Ho and Baciu salute music for violin and piano

The St. Albert Chamber Music Society continues the second portion of its sixth season with the distinguished voices of violinist Frank Ho and pianist Bianca Baciu.

The musical pair, renowned for their consummate musicianship, is planning a program that revels in contrasts from quiet tranquility to the more explosive and fiery.

The recital, nearing a sellout, features a cocktail of Mozart, George Enesco, Schumann, Rachmaninoff and Brahms – a selection that hits about every emotional point on the scale.

Greg Parth, 16, an emerging pianist who is as fluent in jazz and rock as classical forms, opens the recital on Jan. 30 at Don’s Piano place with a short program of Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev.

For Ho and Baciu, this concert amounts to a special reunion. Currently on faculty at Alberta College Conservatory of Music, Ho had temporarily taken a four-year break from public performances to concentrate on raising his young family. The St. Albert concert marks his official re-entry into the market.

Ho and Baciu first met in 2007 serving as executives on the Alberta Registered Teacher’s Association Board. He broached the idea of celebrating a different composer every year, preferably one enjoying a significant anniversary.

“Bianca jumped on the opportunity right away. Things clicked and we wanted to keep doing it. She’s been the main push,” said Ho humbly.

The duo launches their portion with Mozart’s Sonata in G major, a charming warm-up to the program that has played a significant role in music history.

“Prior to this sonata, piano was played with violin accompaniment. It created a conversation, a dialogue. The violin was no longer subordinate to the keyboard,” Ho explained.

From the 1770s, the audience is next catapulted to the 1890s late romantic period with Enesco’s Sonata No. 2 in F minor, Op. 6.

“It’s a challenging piece for us to perform and challenging for the audience in terms of density and material. The style of writing in the 1800s was very virtuosic, emotion laden and dramatic.”

Following an intermission, the duo performs Schumann’s Fastasiestucke, Op. 73, a series of three movements originally written for clarinet and piano.

“It encompasses the romantic spirit of the times and the title is very appropriate.”

Concluding the victory lap is Brahm’s Four Hungarian Dances, a festive light-hearted composition Ho describes as the dessert to an already rich banquet.

“Brahms was a very learned scholar and studied the old composers’ techniques, but harmonically he dressed it up for the 19th century. He was exposed to the excitement of Hungarian folk melodies early in life. He liked them and took it upon himself to incorporate them.”

For Ho and Baciu, the recital focus is simply to illuminate.

“There are pieces that people will be familiar with and there are things people have not been exposed to before. This will give them an introduction to different styles.