Jeffrey and Gabriel Kahane’s Live Mixtape at Chamber Music Northwest

As part of the final week of Chamber Music Northwest’s Summer Festival, father and son Jeffrey and Gabriel Kahane, with special guest violinist Joseph Swensen, presented a “curated live mixtape” on Thursday, July 25, 2013, at the Kaul Auditorium at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. The idea to do a live mixtape stemmed from Gabriel’s experience in high school, where it was a big deal for people to make mixtapes for their cars or, if they didn’t have a car, as in Gabriel’s case, their shoes. The Kahanes combined 18 diverse pieces to perform without intermission. The chosen works were strung together by loose connections and associations, flowing seamlessly from one to the next.

From the outset of the concert, the divide between older and younger generations was apparent: Jeffrey and Joseph dressed in concert blacks with sheet music in hand; Gabriel in jeans, vest, Chuck Taylor sneakers, and striped socks, with an iPad under his arm. Gabriel’s laid-back attitude along with a couple of jokes at the start of the concert helped to loosen up the audience and prepare them for a casual night of wonderful music making.

The entire program was masterfully designed, beginning and ending with György Kurtág arrangements for two pianos of a Bach chorale and sonatina. The Bach arrangements served as bookends to the concert, gently easing the listener into the “mixtape” while also sending them off with a prayer at the end.

Following the first Bach chorale were selections from Benjamin Britten’s British Isles. Similarly, the Bach sonatina that marked the end of the concert was preceded by a selection of art songs by Charles Ives. The connection between these two seemingly unrelated collections of art songs is made stronger, and humorous, by the fact that in a letter he wrote during World War II, Britten told a friend that the most terrible American art songs he had encountered were written by Ives. Jeffrey accompanied Gabriel on the piano as he sang both art song collections in his alternative rockstar voice. Gabriel’s exceptional sound and interpretation of the collections offered a refreshing performance of both the Britten and the Ives.

Following the Britten, the elder Kahane performed the prelude to Maurice Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin. Jeffrey’s performance was as close to perfect as one can imagine. The end of the Ravel immediately dovetailed into the next piece, which was Gabriel’s “North Adams,” where he was joined by Swensen on violin. Gabriel’s hybrid art song/indie style is apparent in the arrangement, marking the distinctiveness of his sound.

Father and son continued to trade pieces back and forth, Jeffrey performing one by Prokofiev and a Liszt arrangement of a Schumann piano solo, Gabriel performing a Cole Porter song and Andrew Norman’s Don’t Even Listen. Norman’s stripped down piece for voice and piano is reminiscent of the main theme from Britten’s opera The Turn of the Screw. The association, as well as the character of Norman’s piece itself, creates a haunting art song that fits the purity of Kahane’s voice perfectly. There is also a connection to Norman’s piece for chamber orchestra Try at the end of Don’t Even Listen: sustained piano chords are repeated as the pianist lets up on the notes one by one until only the final note of the piece remains.

The remainder of the concert, Jeffrey and Swensen performed pieces by Bach, Schubert, Brahms, and Prokofiev, all of them exceptional and showcasing the strong talent and performances of both musicians. In addition, Gabriel performed a Schumann lied along with several of his own pieces including Where Are The Arms, Merritt Pkwy, and Neurotic and Lonely.  Kahane’s own pieces were widely varied, Where Are The Arms showcasing a more pop style, Merritt Pkwy arranged in a similar vein to Kahane’s musical theater writing, and Neurotic and Lonely showing off Kahane’s talent for writing hilarious, modern art song in the style of a Schumann lied. Gabriel’s performance of Where Are The Arms in particular reminded me of why I fell in love with his music in the first place: catchy lyrics tied to simple melodies, all laid over a unique and varied harmonic texture.

If there were one word to describe this concert, it would be perfect. Jeffrey Kahane’s impeccable piano playing along with Swensen’s soulful and invested violin performance manifested in some of the best live performances of piano and violin repertoire I have ever experienced. Gabriel’s inimitable style, knack for songwriting, and soothing voice took the concert to the next level, providing an incredibly enjoyable concert experience. The mixtape aspect of the programming was also fascinating and well done, creating a 90-minute performance that seemed to fly by as one song immediately and seamlessly led into another.

Part of me wishes that I had gone to high school with Gabriel, if only to be one of the lucky few to receive a mixtape from him. But in an age where Spotify playlists can be shared across the internet, it might be wise for Gabriel to begin sharing some of his own. His fans will thank him for that.