Review: Georgian Players explore outer limits of classical chamber music

The Georgian Chamber Players returned to their familiar haunt at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta on Sunday for an afternoon of their signature mastery of the classical chamber pantheon, an event notable for its high-energy setlist.

The concert commenced with Johannes Brahms’ Scherzo from the F-A-E Sonata, a larger work written in collaboration with Robert Schumann and Albert Dietrich. Brahms’ contribution to the work is full of his signature flare for the dramatic — a harrowing string line here handled by violist Zhenwei Shi and a thunderous piano accompaniment performed by Julie Coucheron. It was a short and punchy intro, one that set the pace for the fiery set that lay ahead.

Coucheron was joined by brother David Coucheron (violin) and cellist Daniel Laufer for Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Piano Trio no. 3 in C minor, Op.1 No. 3. The opening Allegro con brio is cautious, as if testing the waters for the fire and fury to come. The odd feeling of hesitation gave the players an opportunity to interact in a curious call-and-response passage where the instruments themselves seem to function like pensive voices speaking uncertainly to one another. It is the sort of fragile moment that would vex lesser players but here felt natural and fluid in the hands of masters.

The work quickly escalates, however, finding its footing in the world of the manic and the brooding that was Beethoven’s forte. In keeping with that signature sanity-be-damned intricacy, there is plenty of space for the piano to shine. Julie Couchern emerged here, as she so often does, with a performance that was as captivating to watch as it was to hear. Her playing seemed effortless — she tore through Beethoven’s convoluted passages with the efficiency of a writer tapping away on an electric typewriter. It was the sort of performance that leads even the most well-trained and practiced musicians to be left in awe of the seemingly superhuman effortlessness on display.

The third movement of Piano Trio no. 3 opened the floor to the cello and it was here that Atlanta Symphony Orchestra principal cellist Daniel Laufer was allowed to shine, delivering the sort of delicate, sculptural tones that showcase him as a formidable presence on his instrument. Even though he is only serving as a stopgap participant while official cellist Rainer Eudeikis finishes a run with the San Francisco Symphony, Laufer is nevertheless a worthy addition to the Georgian Chamber Players’ lineup and in his own way emerges from the long shadow cast by the late Christopher Rex, the ensemble’s founder and cellist.

The second half of the concert saw Julie Coucheron ceding the piano bench to her longtime musical counterpart Elizabeth Pridgen, who was joined by the rest of the Georgian Chamber Players for a performance of Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 87. A composer of the Romantic era, Dvořák’s work is awash in the sort of sprawling, euphoric emotional palette the movement’s name implies. While most composers who fall under the broad-reaching “classical” umbrella seem to embody a sort of solemn elegance in even their most emotive moments, Dvořák embraced all of the intoxicated joy that spills forth from the very concept of Romanticism. Where most composers smile sentimentally, Dvořák weeps openly. And where they knock hard, he kicks the door off its hinges.

That naked rush of blissful openness is a disarming and discomforting thing to experience for even the most jaded of classical audiences. In the hands of an ensemble so adept as the Georgian Chamber Players, it is an excursion into the outer limits of what the classical chamber format has to offer and a stirring look into the true depth of passion open to a mind unclouded by the regimented formality of societal norms.

The second movement of the quartet, Lento, opened with a majestic cello solo that once again gave Laufer a much-deserved spotlight. In the throes of drunkenly emotive music, Laufer was afforded the opportunity to reach deep within himself. He scoured those depths with a level of inner intensity that transcended the mere academic recitation of a timeworn piece of music. Laufer embodied the very nature of the ensemble: players whose love and knowledge of the music is so deep that they understand keeping it alive means that, beyond merely being played, the music must be lived. 

If there be one criticism of the evening, it is that I would have loved to have heard the Brahms/Schumann/Dietrich collaboration played out in its entirety. In this limited presentation, it felt like a single bite of what should have been a lavish meal with multiple courses. Such criticisms are, however, quickly dismissed in the face of the extraordinary mastery the Georgian Chamber Players continue to provide.

The Georgian Chamber Players will return on Sunday, May 7, for a performance at the Ahavath Achim Synagogue.

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Jordan Owen began writing about music professionally at the age of 16 in Oxford, Mississippi. A 2006 graduate of the Berklee College of Music, he is a professional guitarist, bandleader and composer. He is currently the lead guitarist for the jazz group Other Strangers, the power metal band Axis of Empires and the melodic death/thrash metal band Century Spawn.