Proven Formula

For its sixth annual edition, the laudable Ventura Chamber Music Festival follows up on a proven formula.

Over its history, the festival has done well by string quartets and classical guitar. The first official festival weekend, May 5-7, features both the Shanghai Quartet, returning from last year, and the local debut of the well-known classical guitarist Sharon Isbin, a Grammy-nominated guitarist with some fine ideas on how to expand the guitar literature.

We will also hear a follow-up of the inspiring Schubert song cycle “Die Schone Mullerin” of a few years back, featuring tenor Jonathan Mack and pianist Vicki Ray. The duo will give us Schubert’s landmark “Die Winterreise.” Pianist Christopher O’Riley will also return for a recital, made up of mostly Stravinsky piano sketches.

It all kicks off on a more ceremonial note Thursday at Alexander’s at the Harbor, with a gala as much about being an epicurean as it is about music. The festival goes by the umbrella title “Living Treasures.” Even if the balance of repertoire leans more toward work by composers no longer living, the act of making and hearing fine music, in a live context, is increasingly something to cherish.

DETAILS

Ventura Chamber Music Festival, May 4-14 at various venues; 648-3146 (www.vcmfa.org).

*

The World Beyond--and Within: One of the most exciting groups on the so-called “world music” scene is coming to our neighborhood, and it’s a must see. The enthralling Hungarian group Muzsikas, featuring singer Marta Sebestyen, will bring a program called “Sounds From the Heart of Eastern Europe” to UCSB’s Campbell Hall on Tuesday.

Sebestyen has recorded several fine albums as a solo artist, and her voice was featured in the soundtrack for “The English Patient.” She has also teamed with Muzsikas, to fruitful results. Check out their fantastic recent CD of music by and related to Bela Bartok.

In fact, this group’s very aesthetics might raise again the issue of what constitutes “world music.” The group works in the often exotic margins between European music and just off the map of western musical tradition. By whatever descriptor, this group makes a rugged, joyful noise very much worth hearing.

DETAILS

Muzsikas and Marta Sebestyen, “Sounds From the Heart of Eastern Europe,” at 8 p.m. Tuesday at UCSB’s Campbell Hall. Tickets are $12-16; 893-3535. A Hungarian dinner is available at 6 p.m. for $18; 893-3096.

*

Other Worldly Corners: Another corner of the European cultural map--that of contemporary Danish music--was proudly on display last week as part of the UCSB New Music Festival.

It was, in some ways, a modest affair, with two remarkable concerts by the visiting Danish Esbjerg Ensemble, two by the university-based Ensemble for Contemporary Music, and, as a finale, a teasing bit from the first act of composer and festival director William Kraft’s new opera, “Red Azalea.” And yet it was a filling, and fulfilling, event, another reminder of the importance of this festival to the local cultural pulse.

The star of the show this year was Danish composer-in-residence Bent Sorensen. Deep, strange impressions are embedded in the mixed-instrument work called “Deserted Churchyards,” which, Sorensen explained from the stage, was loosely inspired by the indigenous image of abandoned, sea-swept churchyards on the rugged west coast of Denmark. Hard and soft balances prevail, shifting between the linear sweeps in the piano and vibraphone versus the swelling string and horn sonorities, evoking an enigmatic and warm world with no name.

There were plenty more enticements on the two concerts, including tonal pieces by Denmark’s Carl Nielsen and Vagn Holmboe, and more coloristic adventures from Anders Nordentoft and Per Norgaard (a teacher of Sorensen). Wednesday’s highlights also included German composer Wolfgang Rihm’s exciting “Chiffre VI,” with angular phrases ripping through the furling sonic fabric, and French Susanne Giraud’s “Episode en forme d’oubi,” an etude in timbre from a composer with electronic/computer intrigues.

On Saturday night, the Esbjerg Ensemble returned, but this time as the instrumental forces behind an enlightening teaser. The group read through scenes from the first act of Kraft’s “Red Azalea,” based on Anchee Min’s novel on her experiences growing up in the repressive clutches of China’s Cultural Revolution. The evening was evenly dispersed between discussion of the work between Min and Kraft and about 40 minutes of music, with solid vocal readings from members of the UCSB Opera Workshop.

It’s a slow-brewing project worth keeping an ear open for--and the right approach to--delicate material. Min cited her brush with a Hollywood producer who asked her to add a white male character. She refused, naturally, and was happy to grant Kraft rights. It’s too soon to say how the opera will come together, but the early report is encouraging: In finding an apt language for this material, Kraft deftly blends elements of his own post-serial writing with things musically Chinese.

*

Josef Woodard, who writes about art and music, can be reached by e-mail at joeinfo@aol.com