quality and intonation between the strings falters noticeable. The group also has a tendency to play the fast movements far too quickly, making for a somewhat nervous listening experience. With one less string player with whom to argue over intonation, the album continues with a more successful performance of Smetana's G minor Piano Trio. The remastered sound quality here is still not ideal, but technical considerations between the players seem much more under control and tempos are more conservative. Saving the best technical execution and sound quality for last, the program ends with three marvelous American songs and spirituals by
Ned Rorem and Hall Johnson performed by soprano Marvis Martin and
Jeffrey Kahane.