When you think of chamber music, a bassoon isn't the first instrument that comes to mind. A violin, yes. A cello, yes. But a bassoon?
If Kansas University alumna Isabel Jeremias has her way, no one will ever again question the wind instrument's inclusion. She is building a following for the bassoon in Costa Rica, where she teaches, and internationally with the Phoenix Bassoon Quartet, which she conducts.
Sunday afternoon, a modest crowd at the Lied Center witnessed the quartet's mastery as it presented a concert of Latin-American and Spanish music from the 16th to 20th centuries. (Kansas University Chancellor Robert Hemenway heard the ensemble during a visit to Costa Rica and suggested to Tim Van Leer, executive director of the Lied Center, that he should check the quartet out).
The quartet Jeremias, Guillermo Rosabal, Cindy Bolandi and Catalina Guevara were joined by Maria Clara Vargas on harpsichord for a set of early Baroque music. A favorite was "Hanacpachap," a slow-moving piece written by an anonymous composer in 1631 in Peru. The work had a sacred, solemn air that was enhanced by the players' phrasing and tonal control.
The second set was more contemporary, opening with the three-movement "Bagatelas," written in 1998 by Eddie Mora. The opening movement highlighted the quartet's fluidity. The second movement a fractured-sounding waltz and the finale a quick-paced jaunt gave the musicians a chance to show off their lung power and disciplined fingering.
The concert ended fittingly with KU music professor and bassoonist Alan Hawkins Jeremias' teacher while at KU joining the quartet for the lively and melodic "Alma Llanera."
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