by Stephanie Manning
Ten years have gone by in a blink for the ENCORE Chamber Music Institute. So it’s only fitting that its official anniversary concert began with a healthy dose of nostalgia.
Artistic director Jinjoo Cho introduced the June 17 performance at the Maltz Performing Arts Center with a slideshow documenting the evolution of the Music & Ideas Festival and Summer Academy. “Cleveland is home to me,” she said, clicking through photos of old programs, early notebook brainstorming sessions, and past students — many of whom are now professional musicians in their own right.
That trip down memory lane was a prelude to the musical portion of the concert, titled “The Golden Waltz.” Interestingly, these three pieces were more contemplative than overtly celebratory. Case in point: Leoš Janáček’s String Quartet No. 1, “Kreutzer Sonata,” which is based on Leo Tolstoy’s novel about a woman in a loveless marriage who has an affair and is subsequently murdered.
The Verona Quartet gave a compelling performance of this tumultuous work, which also draws inspiration from Beethoven’s own “Kreutzer Sonata.” Violinists Jonathan Ong and Dorothy Ro, violist Abigail Rojansky, and cellist Jonathan Dormand used smooth blend, harmonies, and diminuendos to the piece’s advantage.
The second movement opened with some dance-like themes before the players moved their bows closer to the bridge for that scratchy, sul ponticello sound — all culminating in a mysterious ending. The final movement featured lots of energetic playing as the danger of the story reached a climax. But without a shell behind them onstage, some of that forcefulness was lost in the Maltz’s cavernous ceiling.
Dormand and Rojansky then returned for Richard Strauss’ String Sextet from Capriccio. For this opera about an opera, and the musicians playing this piece become characters in their own right. This afternoon’s cast was rounded out by violinists Brendan Shea and Stephen Miahky, violist Eric Wong, and cellist Brannon Cho.
This isn’t Strauss’ strongest work, and its emotional arc remains a little muddled. But the chemistry between the seven players felt very natural, especially as they passed repeated motifs between them.
The concert’s finale, Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Piano Quintet in E Major, took on extra significance as a piece by an Austrian Jewish composer being performed in a historic synagogue. Pianist Kyu Yeon Kim, violinists Brendan Shea and Jinjoo Cho, violist Mathieu Herzog, and cellist Max Geissler produced a simultaneously sentimental and high-energy performance. The second movement — written as a love letter to Korngold’s sweetheart and later wife — featured a beautiful, quiet section in Cho’s high register, supported by gentle piano and string pizzicattos.
As with any chamber music repertoire, these three pieces were a team effort. So is the ENCORE Institute itself, as Cho reminded the audience in her opening presentation. “As much as playing by yourself is great, you can’t do everything in your life alone.”
Published on ClevelandClassical.com July 3, 2025.
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