A la recherche de Marylou

Wow!  What a night to remember, for remembrance' sake.  A Celebration of Marylou: A program of music and words honoring the life and work of Marylou Speaker Churchill 1945-2009 – held yesterday evening at Jordan Hall – was a magical.  To say that it was a fitting tribute to a special person would be understating the case.  Almost always I find funerals and memorials very moving, from the simple to the grand productions of a "state" funeral, and this was no exception.  It was a primarily musical memorial service (the private funeral having been held almost six months ago) but it was closer to the grand production, as opposed to the simple, end of the scale.  I thought it was perfect.

From the precisely timed upbeat of the scherzo from Schubert's String Quintet to the gripping silence which followed the "end of time" notes (from Marlyou's own recording of the last movement of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time) the musicianship was superb.  This was no ordinary bunch of family friends pitching in to honor a beloved colleague and friend.  This was a cast of 60+ professional musicians of the highest caliber, including members of the BSO, faculty of New England Conservatory, and so on.  Most of the performers were either colleagues or former students of Marylou (or both).

In a night of superlatives, it's hard to pick out favorites, but I will offer a couple of observations.  For the Schubert and Boccherini string quintets, the core group was the highly acclaimed Amaryllis Quartet, who have been performing together professionally for more than fifteen years, and include two former residents of the Churchill household.  They were joined by Yo-Yo Ma who, if I am not mistaken, was playing 2nd cello in the Schubert.  In and of itself, that gives a clue not only to the spirit in which the performance was made but also to the musicianship of the players involved.

I expected to enjoy especially the Dumka from Dvořak's 2nd Piano Quintet and I was not disappointed.  Taking a single movement out of the context of a longer piece can have its advantages.  The performers, the core group here being the Simon Bolivar String Quartet, came at it with a freshness and vigor that I thought captivating.  The pianist, Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, was marvelous, playing as if she was a regular performer with this group.

Ravel's Introduction and Allegro, perhaps the most technically challenging of the program, lived up to expectations as performed by Maryou's colleagues from NEC.

But the most poignant moment for me was the conclusion of Massenet's Meditation from Thaïs performed by the night's two youngest performers, representing Marylou's enormous roster of former students, Yuki Beppo (violin) and George Li (piano).  I'm well aware of George's emotional maturity (from the concerts he has performed with SPM since he was 11 – or was it 10?).  But the contrast between Yuki's young girl outfit and the depth of her playing was amazing.

All in all, a very enjoyable evening.  And why should it not be enjoyable?  Marylou's mantra was about love and fulfillment and, yes, having fun.  All three of those were in evidence last night.  Thank you, Mark, Emma and Julia and presumably a host of other organizers for such a wonderful experience.