Critical ear

Harp + violin + piano

Plenty of famous composers’ last names begin with the second letter of the alphabet, but the Three B’s — Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Johannes Brahms — are something special. Each was a master of melody, each took harmonic language to new heights, and each was at home in virtually every musical form of his time.

No wonder violinist Kerri Lay and pianist-harpist Paul Hurst have chosen works by the great trio, plus music by Prokofiev and Smetana, for a concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 3, in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation auditorium, 107 W. Barcelona Road. What could be better?

Hurst opens with the famous Chaconne from Bach’s solo violin partita in D minor, in a transcription for piano by Ferruccio Busoni. Beethoven’s plangent Romance in F Major for Violin and Orchestra, with the orchestral accompaniment transcribed for harp by Hurst, follows. Brahms’ Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in A Major ends the first half.

Post-intermission, Lay and Hurst perform the fourth movement from Prokofiev’s Sonata in D Major for Violin and Piano, op. 94a; the Andante from Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Major, transcribed by the harpist Marcel Grandjany; "The Moldau" from Smetana’s Ma Vlast, transcribed for harp by Hurst after an arrangement by Czech harpist Hanus Trnecek; and Brahms’ Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D Minor.

"This is our first time working together," Hurst said, adding that when he first heard Lay lead an orchestral ensemble at the Church of the Holy Faith, "I was really impressed with the energy that came across the stage." When the two met, Hurst asked if Lay wanted to collaborate on the Brahms sonatas, which he’d accompanied when he was a teenager. "I wanted to find someone who could really do them with me. We just really clicked. We have a similar approach to music."

That approach, Hurst said, is based in exact rhythmic control. "Most people don’t quite know what they’re doing" when they get into difficult rhythmic territory, he said. "They do it intuitively. Well, Kerri and I both have been educated to control time and control milliseconds, which allows us to be really together."

The concert is well-rooted in violin literature, even though Hurst will play two fiddle pieces in arrangements for piano and harp. "I’ve always wanted to do the Chaconne and the D-minor Brahms together, because of the first movement of the Brahms. Every violinist I’ve ever talked to about it, they recognize immediately it’s a paraphrase of the last movement of the Chaconne.

"Busoni — well, he wasn’t quite a madman. He was just an amazing pianist and composer! Even though he uses some extended harmonies, some not-quite-expected use of diminished and augmented chords, Bach wouldn’t be cringing at the harmonic interpretation."

The last movement of the Prokofiev is "a sort of preview for a concert we’re going to do in the fall," Hurst explained. "We’re going to do the whole Prokofiev sonata and probably repeat one of the Brahms sonatas, or do the other one, in D major."

Lay has been a member of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra since 1987 and is a regular substitute violinist with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. She also has performed with 20th Century Unlimited, the Santa Fe Symphony, the Church of the Holy Faith Chamber Orchestra, Serenata of Santa Fe, and Santa Fe Pro Musica. She runs her own music contracting business, Bellissima.

Hurst, a native of Southern California, began piano lessons at 5, was a church organist at 10, and became a professional musician in the Los Angeles area at 14. He began harp study at 19 with the late DeWayne Fulton and has performed throughout the United States as well as in the former Soviet Union, Japan, England, Scotland, and Europe. He moved to Santa Fe in 2001.

Tickets are $15, $20, and $25 at the door. To reserve in advance, call 995-0988.

Speaking of strings

When it comes to local violin sections, David Felberg is a familiar face — or perhaps I should say sound. The son of two revered Albuquerque musicians, violinist Leonard Felberg and pianist Arlette Felberg, David is associate concertmaster of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. He has participated in chamber music festivals in Colorado, Arizona, New Hampshire, and Vermont as well as New Mexico and conducted at Colorado’s Emerald City Opera in Steamboat Springs in 2003.

Felberg and pianist Mary Jo Gothmann perform at 7:30 p.m. today, April 1, in the Santuario de Guadalupe, 100 S. Guadalupe St. The recital is one of several Felberg is giving around the state in preparation for his June 9 New York City debut at Merkin Hall. The repertoire is Fauré’s Sonata in A Major, Albuquerque cellist and composer Eric Walters’ Stroll, Bartók’s First Rhapsody, The Red Violin Caprices by John Corigliano, and Schubert’s Fantasy in C Major.

"A friend said, ‘Why don’t you do a recital in New York?’" Felberg said, adding, "It sounded like a great idea." He was speaking by phone from Clovis, where the first of his five in-state concerts took place March 18. The other performances are in Roswell, Albuquerque, and Taos, plus Santa Fe.

Felberg called a New York recital "almost a rite of passage for a classical musician because the level is so high there. It makes you aspire to work really hard. I decided, in order to prepare for it, to do a series of recitals in New Mexico."

Felberg and Gothmann have mixed some lighter repertoire with more serious works, he said. The Fauré, though a powerful sonata, "is a glorious work, contrasting with the Bartók, which is a little more edgy." The Corigliano pieces, arranged from his score for the movie The Red Violin, "are very edgy and contemporary."

On the other hand, the seldom-played Schubert Fantasy "is back to being glorious. It’s got one of those beautiful melodies." It also shares a similar structure and mood with one of Schubert’s better-known fantasies, the Fantasy in C Major for piano, nicknamed "Wanderer" after a famous Schubert song theme.

Walters and Felberg are co-founders of an Albuquerque-based chamber orchestra called Chatter. "I thought the program needed just one more short piece," Felberg said. "I thought it would be nice to promote Eric and get him played in New York." So Walters wrote Stroll specifically for this series of concerts.

Tickets at the door are $12, $10 students/seniors. Information: 988-2027.

Spring in Santa Fe = April in Paris

If it’s April, this must be Vanessie — and accordionist-composer-chanteur Ron "Dadou" Romanovsky and pianist Charles Tichenor must be getting ready for their annual tribute to Gallic life, love, and art, April in Paris.

Well, it is, and they are: the duo presents a quartet of Sunday performances saluting la ville lumière at 5 p.m. April 3, 10, 17, and 24, at Vanessie, 434 W. San Francisco St. Tickets are $12.50 in advance and $15 at the door — if any are left after presale; this event usually sells out fast.

Tichenor has been on the Vanessie piano bench for almost 15 years, singing and playing great Broadway and cabaret repertoire three or four nights a week. Dadou, who just returned from one of his regular forays to Paris (as in France, not Texas), is a founding member of the now-retired duo Romanovsky and Phillips and has been performing French musical fare at Café Paris for the past five years.

This year’s show programs favorite songs by Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet, and Jacques Brel; Cole Porter’s evergreen, ever-vigorous "Can-Can," the title song from his musical comedy of the same name; "Gay Paree" from the movie-turned-stage-musical Victor/Victoria; and two new pieces by Dadou himself. Allons-y! Information and reservations: 982-9966.