By Daniel Buckwalter
It’s lively and melodic. It’s two piano quintets that end the subscription season for Chamber Music Amici, with a special touch from guest pianist Alexander Tutunov.
Fans of chamber music absorbed the first of two season finale performances from Amici on June 9, and everyone has one more chance to hear an encore presentation on June 10 at Wildish Theater in Springfield. It is well worth it.
You will hear the two, four-movement piano quintets that were composed in the 1890s. They both sparkle.
Violinists Jessica Lambert and Sharon Schuman, violist Lillie Manis and cellist Steven Pologe join Tutunov in playing Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Piano Quintet in G Minor and Ernst von Dohnányi’s Piano Quintet No. 1 in C Minor.
It was a lovely performance on Sunday, and it should be a wonderful way on Monday evening to start the week.
Underpinning the strong work of the string players is Tutunov on piano. It is at once soothing next to the string players, and also commanding. He blends in well with the other four musicians, but the piano is in charge of both these pieces, and you will come to appreciate Tutunov’s virtuosity.
Tutunov was born and raised in the former Soviet Union and has been praised in Moscow and throughout his travels and teaching in the United States.
He currently lives in Ashland and is a professor of piano as well as Artist-in-Residence at Southern Oregon University.
Editor’s Note: The Monday evening, June 10, performance is at 7:30 p.m. at the Wildish Community Theater at 630 Main St. in downtown Springfield. Tickets range from $32 5o $45 (students and their parents pay $5 each, except Rows A and K) and are available online at wildishtheater.com or at the door.
