PRESS
The Capitol Times
Date: June 10, 2018
Author: Jessica Courtier
Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society has always cultivated a playful attitude toward classical music, so it’s fitting that they’ve chosen “Toy Stories” as a theme of their 27th chamber music festival.
Now running through June 24, the festival consists of six programs, each performed twice and each clustering music together under titles like Teddy Talks, Play-Doh and Transformers.
American Girls, part of weekend one, features music composed by women born in or residing in the U.S. (Plus a Haydn piano trio which was delightful, if only tangentially connected to the theme).
Yura Lee was joined by Jean-Michel Fonteneau (cello) and BDDS co-founder Jeffrey Sykes (piano) for two piano trios: Haydn’s Piano Trio and C Major, and a 1921 one by Rebecca Clarke called, simply, Piano Trio. Composed over 120 years apart, the two obviously sounded quite different. And yet both were lovely reminders of chamber music as conversation: the exchange of musical materials between instruments and the pleasure of seeing how closely musicians watch and cue off of one another.
San Francisco Classical Voice
Date: February 4, 2013
Author: Ken Iisaka
At the Conservatory on Monday, before the performance began, cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau announced that the players were using gut strings that were typical in the 19th century. In addition, instead of the forceful modern bowing technique for projection, they would use an older bowing technique that produces lighter pressure on the strings.
From the first measure of the Mendelssohn quintet, the warmth and the depth of the sound, quite different from the modern timbre, were evident. With the strings under a great deal less tension than modern strings, instruments can vibrate more freely, Fonteneau explained later, producing a warmer, more resonant sound. In addition, colors of the five instruments on stage were more cohesive, blending those instruments and performers into a more uniform voice.
The cohesive sound was most evident in the first measure of the second movement, Intermezzo. It opens in unison, but it then blossoms into a beautiful harmony as each of the five instruments acquired its respective voice. It made for a magical moment.