Met Orch Chamber Ensemble, Jan 12 2026

Karen and I heard the Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall on Jan 12, 2026. The program was announced last fall and it seemed custom-made for me: soprano Erin Morley singing Schubert's "Shepherd on the Rock" and Mozart's "Vorrei spiegarvi o Dio" and members of the ensemble playing Messaien's *Quartet for the End of Time.* These are three pieces I adore, the Mozart and the Messaien in particular. I knew Karen was a fan of the Messaien so I brought her on board.

Well they posted a change to the program about a month ago - - they took off the Messaien, added a Brahms clarinet trio, and added tenor Lawrence Brownlee doing a couple of things. We were not happy about this but what can you do. I'm sure a lot of people were happy about Brownlee being added (I was pretty impressed with him, honestly) but 86ing the Messaien was a no bueno. You'd think they'd realize that that piece is super distinctive and beloved and some people were probably buying their ticket specifically to hear that piece.

I don't think I'd been to Weill Recital Hall before. I'm sure there are plenty of concert or recital halls that are new to me but this was surprising, being part of the Carnegie Hall complex. I loved it, it's very small and even from the balcony we felt like we were close to the stage. I'll definitely be back.

I've heard soprano Erin Morley probably three or four times at the Met, she's always fantastic. She opened the program with Schubert's "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen," aka "The Shepherd on the Rock." It's one of my favorite Schubert songs, just plain lovely. I teared up when the clarinet came in, there's such a feeling of warmth and beauty in the music. Morley's sound was richer than I'd heard in the past, that was a nice surprise. Silvio Guitan played the clarinet solo with grace and a hint of ache, just what it needs. I loved the playing of pianist Israel Gursky, his playing of the octaves in the left hand was especially eloquent. They took the slow middle section a little fast for my taste - - it wasn't quite a dance remix but it didn't have the aura of Teutonic loneliness that I like. But even at this faster tempo Morley still made a lot of the heartbreaking phrase "Ich hier so einsam bin." The finale had a nice spring in its step.

Next up was tenor Lawrence Brownlee singing another Schubert song, "Auf dem Strom." I've heard Brownlee a few times at the Met, he's always solid. I was surprised by how strong and firm his voice was. Many lyric tenors mature into doing a little Wagner, maybe he's got some of that in his future. The piece got off to a bit of a rocky start for French horn player Hugo A. Valverde, it took him a while to either find his breath or get over his nerves. He was fine after a minute or so and then poured out golden tone for the last two thirds of the piece. Pianist Gursky excelled in the repeated chords thing that Schubert does so well. I'd never heard this piece and was fascinated how the horn doubles the voice an octave lower in the dramatic middle section.

Morley was back for a Mozart concert aria, "Vorrei spiegarvi o Dio." I have an interesting history with this piece. I first heard it in the mid-80s in a recording by Kathleen Battle and Andre Previn. I fell in love with the piece but eventually soured on the Battle recording, too much crooning and swooping, not my jam. My recording of choice is Judith Blegen, pristine and effortless.

My dentist growing up was an old fossil with the ironic name of Dr. White. This dude had been my MOM's dentist when she was a kid, that's how old he was. I thought he did fine by me but what did I know. He eventually died and in my 20s I found another dentist in my hometown. My first appointment with him was a trial because Dr. White had never introduced me to the concept of flossing. My teeth had basically grown together and that first appointment required a lot of scraping and hacking. It was awful. I endured this for a few minutes and then thought I needed to concentrate on something that would take me out of that room. I wanted to choose a piece of music to play in my head and the piece I chose was this Mozart concert aria, "Vorrei spiegarvi o Dio." It totally did the trick and for the next 30+ years every time I have a dentist appointment it's this piece I play in my head. I was curious to hear how it would sound in a concert hall, sitting upright without someone scraping at my teeth and asking me to rinse.

This is the only thing I wrote in my notes: "Doesn't get better than that." The music is sublime, Morley's singing was ravishing (her high E was particularly impressive, lots of ping and no sign of effort), and the ensemble played it like a dream. That was, as expected, the highlight of the program.

The first half ended with Morley and Brownlee singing a brief duet from Donizetti's *Don Pasquale,* "Tornami a dir che m'ami." It was only three minutes long and felt like a bit of a throwaway but it was charming, it was great to hear them sing together, and it was a treat to hear opera singers singing opera. I'd like to add, sardonically, that this duet is the final track on their new CD, *Golden Age.* Thankfully it was not available for purchase in the lobby.

The second half was the Brahms clarinet trio played by Anton Rist (clarinet), Rafael Figueroa (cello), and Bryan Wagorn (piano). It was not a success. It made me realize that good chamber music is something more than three people playing at the same time. It seemed they weren't listening to each other, there was very little cohesion. They were all playing in a different style - - the clarinetist was clipped and spritely, the cellist was broad and bold, the pianist seemed to be concerned about not being in the way, he was way too reticent. There were moments when the performance gelled and came into focus, when it felt like they were really delivering the music and honoring Brahms, but maybe only 10% of the time. The other 90% was pretty dull.

In retrospect I'd much rather hear a mediocre performance of a Brahms piece than a mediocre performance of the *Quartet for the End of Time*!