Vallejo Symphony Orchestra presented the first small group performance of its 2014-15 season Sunday at the First Presbyterian Church in Vallejo. Clarinetist Diane Maltester wowed the audience with a stunning performance of pieces by both traditional and modern composers.

“Diane and Friends” featured VSO first clarinetist Maltester together with Bay Area artists LaDene Otsuki on grand piano and Dawn Foster-Dodson on cello. The clarinet sang through the opening number, Beethoven’s Trio in B-flat, Opus 11, a beautiful selection requiring masterful deftness on all parts.

The Trio opens with an allegro movement in which cello and clarinet must speed through sprightly runs in sync with each other, while the piano contributes the soothing element of even, rhythmic accompaniment. The mood of the piece is lighthearted despite the virtuosic requirements it places on the musicians. Its succession of happy passages reminded me of a Buster Keaton silent film, lively and playful with few quiet interludes.

The second movement is adagio, slowing things down enough for the composer to convey a somewhat deeper emotion and allowing a more contemplative tone from both the wind and string instruments. Maltester’s sensitive and masterful playing was all the more remarkable juxtaposed in these two contrasting movements.

The third and final movement is a continuum of nine variations on the theme “Pria ch’io l’impegno,” which translates “Before I go to work.” The trio in its entirety is commonly referred to as the Gassenhauer, or “Street Song” Trio, referring to the theme of this third movement that was commonly played by street musicians in Beethoven’s time (late 18th to early 19th century). Foster-Dodson’s cello stood out most in this part, which includes numerous opportunities for pure cello sound. Her sensitive and precise technique shone through in high-speed synchronized runs and expressive solo segments.

The second piece in Sunday’s concert was the Grand Duo Concertant, Opus 48, by Carl Maria von Weber. Maltester chose some demanding pieces for the deceptively casual setting of the Vallejo sanctuary, each seeming to outdo the one before it in technical challenge. Music critic Harold Schonberg once remarked that given the physical requirements of the Grand Duo for the pianist, it “cannot be played by normal human beings” (http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Study/VonWeber.html). Otsuki gave it a run for the money, though, breezing through with steady if not technically perfect vigor.

The first, allegro movement of the Grand Duo features some emotional passages in the lowest register of the clarinet, and Maltester delivered a beautiful tone from her instrument with the apparent ease of a true virtuoso. The Duo also requires a master of piano, and Otsuki again kept pace with the sometimes lightning-fast runs.

The second, andante movement is notably mournful at the onset, transitioning to more generally thoughtful passages before energizing into a more excited and hopeful mood at its height. The movement culminates with a somber close, giving it an overall pessimistic tone, as if one were having a low day, interrupted by a few moments of hopefulness but ultimately concluding in disappointment.

Fortunately, the piece ends with a jaunty rondo movement, in which piano and clarinet both sing happy tunes of revelry. As if to emphasize its happy ending, the piece concludes on a decisive final note, a tonal declaration of victory.

After a brief intermission, the musicians returned to the stage in an entirely new dimension, opening their second act with an ultra-modern selection by Leonard Bernstein and concluding with the Fantasy Trio by modern composer Robert Muczynski.

Bernstein’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano has a highly modern feel, bordering on techno in its unusual and complex chord changes, rhythms and tonalities. The first, grazioso movement opens with tremendous discord, a sound of dizzying confusion with disco-era elements. Some bright melodic lines appear briefly, only to sink back into the murky mire of complex sound. The movement then transitions into music more palatable to the common Western ear, as if a string of survivors from a multi-vehicle collision were able to wend out of the maze of wreckage and drive on, passing through refreshingly lively scenery at a brisk but collected pace.

The second, andantino movement is dance-like in its relative grace and simplicity. The music is flirtatious and uncluttered, evocative of a modern dance performance. Passages of serene solitude interlace with more upbeat, celebratory strains. It is easy to hear the tenderness of sound from both the clarinet and the piano, especially in the upper registers. Otsuki seemed to wake up here, exuding unfettered joy in the dancing piano passages.

Otsuki shone brightest, though, in the concluding selection, beginning with the first, “allegro energico” movement of Muczynski’s Fantasy Trio, Opus 26. Muczynski’s Trio shares the modern tone of the Bernstein piece but without the overly complex rhythms and dissonance. Otsuki’s hands delivered beautifully expressive sound in the sweet piano melody segments; and the cello stood out a little more here, too, offering a strong, pulsating ground beat but also bright, violin-like melody lines.

The second, andante movement of the Trio enters on a steady bass beat, provided by the piano, with a lower-register melody emanating from the cello. The interactive melody and harmony that then develops between cello and clarinet is striking, as if the two disparate sounds originated from one unified source. The sound these musicians evoked was stunning — a kind of ethereal beauty, expressed in pure, unadulterated sound.

The third and final, allegro movement allowed cellist Dodson her finest opportunity to shine Sunday, with its strong, sharp stacatto bursts and urgent melodic runs. Themes from the earlier parts culminate here in a gala of sound, isolated vignettes dancing together and apart in grand celebration, at times almost bacchanalian in tone but mostly lighter and always happy. The higher-register melodies allowed clarinetist Maltester to demonstrate yet another aspect of her mastery as she elicited flute-like sounds of joy from her instrument.

Like the Weber Concertant, the Fantasy Trio ends on a strong and decisive note, but with an even more upbeat, celebratory tone. It was a cheerful note on which to end a lovely and inspiring Sunday afternoon performance.

Brava, ladies! This reviewer looks forward to hearing each of you again.

If You Go
“Diane and Friends” marked the final performance of the calendar year for the Vallejo Symphony and friends. The season continues with “Concert for the Animals” on Sunday, Jan. 25 at the Hogan Auditorium in Vallejo. The program will feature Eric Tran and Nathan Cheung on dual grand pianos. For more information and to purchase tickets, call 707-643-4441 or visit www.vallejosymphony.org.