Chamber Music Seasons End on High Notes
by Jan Jezioro

A Musical Feast

 On Tuesday, May 27, at 8pm, A Musical Feast, the dynamic chamber music organization founded by retired Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra concertmaster Charles Haupt in 2006, presents the final concert in its successful second season at the Kavinoky Theater of D'Youville College.

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A Musical Feast, Grab A Fork!
S. JAMES WEGG

For those who have yet to venture into the incredible realm of chamber music, the place to be next Tuesday is Buffalo. There, at The Kavinoky Theater of D'Youville (just a few seconds from the Peace Bridge), the season closer for "A Musical Feast" will present a widely varied musical buffet that most certainly has something for every taste.

The featured composers include George Frederic Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonin Dvorák, Maurice Ravel, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger and Johnny Reinhard. The performers on this occasion will be artistic director and violinist extraordinaire Charles Haupt, bass–trombonist David Taylor, cellist Jonathan Golove, violinist Charles Castleman, and pianist Claudia Hoca.

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"A MUSICAL FEAST", Charles Haupt and Friends Feast offers musical tapas, piquant flavors
By Garaud MacTaggart – Buffalo NEWS CONTRIBUTING REVIEWER

Tuesday's Musical Feast in the Kavinoky Theatre was a two-parter: the first course consisting of well-done musical tapas (works for solo instruments) while the second half of the program featured piquant flavors provided by Igor Stravinsky.

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Concert preview: 'A Musical Feast' takes on Stravinsky's 'The Soldier's Tale'
Charles Haupt's program to cover Bach to Stravinsky

BY ROBERT PAPE - Special to The News
Updated: 01/25/08 8:01 AM

The menu for the latest helping of Charles Haupt's "A Musical Feast" on Tuesday night is actually more like a smorgasbord. It features a seldom-performed, small-scale Stravinsky tale paired with selections ranging from as early as Bach to a movement from "Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps" ("The Quartet for the End of Time").

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A Musical Feast returns to the Kavinoky
Artvoice, January 23, 2008
By Jan Jezioro

The last time the BPO performed the Bruckner Symphony No. 9, back in 1979, violinist Charles Haupt was the orchestra's concertmaster. Having retired from the BPO a couple of years back, Haupt is now devoting his efforts to the chamber music ensemble that he founded called "A Musical Feast." Co-sponsored by the Robert and Carol Morris Center for 21st Century Music at the University at Buffalo, and making its home at the Kavinoky Theater on the D'Youville College Campus, "A Musical Feast" has made a strong impression on the local classical music scene in its short lifetime.

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Charles Haupt's A Musical Feast  |  November 13, 2007
By S. James Wegg 14/11/07
www.jamesweggreview.org

The value of Charles Haupt's "A Musical Feast" was magnificently demonstrated at the close of last night's program.  Haupt, cellist Feng Hew and pianist Claudia Hoca took to the Crazy Mary-set stage (A.R. Gurney's latest confection runs at the Kavinoky Theatre until December 9) complemented or erased all that had proceeded and rewarded the patrons with an engaging, thoughtful reading of Mendelssohn's D Minor Piano Trio.  The partners truly saw the music as a whole:  Haupt and Feng used their bows as if joined at the tip to produce homogeneity of timbre and tone in the Molto Adagio ed agitato and Andante con moto tranquillo that will remain happily in memory for years.  For her part, Hoca led with authority where required and supported her colleagues with surety, contributing much to the seldom realized effect of three musicians rather than piano with string accompaniment.  Still when the Scherzo's fuse was lit she dashed through the cascades of notes with zest and enough humor.

.Debussy's Violin Sonata was given an impassioned performance by Charles Castleman and Hoca.  In the early going the lines oozed wonderfully, the harmonics floated ethereally and Castleman got "into the string" with convincing bravado.  Hoca stayed with her colleague at every turn and drew warm rich tone that served as the perfect foil. 

The full-length program also contained much poetry.  The indefatigable Hoca teamed up with soprano Tony Arnold for a set of Lieder from Hugo Wolf.  Im Frühling was eloquent and lovingly shaped; Auf ein altes Bild had near-perfect ensemble and featured beautifully rich legato from both performers and a true diminuendo al niente.  The ghost of Wagner marvellously haunted An den Schlaf.

'Musical Feast' has mixed menu
By Garaud MacTaggart
NEWS CONTRIBUTING REVIEWER

Tuesday night found Charles Haupt, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra's retired concertmaster, and his some of his friends hosting another "Musical Feast," an event co-sponsored for the first time by David Felder and his associates at the "Robert and Carol Morris Center for 21st Century Music" at the University at Buffalo.

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ARTVOICE, November 8, 2007
INTO THE LABYRINTH
A MUSICAL FEAST RETURNS TO THE KAVINOKY THEATRE
By Jan Jezioro

When former Buffalo Philharmonic concertmaster Charles Haupt retired after almost four decades with the orchestra in 2006, he headed neither to a rocking chair nor to points south. Besides continuing his duties as a member of the faculty of the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, Haupt decided to establish a new chamber music series that he called "A Musical Feast."

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Q uotes from: BUFFALO: "BUSINESS FIRST"
Western NY's Business Newspaper : September 15-21, 2006
UB program bringing new sounds to WNY
At a buffet, there are those of us who opt `for the mac and cheese, rigatoni and mini egg rolls, while others are more inclined to fill their plates With less-conventional options - perhaps chicken curry or quinoa-and-red lentil stew.

-- From the Sept. 15, 2006, issue of Business First. See http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2006/09/18/story3.html for an excerpt.

Welcome to Music  |  A Musical Feast
March 29, 2006
Kavinoky Theatre, Buffalo, NY.
by S. James Wegg
www.jamesweggreview.org
(03/30/06)

Charles Haupt, violin
Claudia Hoca, piano
Cheryl Gobbetti-Hoffman, flute
Jesse Levine, viola
Charles Castleman, violin

The concert music scene of Buffalo and Niagara just got an enormous boost with the inaugural performance of the newest kid-on-the-block, A Musical Feast. Founder & Artistic Director Charles Haupt has a vision that is at odds with and simultaneously because of his long and distinguished tenure as concertmaster of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. After decades of leading his colleagues and a host of maestros through the large orchestra repertoire (not infrequently serving as the "uncredited" assistant conductor), the tireless violinist has set his sights (and his listeners' ears) on a course of harvesting small-ensemble gems and serving them up with performances that dig deep beneath their apparent surface.

Given the wonderful buffet that comprised "Concert One," the future looks rich indeed for those who savour the art and notoriously demanding challenges of "one person per part" music.

First performed by Canadian violinist (and member of the Hart House String Quartet) Adolph Koldofsky on the occasion of Schönberg's 75th birthday, the Phantasy for Violin brought home the artists' philosophy in a manner not possible from mere words. With a flow and grace that belied the treacherous writing, Haupt lifted the notes far off the page and imbued the frequently shifting lines with compelling emotional and dynamic range. Those scared off by the word "atonal" fail to understand that the composer's harmonic world is never more than a café away from his Viennese roots with its marvellous froth and deep, if occasionally tart, flavours. Pianist Claudia Hoca was with Haupt at every turn and proved to be the ideal collaborator.

Hearing two performances of Britten's Six Metamorphoses After Ovid ( cross-reference below) in less than a month might well qualify as a record for critics. On this occasion, the original oboe made an exotic metamorphosis into silver alto Pan Pipes and was brought to new life by Cheryl Gobbetti-Hoffman. "Pan" bewitched through every phrase, "Phaeton" an intriguing mix of fluff and spite, "Niobe" appropriately mellow as the buttery tone (no margarine here!) wafted effortlessly to the balcony. The slap-happy fun of "Bacchus" was only surpassed by Gobbetti-Hoffman's indulgence in a tipsy sing-along, self-love oozed in a sultry, sombre manner as "Narcissus" reflected, "Arethusa" lifted off with promise but hit some unexpected turbulence along the way.

Jesse Levine was the convincing protagonist in Bax's Legend. Completed in 1929, but revised in 1945 (composers really aught to leave things alone and go "on the next"—cross-reference below) the music is at once accessible. Levine's solid approach was a study of understatement, passion and control, only slightly marred by a few excursions to the far side of pitch. With Hoca once more leading and supporting as required, the balance was excellent—more matter of course than laboured—and again demonstrating her too-seldom-heard ability as une vrai accompagnatrice.

The Mozart Duo was a special treat. Watching Haupt and Levine traverse the classical landscape was like spying on friends who speak in a language of their own (complete with inside jokes) but whose life-long musical experiences flooded the Kavinoky Theatre with much-appreciated happiness and joy.

Like the Britten in the first half, Ysaÿe's E Minor Solo Sonata leaves the performer as seul as it gets. Charles Castleman drove through the score with surety and conviction (notably the Sarabande's pizzicati and harmonics were tossed off with deceptive ease), but the music couldn't shake its étude hue and chien chaud histrionics.

The only trio of the night held the audience from the first measure. Like the day's spring sunshine, the parlour room set (the theatre is currently running A.R. Gurney's The Cocktail Hour) proved ideal for the suspension of disbelief that we were at the première. At one point in the heady Scherzo , Levine as Dvorák's substitute, got so carried away that he tossed his bow in glee! Their journey to Bohemia was not without a few bumps along the way, but the quest for excellence was never in doubt.

With the first feast now under their belts, everyone involved (on both sides of the stage) look forward to the next helping with eager anticipation.

Arnold Schönberg
Phantasy for Violin, Opus 47

Benjamin Britten
Six Metamorphoses After Ovid

Arnold Bax
Legend for Viola and Piano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Duo for Violin and Viola, No. 1, K. 423

Eugene Ysaÿe
Solo Sonata Opus 27, No. 4

Antonin Dvorák
Terzetto for Two Violins and Viola, Opus 74

Concert Review
"A Musical Feast"
Featuring Charles Haupt, Charles Castleman, Jesse Levine, Claudia Hoca and Cheryl Gobbetti-Hoffman on Wednesday night in Kavinoky Theatre.

Charles Haupt, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra's retiring concertmaster, is now working on a concert series called "A Musical Feast."

Wednesday night marked the debut performance for Haupt's concept and, if the programming and concertizing for "A Musical Feast" continue to be as interesting as the initial offering was, it might become one of Western New York's cultural jewels.

First on the Kavinoky Theatre program was Arnold Schoenberg's short (eight or so minutes) "Phantasy" for Violin with Piano Accompaniment, Op. 47. Commendably played by Haupt and pianist Claudia Hoca, this technically demanding piece was composed in 1949 and turned out to be the composer's last instrumental work.

The odd qualifier on the score's title page refers to the fact that Schoenberg composed the violin part of this 12-tone piece first and added the piano section later.

Flutist Cheryl Gobbetti-Hoffman played an arrangement of Benjamin Britten's "Six Metamorphoses After Ovid," a piece originally created for solo oboe.

Not surprisingly, Gobbetti-Hoffman carried off the challenges posed by the score with aplomb, especially in the graceful "Niobe" and quirky "Bacchus" sections of the work.

Arnold Bax's "Legend" for Viola and Piano and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Duo for Violin and Viola in G major were apt showcases for violist Jesse Levine.

The Bax piece was fairly lightweight in tone, rife with Celtic-inflected tunes, but it did show off Levine's technique. The Mozart work found Levine and Haupt working together to present a vibrant (especially in the Rondo), frequently elegant performance of this gem.

Violinist Charles Castleman began the second half of the concert by himself, alone on stage with his violin and Eugene Ysaye's formidable Sonata in E minor for Solo Violin, Op. 27, No. 4.

Ysaye was a brilliant violinist whose reputation and abilities were such that he had works dedicated to him by Claude Debussy (String Quartet), Cesar Franck (Violin Sonata) and Ernest Chausson ("Poeme" for Violin and Orchestra), all of which are mainstays on the concert circuit.

Needless to say, Castleman had his work cut out for him but he followed through with considerable confidence.

Closing out the program was a delightful performance of Antonin Dvorak's "Terzetto" for Two Violins and Viola, Op. 74 with Castleman, Haupt and Levine.

The violist seemed to have the most fun in the Scherzo, garnering a chuckle from his compatriots with an exuberant upward thrust of his bow at the end.

REVIEW

Retiring Concert Master of the BPO, Charles Haupt, initiated a new concert series and is calling it,  "A MUSICAL FEAST". It includes chamber music, solo performances and chamber Orchestra. Mr. Haupt is inviting old friends and colleagues of international Stature to share the stage with him as well as local players with whom he has worked.

The first concert took place on March 29th. The next concert is scheduled for Oct. 3rd. in the Kavinoky Theatre at D'Youville College.,  Mr. Haupt will be joined again by violinist Charles Castleman, Violist Jesse Levine, pianist Claudia Hoca. Sal Andolina , whose superb clarinet playing has  thrilled  BPO  audiences will join  and it is a great pleasure to welcome David Taylor, international super star on the Bass Trambone and member of NY City MOSTLY MOZART Festival orchestra.

The Buffalo Evening News wrote: " if the programming and concertizing for "A Musical Feast " continue to be as interesting as the Initial offering was, it might become one of Western New York's cultural Jewels "... and JWR Reviews, Canada, wrote:  Given the wonderful Buffet that comprised, " Concert One ", the future looks rich indeed for those who savor the art and notoriously demanding challenges of, "One person per part music."

Mr. Haupt is leaving the BPO after 37 years of service and in his words:  " I'm just beginning to hit my stride ". Besides the BPO, Mr. Haupt was Concert Master of the Mostly Mozart Festival orchestra at Lincoln Center in N.Y. City for 21 years, and is currently on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music.  Some critical observations of his work with the Mostly Mozart Festival:

THE NEW YORK TIMES: " Mr. Haupt's lithe and expressive playing is the epitome of singing on the violin. " 

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: " the incredible display of virtuosity and stamina by Charles Haupt who was featured in virtually every work of the evening."