Reviews

FOR THE latest offering in its distancing friendly Balcony Sessions recital series, the Monterey Symphony will stream a performance by symphony violinist Thomas Yee on Monday, March 1, at 4 p.m.

The session, which will be available at montereysymphony.org, was recorded in the symphony's headquarters on Seventh at San Carlos. When the series debuted last spring, the intention was to use an adjoining balcony as a stage for musicians. But due to coronavirus precautions, the recitals are being recorded and streamed on the internet.

"We built a mini-studio in our office for this," symphony executive director Nicola Reilly told The Pine Cone.

Besides being a gifted violinist, Yee is associate concertmaster for the symphony.

"Thomas is a very interesting member of our orchestra," Reilly said. "He owns a violin shop in the San Francisco Bay area. Whenever he comes here, he brings an amazing selection of violins and bows for us to try — he's sort of a scientist of the violin."

The symphony gave Yee lots of latitude in choosing what to play, which Reilly said has been the practice since the pandemic began.

"He's put together a really cool program," she noted.

The music includes J.S. Bach's Preludio from the Partita No. 3 in E Major for solo violin, BMV 1006.2; Fritz Kreisler's Recitativo and Scherzo Op. 6; Georg Telemann's Fantasia #2 in G Major from the 12 Fantasias for Solo Violin, TWV 40:14-25 I. Largo II. Allegro III. Allegro; Eugène Ysaÿe's Ballad #3 from the 6 Sonatas for Solo Violin; Pietro Locatelli's The Harmonic Labyrinth from Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 3 #12; and the world premiere of Charles Morey's Improvisations on 'America The Beautiful.'

Alone together in song
Also, be sure to check out the new video for Monterey Symphony violinist Christina Mok's performance of John Wineglass' Alone, which can be viewed at montereysymphony.org. The piece is dedicated to the victims of Covid-19. Wineglass is the symphony's composer-in-residence, and he penned the piece in Big Sur.

Recorded in an empty Sunset Center, the 11-minute piece begins at a frenzied pace, taking the listener into the collective mindset of a society trying to gain its footing during the early days of the pandemic. But as the pace of the piece slows, the music takes on a more soothing and hopeful tone.