From Europe with Love

Festival Players bring a little romance to The Studio Theatre

To hear the likes of pianist extraordinaire Angela Park playing alongside Steve Dann, one of the best viola players in the world, is not easily forgettable. Include Julia Tom, a phenomenal cellist in her own right, together with violinist Elissa Lee, and the memory and the performances are forever cemented. Remarkably, the venue wasn’t a big concert hall in Montreal or an arena in Toronto, and it didn’t come with big city ticket prices or seating distant from the stage; the performance took place in a tiny space in a village with a population of less than 2,000. “It’s a great way to get an introduction to classical music and an easy way to get first-hand world-class musicians right at your doorstep,” said Festival Players’ Elissa Lee.

(L-R): Violinist Elissa Lee, cellist Julia Tom and violist Steve Dann have some fun during the performance of From Europe with Love.

The Festival Players of Prince Edward County hosted From Europe with Love, a classical chamber music concert at The Studio Theatre on Sunday afternoon to an almost full house. With Elissa Lee on violin, accompanied by Angela Park on grand piano (the first time a piano has graced the stage at Studio Theatre), the program began with a piece by Clara Schumann which included three short romances. “Angela and I play a lot together, we are both in a project called Ensemble Made in Canada,” noted Lee. So enthralling was Park’s flair as her fingers traversed the piano keys, sometimes at incredibly high speed, it was as if time stood still, the performance so mesmerizing, it touched the heartstrings in ways unexpected. So delicate and contemplative was her playing one moment, a key change brought a boisterous interruption the next, no less brilliant or powerful, the stunning expression of her repertoire dizzying to watch at times.

“Clara Schumann was Robert Schumann’s young wife and their love story has been quite famous in terms of classical music history,” noted Lee. “From what I understand, Robert Schumann met Clara at a very young age, and was fully enamoured by her talent and music artistry, her maturity and her genius musical talent.” The story goes, as soon as she turned 18, he asked her father if he could marry her and was refused. “They sued her father together and won and so he was able to marry Clara, the love of his life,” said Lee. “She outlived him by a long time, and she lived to be 76 years old and had a prolific piano career as a woman in the early to mid-1800s, which was phenomenal.”

The program continued as cellist Julia Tom joined Lee and Park in a trio on what was Tom’s first concert playing in Canada. “I met Elissa over in Europe where I’d been living for 22 years,” said Tom, who had lived in Amsterdam for the past 11 years playing with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Along with her family, she moved to Toronto last fall where they have plans to make a new life. While the theme of the concert was love, Tom says her piece, consisting of five songs, is more about the hurt side of love rather than the positive side of love. “Having come from Amsterdam, she is living in Toronto for this year, so we have to grab her while she’s here,” said Lee. “We are so pleased that you are here and it’s been so great getting to know you and play with you.”

Tom’s performance on cello, breathtaking in its entirety and utterly captivating to witness, saw her at one with her instrument. Such an intimate venue allows the small audience to witness the subtleties of body movement and facial expressions as the musicians work in harmony with each anticipated note. The concert continued with cellist Julia Tom, violinist Elissa Lee and Steve Dann on violia, and concluded with all four musicians (with Angela Park on piano) performing a piano quartet with a piece by Robert Schumann. “I feel like Steve has been in my life since I was a little girl going to the University of Toronto,” said Lee. “He is so well respected and you cannot imagine what a career he has had. I learn from him and I continue to learn from him from these rehearsals, and we are so lucky to have him here.”

Festival Players’ final concert for February takes place on Sunday with cellist Cameron Crozman, violinist Byungchan Lee, and Ryan Davis on viola. Lee says this concert will focus on three up-and-coming musicians. “They are all rising young stars and all part of the Rebanks Fellowship Program at the Glenn Gould School in Toronto; they are really on the cusp of their careers and it’s very exciting, youthful and energetic; they will be doing some Beethoven and Bach, a really nice varied program.” Shooting Stars comes to The Studio Theatre (fully accessible), 312 Main Street, Wellington on Sunday, February 16 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $40 plus HST ($30 for seniors and youth) and are available at the door or in advance at festivalplayers.ca.