Review: Sugden survives another classical-jazz crossover

It hardly seems possible that it's been a year since I last thought my eardrums might be ruptured at a Sugden Theatre concert in downtown Naples. But it has.

Last year it was the Herskowitz-Rozenblatt Project (featuring Matt Herskowitz on piano, David Rozenblatt on drums and Mat Fieldes on bass/guitar), whose incredible jazz performance transformed the normally staid audience into a roaring group who might well have been basketball fans at a Final Four game.

This year it was the same group, now one year older but just as high-voltage, just as incredibly talented as before. The difference was: There was definitely a bit less cheering than last year.

Pity. I thought they were even better than last year.

The annual program, if you are unfamiliar with it, combines the considerable classical talents of various members of the Philadelphia Piano Quartet with their jazz counterparts, in what they call a "crossover program."

Sponsored by Classic Chamber Concerts, the quartet — Norman Carol on violin, Bert Phillips on cello, Toby Blumenthal on piano and LaMar Alsop on viola, violin, clarinet and saxophone — began the first part of the evening in a classical mode, with only occasional "interspersions" by Herskowitz and company.

The audience got to enjoy Vivaldi's "Concerto in D Major," Bach's "Prelude in C Minor" and his "Preludium (5th Partitas), the first movement of one of Robert Schumann's most beautiful love songs, "Piano Quartet in E Flat Major." It also got three members of the quartet: (Blumenthal, Phillips and Carol) performing a kick up your heels, happy-go-lucky, "American as apple pie" number by contemporary composer Paul Schoenfeld.

It was simply titled "Café Music," and the audience loved it. So did I, never tiring of hearing its almost Scott Joplinesque toe-tapping flavor.

Trading off the keyboard to Herskowitz at mid-point during the Bach, it's impossible not to be in awe of this gifted pianist's compositional and performance talents. He is phenomenal, continuing to create excitement wherever the trio performs, as they did when they were students at Juilliard in the mid-1990s.

I found his interpretation of one of my favorite of Bach's compositions, his "Prelude," extraordinary to listen to and watch. Because, to fully appreciate this piano wunderkind, you can't just listen to their CDs: you have to see Herskowitz in person.

Toe-tapping, constantly up and down from the piano bench, endlessly rocking back and forth in some sort of near-manic frenzy, his fingers and wrists little more than a blur. Once again this year, I wondered how long it might be before he begins adding a few fractures to those hands.

And this year I have the same criticism: Herskowitz simply overpowered the various members of the Piano Quartet, repeatedly drowning out Alsop on clarinet and sax, during an otherwise exciting and fun rendition of Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm."

That criticism aside, at least a couple members of the audience were exhibiting signs of auditory distress, as they repeatedly covered their ears. Given Herskowitz's approach — as in, "if forte is OK, fortissimo is even better" — to most of their selections, there were moments when I also felt ready for something to plug my ears.

But the trio truly is phenomenal, as they offered up six Herskowitz compositions: My favorites were "Concerto" and "Dentelle." "Cadenza" gave drummer Rozenblatt his moment in the sun, silken brushes stroking every drum and cymbal in his wake. Fieldes was also particularly fine during the gentler "La Belle Noyee."

Ending the evening with an encore performance of "Days of Wine and Roses," during which Alsop joined the trio — this time on saxophone. My assessment: Alsop needed three times the amplification to stand a chance against Herskowitz's awesome power.

But that can be corrected before next year's crossover event.

Peg Goldberg Longstreth was trained as a classical musician and owns Longstreth-Goldberg ART Gallery in Naples. You may e-mail her at jlongstreth@plgart.com.