The cool sanctuary of Mepkin Abbey was welcome relief from the heat of the day.  Half an hour prior to the concert, the church was almost full.  There were very few seats left at concert time.  I was fortunate to find a seat near the front where I had a good view of the performers.  However, I noticed from the seating arrangement of the sanctuary that most would have struggled to see the quartet.  Despite this, the acoustics were superb.

The St. Petersburg String Quartet captured my attention from the opening chord.  I was amazed at their perfect blend of sound.  Even the dissonant chords were rich and beautiful. 

Their performance of the third Schnittke quartet was mesmerizing.  It was colorful, dark, bright, somber, and at times even eerie.  There was a reverent thread that returned after climactic moments which seemed appropriate for the setting.

I watched as most audience members, like me, stretched their heads to witness the performer’s dramatic moves.  The pizzicato (plucking) shared between the viola and cello in the final movement of the Schnittke was powerful and it demonstrated their high level of showmanship.

The Ravel was also vibrant and pleasant.  I was struck again by the ability of these musicians to match tones.  When the first and second violin traded melodies, they sounded like one violin. 

The musicians received a standing ovation and performed Debussy’s Cake Walk as an encore.  The reception that followed on the lawn was lovely.  The audience members were affable as they ate cheese and sipped wine under the oak trees.

The Piccolo Spoleto Spolight Concert Series is my favorite Spoleto event. Over the years, I have throughly enjoyed the brilliant music and performers, and if time and schedule permitted, I would attend each concert.

This year’s series of concerts have moved from its primary location at the City Gallery to the New Tabernacle Fourth Baptist Church on Elizabeth Street. While the City Gallery provided a beautiful backdrop to the concerts, it was was too small. The church –featured in the photo on the right– is a larger, more comfortable and just as stunning.

The music fest program, titled Seasons by violinist Lee-Chin Chow, cellist Natalia Khoma, and pianist Volodymyr Vynnytsky, featured works from Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Astor Piazzolla, and finished up with one by Vynnystsky.

All the music was beautifully played, and the acoustics of the church made a difference, I especially liked the work by Piazzolla,Verano Porteno. It was in parts dark and moving, yet moving. Lost Tango by Vynnysky was great. His emotion and energy on the piano is fun to watch.

Charleston finally has an opera company!

The Charleston Chamber Opera will launch its first season at Piccolo Spoleto 2008. An evening of American Chamber Opera will include Menotti’s “The Telephone” and Hoiby’s “Bon Appétit” at Circular Congregational Church, 150 Meeting St., June 4-6 at 7:30PM. Tickets are $25 adults, $15 students and seniors, $10 children, under 12 and are available through Ticketmaster or at the door on the evening of the performances.

The production titled “Pilot Season” links the operas together as a play within pieces where our performers are actors and production team members attempting to film potential pilots for the new fall television season. The production will be directed by Tami Swartz and Timothy Lafontaine, with a script by both directors. Steven Morris will music direct and conduct a Charleston-based chamber orchestra.

The performers will consist of the three co-founders and Mr. Lafontaine. New York City based mezzo soprano Lara Wilson recently moved home to Charleston to found this unique company together with Patrice Tiedemann of Boston and Tami Swartz of New York City. Their combined credits include Carnegie Hall, Connecticut Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, the Boston Pops and Harrisburg Opera.

The Charleston Chamber Opera was created to present intimate works and premieres of American opera compositions and chamber opera with attention to dramatic presentation, production values and true stagecraft. With the creation of a hometown company, Charleston Chamber Opera fills an untapped niche in Charleston’s diverse and rich artistic heritage - 917.674.7277.

I noticed this morning that G&M Fast & French (98 Broad St.) is promoting its new Spoleto Hours (8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Saturday), with the stated intent of attracting more of the after-performance crowd.

Which got me thinking: With Dock Street in the midst of restoration and the festival-mainstay chamber music series moved to Memminger, what will be the effect on businesses farther down the peninsula? Dock Street anchored the festival’s southern flank.

In fact, it seems entirely odd to imagine a festival without Dock Street.

Here’s a popular chamber music trio with a loyal Charleston following.

As Janet pointed out yesterday, Lee-Chin Siow already has her face on a stamp (Geoff then pointed out that Volodymr Vynnytsky has … well… really amazing hair). Today’s video samples one of their pieces from Wednesday night’s concert and reveals some of what went into preparing for this performance.

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Oh, and Harriet asked me to please include in the post what the trio (Lee-Chin, violin; Vynnytsky, piano; and Natalia Khoma, cello) played last night. Here goes: Handel-Harvolsen’s Passacaglia; Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances; Wieniawski’s Polonaise Brilliant de Concert; Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz; and Smetana’s Piano trio in g minor, Op. 15. Got that? Apparently there’s going to be some kind of quiz later…

Video notes: Produced by Janet; video by Geoff and Dan; edited by Dan.

Here is something which we will be running as often as we can in the two weeks leading up two, and throughout the three week duration of Spoleto - an audio podcast!

Join Janet, Dan, Harriet, Jack and Geoff as they report on talk about the events of the day.

Either play it immediately here, or subscribe to it automatically by clicking here, and your podcast client will download it automatically for you whenever a new podcast is produced.