A promising start for series with artwork, music

content="A promising start for series with artwork, music">

Art from two mediums joined in harmony yesterday as Women in Music-Columbus presented its inaugural Cantilena concert, "Musical Inspirations in Paris During the Time of the Artist Degas," at the Columbus Museum of Art. The Cantilena concerts strive to offer entertainment as well as insight into the interrelation of visual art and music.

The first concert had rough spots, but the organizers have a good plan. The first half of the concert featured interstitial slides of Degas and Impressionist paintings with notes by Cantilena director Eileen Davis. While the information was interesting and appropriate for the audience, more could have been done to explicate the parallels between the visual art and music.

The second half of the program had no breaks between musical pieces. This sped up the program considerably but left it jarringly lopsided. Michael Davis and Jeanne Norton opened the concert with Camille Saint-Saens?

Fantasy for Violin and Harp, Op. 24. The duo impressively embodied the composer?

s straightforward, balanced style, and the timbre of Davis? violin took on an almost-human richness in its lower register. Pianist Nelson Harper showcased similarities between Degas?

works and the music of Claude Debussy. In five of Debussy?s Preludes, Harper deftly exploited unblended harmonic progressions, evocative of Degas?

unblended colors, and the idea of acknowledging, while ignoring, peripheral detail. Harper and Michael Davis also performed Darius Milhaud?s Danses de Jacaremirim with the artistry and intuitiveness for which, as a duo, they have become renowned.

A set of art songs by Emmanuel Chabrier and Henri Duparc delivered slightly less than expected. Eileen Davis, playing a dual role as emcee and soloist, was beset by vocal problems and struggled ? albeit admirably ?

through the Duparc pieces. Future concerts would benefit from a separation of these two roles. Charles Koechlin?

s Sonata for Bassoon and Piano, Op. 71 exemplifies Impressionist music with its blurred harmonies and long, asymmetrical phrases. Bassoonist Michael Harley?

s performance was exquisite but was occasionally overshadowed briefly by William Averill?s piano accompaniment. The program?

s finale was Francis Poulenc?s dramatic Sonata, Op. 18 for four-hand piano.

Sisters Irene and Jolyn Tsai, students at Dublin Scioto High School, demonstrated solid technique and are developing a strong command of voicing. The Cantilena concerts show promise in their featured musicians, their repertoire and their mission. Assuming the technical difficulties are overcome, the series will be an exciting addition to the Columbus arts.