San Antonio — Emanuel Borok, the recently retired Concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, recently performed in San Antonio, and we happened to catch him in a recital of three Beethoven sonatas. It proved to be a rewarding experience in more ways that just some fine music.
He played on a chamber music series, Musical Evenings at the San Fernando Cathedral, which is one of the concert series of an organization called Musical Bridges Around the World. The energy behind this group with such a far-reaching name is Russian-born pianist, Anya Grokhovski. This is a 14-year-old nonprofit cultural and educational organization. They present a wide variety of concerts feature classical, jazz, and ethnic folk musicians in one-of-a-kind cross-cultural pairings that always has an eye to San Antonio's cultural heritage. MBAW events are specifically designed to appeal to both seasoned concertgoers and to attract new listeners. In this, they are successful as the jam-packed hall ably illustrated.
The venue was the stunning San Fernando Cathedral, which was founded in 1731 and is the oldest, continuously functioning religious community in the State of Texas. It is the oldest standing church building in Texas, and for all of its more than 275 years, has been serving the people of the Archdiocese and San Antonio. By European standards, it is not overwhelmingly large, yet it has a monumental feeling. The soaring arched ceiling leads the eye to a very large gilded altarpiece.
The piano and violinist were placed in the center of a seating area formed like a "U" so the audience surrounded them on three sides. Usually, in such cavernous spaces, the sound can be over echoed and articulation is mushy. Not so here. Although some sound was diffused, both the piano and violin sounded warm and clear. Although the piano overpowered at the start, the excellent pianist Elena Portnaya immediately adjusted. Mainly the problem was that the piano had more presence than the violin. Perhaps closing the lid might have helped, but by the end of the concert, I began to change my mind.
Borok and Portnaya played the first three Beethoven violin sonatas in reverse order, starting with No. 3. It's no surprise to Dallas music fans that Borok is an excellent violinist who always turns in a sensitive performance. His sound is full and evenly matched from string to string, His use of the bow is also impressive in its expressivity. His intonation is always dead on and every note he plays is vibrant and alive.
Since I was unfamiliar with her playing, Portnaya was a wonderful surprise. Quiet and unassuming when I met her briefly ahead of time, she blossomed the minute she started to play. She has an impeccable technique that is more that just nimble fingers. The piano parts in these sonatas are no mere accompaniment, but an equal partner. Beethoven was the greatest pianist of his day and he makes great demands. Portnaya met all of these challenges with ease.
Both pianist and violinist caught the sudden mood changes that Beethoven demands. Sudden outbursts and turn to introspective musings in the next measure of music. Sometime motives of only two notes are tossed back and forth for an extended period of time. Beethoven loved to play with his materials. Both artists understand this very well and they successfully brought out the contrasts and interplay. While there were occasional flashes of humor, which is also a characteristic of the famously sullen and grumpy composer, the two artists could have enjoyed themselves more in the last movements of all three sonatas. While they played them with finesse, these final movements are more of a romp than the serious work of the other movements.
This concert is part of a citywide Beethoven festival. The San Antonio Symphony is playing all of the symphonies, and other concerts cover other works, such as all of the piano sonatas. Bravo to San Antonio for getting all of their arts organizations to actually talk to each other and make some unified plans. Keith Cerny, the General Director and CEO of the Dallas Opera, is beginning to reach out to other presenters to make some partnerships, but Dallas should look at what San Antonio is doing to unite the performances in the city around a single theme.
In a brief ceremony, Musical Bridges Board of Directors dedicated the concert series at the Cathedral to Judy and Jefferson Crabb. This was in gratitude for their generous underwriting of the concerts, which allows them to be presented as a gift to the community without a charge. The next concert in this series will be on Feb. 5, when Beethoven's Violin Sonatas Nos. 4, 5 and 6 will be performed by violinist Mark Cheikhet and pianist Elena Basilova. 
