ConcertoNet

Before the performance, violist Andrew Gonzalez and pianist Maxwell Foster had been practicing on stage, and I had reckoned this was either an obscure 1880’s duet, or the pair had been playing two different works. The truth was that Mr. Kendall’s Brevis historia mundi– masterful, dextrous, supremely accomplished–was indeed the music I had heard before.


In other words, both viola and piano were playing (seemingly) separate works of...er...Brahms? The sounds were luscious, the melodies were rich and warm-hearted, the performances of two noteworthy musicians. But to put the words 2019 or even 1949 to the dates would have been an anachronism.