Matt Haimovitz

During the 1990s, cellist Matt Haimovitz embarked on a “normal” career for an aspiring cello virtuoso, but when the new century was young he veered in a different direction, focusing on listeners gathered in bars, clubs, coffee houses, and other small spaces rather than just the usual ticket buyers in dedicated concert halls. He was sometimes cast in the role of a missionary spreading the Gospel of Bach — and of the contemporary composers he also championed — among populations who might not have encountered such things otherwise.

Performance Santa Fe opened its fall season by presenting him in three recitals — one at the Scottish Rite Center (which is often used for such performances), the other two in less accustomed venues for classical music, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing Co. I attended the one that promised the tastiest alcohol. If the audience at The Bridge was not remarkable for its youth, it nonetheless included many attendees who were not stalwarts of the classical scene. Some sipped their beverages at tables surrounding the space, but more planted themselves in concert-style seating in front of the stage.

I had not previously heard one of Haimovitz’s “alternative venue” performances, and I had imagined that they would include enlightening commentary and a charismatic presence. There was commentary, and he had a presence, but I would not go beyond that. His program included two of Bach’s Unaccompanied Suites — No. 1 in G major and No. 4 in E-flat major — and each was introduced by its corresponding movement from a series of six pieces he commissioned from as many composers for that purpose. All three of his recitals were to follow the same format, together covering all six Bach suites and their respective companion pieces.

Bach’s Suites are daily bread for cellists; in the printed program Haimovitz observed that he has been “absorbed in reflecting and playing” them for more than three decades. He recorded the set in 2000 and again in 2015, during which time (he wrote) “my perspective had evolved so far that I no longer recognized the older document.” I don’t doubt that he enjoys a deep personal involvement with these pieces, but the current state of his relationship with them does not make for very admirable listening. Although he mentioned at one point that the suites include movements derived from period dances of various national traditions, there was nothing dance-like in any of his interpretations. The playing was ponderous, marked by weightily accented bass progressions and contrapuntal lines stretched to a fare-the-well. The result could be grotesque. This may not be an indefensible take on the pieces; we might recall that the very term “baroque” is said to derive from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning “a misshapen pearl.”

The bulky effect of his rendition was exacerbated by the markedly bass-oriented tone of his cello — not his usual instrument, which is in the shop for repairs. This characteristic was emphasized through amplification, which one would not have imagined necessary in such a modestly scaled room. There were admirable moments, to be sure — some tender turns of phrase in the Sarabande of the First Suite, for example — but on the whole his interpretations stressed momentary gestures rather that longer spans.

The prefatory movement for the Suite No. 1 was a relentlessly dour piece by Philip Glass. Since that suite is generally upbeat, one wonders what can have inspired Glass in that direction. Or perhaps, recognizing that Bach already included a prelude as the opening movement for each suite, he judged it redundant to prefigure the key and mood of what would ensue (the purpose of a prelude, to Baroque composers) and considered it best to provide something that stood in stark contrast. The high-point of the recital was the “overture” to the Fourth Suite, Roberto Sierra’s “La memoria.” It is a vibrant, sometimes even violent piece that at points alludes to folk sounds of Sierra’s native Puerto Rico, although that is not its dominant flavor. It builds on motifs from the Fourth Suite and makes musical references to the fact that Puerto Rico also gave rise to the legendary Pablo Casals, a classic interpreter of Bach’s Cello Suites. — James M. Keller