Tuesday of Week Two brought a pair of concerts with strong focus on the classics of the classics -- the composers I learned about, as a youngster, as The Three "B"s: Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms.
On looking up this piece of antiquated musical lore, I was surprised to learn that it was originated by composer Peter Cornelius to elevate Hector Berlioz to the same heights of perceived greatness as Bach and Beethoven. Later on, conductor Hans von Bulow changed the third B from Berlioz to Brahms, indicating a conservative bent in musical taste shared by many in the Viennese critical establishment, and particularly expressed in print by Eduard Hanslick.
In exchanging Brahms for Berlioz, von Bulow not only showed his disdain for the French romantic master but also blithely ignored (as had Cornelius) such great names as Byrd, Buxtehude, Boccherini, Bizet, and Bruckner. Later generations would bring many more "B's of note, among them Britten, Bernstein, Bartok, and Busoni.
At any rate, the Tuesday afternoon programmes gave us a great deal of music from von Bulow's list of The Three "B"s.
The first concert was a programme of three Beethoven works, featuring cellist Yegor Dyachkov and pianist Leopoldo Erice. The pair began with one of the master's most delightful works, the set of theme and variations on Papageno's jovial aria Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. This may be Beethoven's Opus 66 (putting it right next door to the dramatic Fifth Symphony) but Beethoven plainly respected and even revered the genius of Mozart, and the resulting variations are an affectionate tribute rather than creating any undue dramatic emphasis. A light touch on the keys and hearty energy without overplaying on the cello brought out all the nuances of this delightful piece.
This was followed by the fourth Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 102 No, 1. A very different world indeed, this concise work calls for careful balancing during the passages where the cello has to play low in the register. Every note matters in this closely-written music. Dyachkov's attention to phrasing and Erice's emphatic but not over-heavy playing again paid dividends.
After a brief pause, Erice returned to play the last of the master's 32 Piano Sonatas, the C Minor, Op. 111. I've heard this piece played live a couple of times before, but never with such immense power and intensity. The first movement allegro erupted all over the keyboard like a volcano blowing its stack, but this was a volcano with a difference. Even at his more passionate, Erice's playing remains almost abandoned, almost out of control. But the "almost" matters. Not many pianists would dare to push this music so far for fear of exceeding the limits of "almost". The second movement is marked adagio molto semplice cantabile -- that is "slow, simply, singing." I'm never quite sure whether Beethoven intended the "molto" to apply to the adagio or the semplice. In the event, Erice managed to make it apply to both in this performance, giving in this way an adequate counterweight to the incredible fury of the first movement.
The second afternoon concert consisted of three sonatas for strings and piano. The first two were played by Duo Concertante, consisting of violinist Nancy Dahn and pianist Timothy Steeves. Bach's Sonata for Violin and Keyboard in B Minor, BWV1014, was treated to the sort of performance that has grown unfashionable in the age of "authentic performance." The violin was played in modern style, with discreet use of vibrato, and the keyboard part didn't sound like a piano pretending to be a harpsichord. Speeds avoided the excesses of some authentic interpretations, and there was some use made of rubato, but not over much. A satisfying reading, true to the music on its own terms.
Dahn and Steeves then continued with the Sonata No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 105, by Schumann. Here we got a more emphatic style of playing in accordance with the much heavier, denser keyboard writing used by Schumann. Even so, the music remained musical -- not too ponderous -- and the lighter weight of the central allegretto was delightful.
The final selection was the Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38, by Brahms. Yegor Dyachkov returned, this time partnered with Martin Roscoe.
It's easy to tell that this is the first major work Brahms wrote for solo instrument with piano. The piano was as much Brahms' instrument as it was Schumann's, and in his earlier works in particular the piano writing can sometimes becomes so dense as to overwhelm the instrument's partner(s). In a cello sonata, we're faced with the additional difficulty that the cello line may become submerged under the higher, brighter piano tones. Roscoe did magnificent work in keeping the piano part an equal partner to the cello, but even so there were one or two moments of imbalance. Dyachkov gave a dramatic, intense rendition of the solo part which worked to maintain the balance as well.
All in all, a rewarding afternoon with some magnificent musicians and the legendary Three "B"s!
The first concert was a programme of three Beethoven works, featuring cellist Yegor Dyachkov and pianist Leopoldo Erice. The pair began with one of the master's most delightful works, the set of theme and variations on Papageno's jovial aria Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. This may be Beethoven's Opus 66 (putting it right next door to the dramatic Fifth Symphony) but Beethoven plainly respected and even revered the genius of Mozart, and the resulting variations are an affectionate tribute rather than creating any undue dramatic emphasis. A light touch on the keys and hearty energy without overplaying on the cello brought out all the nuances of this delightful piece.
This was followed by the fourth Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 102 No, 1. A very different world indeed, this concise work calls for careful balancing during the passages where the cello has to play low in the register. Every note matters in this closely-written music. Dyachkov's attention to phrasing and Erice's emphatic but not over-heavy playing again paid dividends.
After a brief pause, Erice returned to play the last of the master's 32 Piano Sonatas, the C Minor, Op. 111. I've heard this piece played live a couple of times before, but never with such immense power and intensity. The first movement allegro erupted all over the keyboard like a volcano blowing its stack, but this was a volcano with a difference. Even at his more passionate, Erice's playing remains almost abandoned, almost out of control. But the "almost" matters. Not many pianists would dare to push this music so far for fear of exceeding the limits of "almost". The second movement is marked adagio molto semplice cantabile -- that is "slow, simply, singing." I'm never quite sure whether Beethoven intended the "molto" to apply to the adagio or the semplice. In the event, Erice managed to make it apply to both in this performance, giving in this way an adequate counterweight to the incredible fury of the first movement.
The second afternoon concert consisted of three sonatas for strings and piano. The first two were played by Duo Concertante, consisting of violinist Nancy Dahn and pianist Timothy Steeves. Bach's Sonata for Violin and Keyboard in B Minor, BWV1014, was treated to the sort of performance that has grown unfashionable in the age of "authentic performance." The violin was played in modern style, with discreet use of vibrato, and the keyboard part didn't sound like a piano pretending to be a harpsichord. Speeds avoided the excesses of some authentic interpretations, and there was some use made of rubato, but not over much. A satisfying reading, true to the music on its own terms.
Dahn and Steeves then continued with the Sonata No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 105, by Schumann. Here we got a more emphatic style of playing in accordance with the much heavier, denser keyboard writing used by Schumann. Even so, the music remained musical -- not too ponderous -- and the lighter weight of the central allegretto was delightful.
The final selection was the Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38, by Brahms. Yegor Dyachkov returned, this time partnered with Martin Roscoe.
It's easy to tell that this is the first major work Brahms wrote for solo instrument with piano. The piano was as much Brahms' instrument as it was Schumann's, and in his earlier works in particular the piano writing can sometimes becomes so dense as to overwhelm the instrument's partner(s). In a cello sonata, we're faced with the additional difficulty that the cello line may become submerged under the higher, brighter piano tones. Roscoe did magnificent work in keeping the piano part an equal partner to the cello, but even so there were one or two moments of imbalance. Dyachkov gave a dramatic, intense rendition of the solo part which worked to maintain the balance as well.
All in all, a rewarding afternoon with some magnificent musicians and the legendary Three "B"s!
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