MUSIC REVIEW : Uitti, Bessette at County Museum

Back-to-back solo recitals by two outstanding musicians brought intelligence and uncompromising virtuosity to the latest Monday Evening Concert at Bing Theater, County Museum of Art. Frances-Marie Uitti--an American-born cellist who now resides in Holland--and Canadian pianist Louise Bessette shared the intimate event, pleasingly shedding light on some lesser-known 20th-Century gems.

With an expressionless, markedly poised approach, Uitti unravelled the snarly serial architecture of Iannis Xenakis’ “Kottos”(1978), lucidly deciphering a montage of technically difficult glissando maneuvers and roughly hewn tremolos. Similarly fascinating and painstakingly executed was the odd mix of sonic exploration and ethnic elements in “Curve With Plateaux” (1981) by English composer Jonathan Harvey.

Uitti’s own slowly unfolding, droning Ricercar (1990) demonstrates her inventive technique of achieving four-part harmony by using two bows, though little else. A read-through of Roger Sessions’ atonal Six Pieces for Cello Solo (1966) proceeded cautiously, but competently.

The only collaboration between the two, Morton Feldman’s note-upon-note pianissimo study “Durations II” (1960), blended the two talents adequately, though lacking adventure in context with the overall ambitious programing. Otherwise, an impressively sturdy technique and prowess steered Bessette’s opening half of the evening.

Gilles Tremblay’s piano concoction “Tracantes . . . aupres, au loin . . . “ (1976) assorts loud tremolos and fast xylophone-like melodic lines that contrast abruptly with resonating sympathetic vibrations achieved by silently depressing keys. Bessette masterfully melded the diverse elements, relishing each moment while displaying a deep understanding of the whole.

Giacinto Scelsi’s busy Sonata No. 4 for piano (1941) explored rich, eccentric regions of homophony and neo-Classicism. Three early piano pieces by Henry Cowell proved attractive exercises for the fingers, not to mention forearms, fists and palms.