We experienced a wonderfully intimate night of great music and great food with some former Klein Competition winners. The Klein Competition is an annual music competition for young string players. There are some pretty well known former winners, including Tessa Lark, Vadim Gluzman, and Jennifer Koh. This evening, we were invited into a private home near Stanford University, where violinist Gabrielle Després and cellist Coleman Itzkoff gave a recital of Violin and Cello duets. The event also featured some incredible cooking by Fred Spitz, who was previously involved with the Klein Competition, and who now cooks as a hobby.

The house was originally built and owned by the Stanford University organist, nearly 100 years ago. It has a living room with high ceilings and great acoustics, perfect for little mini concerts like this. In all, there were probably only around 25 audience members.

The program had a through line of Baroque music intertwined with more modern pieces. The two played left and right hand parts for several Bach keyboard inventions from the Well-Tempered Clavier. On the modern side, I loved all of it, but the highlights were the Ravel Duo, which they both started and ended with, and a very deeply meditative piece by Carolyn Chen called Statuary from How to Fall Apart. The Chen piece was written for Violin, Cello, and three Dancers, and despite not having the dancers, the music was expressive enough that I could almost see their movements anyway. They also finished with an encore by the bluegrass fiddler Mark O’Connor, F.C.’s Jig.

The two performers both played with virtuosity and energy. The interplay between Baroque and Modern was clever and well-received. The combination of just Violin and Cello (without the accompanying Piano to make it a Piano Trio) is quite rare, but it fit perfectly within the coziness of the small house recital.

Despite the wonderful playing, the highlight of the night might’ve been the meal that we got afterward. The theme was middle eastern cuisine, and there were all sorts of tasty little side salads that were all incredible. I learned about Schug, an Israeli condiment that is mostly made up of serrano peppers, and it’s spicy, tangy, and flavorful. There was also a wonderful carrot and red pepper salad and maybe the best tabbouleh that I’ve ever had.

We’ve never actually attended the Klein Competition itself, but we’ve always wanted to. This might be the year that clear our calendars and try it out.

Topics: MusicMusic:ConcertsMusic:Klein Competition

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