The Sunday afternoon concert of French romantic music by pianist Laura Kargul and violinist Ronald Lantz drew a capacity audience at Corthell Hall on the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham campus. The offerings, well played by the experienced duo, included romantic music both with and without the capital “R.”
The featured work was the Maine premiere of the Sonata for Violin and Piano (dated 1913-1914 on the program but more likely 1921) of Jacques de la Presle. Pleasant, well-written and sometimes passionate, the sonata is basically fin de siecle salon music that leaves the listener scrambling to recall the predecessors from which it was derived.
The Lili Boulanger Nocturne that followed was a delightful piece, containing indications of a great talent, cut short at the end of World War I (which also incapacitated her fellow Prix de Rome winner, De la Presle). Before we lament what might have been, consider the dismal fate of women composers of equal talent, right into the middle of the 20th century.
A full review will appear in The Portland Press Herald.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.