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Wigmore Mondays – Artemis Quartet and Markus Groh: In Memoriam Friedemann Weigle

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Artemis Quartet – with Friedemann Weigle (viola) on the far right.

Markus Groh (piano), Members of the Artemis Quartet – Vineta Sareika (violin), Gregor Sigl (viola), Eckart Runge (cello) – Wigmore Hall, London, live on BBC Radio 3, 30 November 2015

Listening link (open in a new window):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06qjz7t

on the iPlayer until 30 December

Spotify

In case you cannot hear the broadcast, here is a Spotify playlist of the Brahms played in this concert, from available versions on Spotify:

What’s the music?

Bach/Piazzolla, arr. Eckart Runge: Partita for StringTrio – In Memoriam Friedemann Weigle (18 minutes)

Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60 (1875) (35 minutes)

What about the music?

This concert was a tribute to the violist Friedemann Weigle, a member of the Artemis Quartet who sadly died at the age of 53 earlier this year. The quartet write this about the Bach / Piazzolla suite with which they begin, arranged by their cellist Eckart Runge:

“Featuring excerpts from Bach‘s Goldberg Variations, the English Suite BWV808 and the Sinfonia BWV795, as well as two fragments from Piazzolla‘s Oblivion and Fuga 9, the Partita for Trio spans the lifetime of Friedemann, from his beginnings as a church musician’s son to his time as a member of the Artemis Quartett. In 2012, when we were conceptualising our Bach-Piazzolla suite, Friedemann was devoted to arranging the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. He had a special affinity for the music of Bach, music that had accompanied him since his childhood. At the same time, he had been fascinated by pop music – from rock to jazz – since his youth. Indeed, he often proudly said that his first public musical performance was as a drummer in a rock band. Friedemann’s curiosity for new musical forms once again became apparent when he learned – and learned to love – Piazzolla’s Tango Nuevo through the Artemis Quartett.

We performed the Aria from the Goldberg Variations at Friedemann’s funeral. The idea then came about for us to honour Friedemann through the arrangement of a Partita, which would bring together these two aspects of his musical interests and, as a trio, to show the absence of a beloved friend.”

Performance verdict

Sometimes in a concert it almost does not matter what the standard of performing is like, and this was one such occasion. Unfortunately Arcana was unable to attend but I am sure you will be able to gauge the depth of feeling immediately from the sensitive Bach arrangements, which are arranged into a very effective suite.

The BBC Radio 3 announcer Sara Mohr-Pietsch tells us that the last recording at which Friedemann was present was of Brahms String Quartets – and so the group have been performing Brahms with guest pianists on their tour. There is an extra poignancy and potency to their performance of the C minor Piano Quartet No.3, with a depth of feeling that even over the radio is very intense. The resilience and power of the outer movements is most impressive, the rhythms are sharply defined and the slow movement is the soft, beautifully played centre of the performance.

What should I listen out for?

Bach / Piazzolla

1:40 – a solemn opening passage of music, where the held notes on the string trio could be mistaken for the sonorities of the bandoneon – an instrument Piazzolla often used.

5:54 – a fugue – presumably from Bach’s English Suite BWV808 – begins, the players using next to no vibrato and keeping their bows near the bridge of their instruments by the sound of things, to secure quite a coarse sound – but then there is much more of Piazzolla appearing as the music moves into a characterful dance at 7:30. Then at 8:06 the mood changes abruptly again, returning to sorrowful memories.

17:18 – the Aria from the Goldberg Variations signals a switch from the sorrowful minor key to a much more optimistic major. With it the instruments bring more vibrato. The versatility of Bach’s music is very clear in this arrangement, the parts beautifully even in their distribution.

Brahms

markus-groh

Markus Groh (piano)

23:23 – the piece begins with a slow introduction, where a single unison from the piano brings in the strings with their theme. This call and response is repeated. At 24:22 the first movement proper begins, and is notable for its full texture and big musical statement. The music then subsides a little to softer, undulating thoughts and a second theme at 25:30 from the piano. Brahms continues with some powerful statements from both forces. At 31:42 the music is more graceful, led by the piano, but soon the fraught atmosphere returns, and at 32:57 the mood of the slow introduction returns, and the first movement finishes.

33:52 – the Scherzo, which as so often with Brahms features nervy crossrhythms and the feeling of piano versus strings. At 35:12 there is a flowing passage but still the nervousness is present – and at 36:34 the main theme returns, with razor sharp accuracy from the players, before an emphatic finish moves the music from C minor to C major.

38:21 – the slow movement begins with the cello softly playing, an elegiac line that is beautifully rendered here by Eckart Runge over a quiet piano accompaniment. Soon he is joined by the violin and the pattern for this deeply felt piece of music is set, the instruments sticking closely together but playing music of great tenderness and feeling. The movement ends quietly and thoughtfully at 47:45.

47:58 – the finale begins with a sense of nervousness again, the piano figuration dancing around the violin theme, before the music really cuts loose with all four instruments, Brahms unleashing the power at his disposal. In this performance the group take the repeat at 50:00. Then the music moves farther afield, in terms of its distance from the harmonies Brahms uses for the main key – before returning around the 53:35 mark – where we hear another account of the main melody on a lower part of the violin. The work as a whole leaves a strong impression, with a thoroughly convincing finish.

Further listening

Brahms enjoyed writing for the piano with stringed instruments, and his other two Piano Quartets are massive works but ones that repay repeated listening. The more popular of the two is the Piano Quartet No.1 in G minor, a really impressive structure that is one of the composer’s earliest large scale chamber works. The Piano Quartet No.2 in A major followed soon after…and both are given excellent performances on this album from pianist Nicholas Angelich, string playing brothers Renaud and Gautier Capuçon (violin and cello respectively) and Gérald Caussé (viola):

Wigmore Mondays – Narek Hakhnazaryan and Pavel Kolesnikov

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Narek Hakhnazaryan (cello), Pavel Kolesnikov (piano) – Wigmore Hall, London, live on BBC Radio 3, 23 November 2015

Listening link (open in a new window):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06pxdz7

on the iPlayer until 23 December

Spotify

In case you cannot hear the broadcast, here is a Spotify playlist of some the music in this concert. Narek Hakhnazaryan has not yet committed any of these works to disc, though the Khudoyan solo sonata is available to watch on YouTube below:

Alternative versions of the Schumann and Mendelssohn can be heard below:

What’s the music?

Schumann: Five Pieces in folk style, Op.102 (1849) (16 minutes)

Adam Khudoyan: Solo Cello Sonata no.1 (1961) (8 minutes)

Mendelssohn: Cello Sonata No.2 (1843) (27 minutes)

What about the music?

Schumann found in the cello an instrument with which he could express his music naturally, and his music for the instrument ranges from a late Cello Concerto to various ‘fantasy pieces’ for cello and piano. Five of these, the Funf Stücke im Volkston (Five Pieces in Folk Style) are vignettes for the combination where Schumann is clearly enjoying himself, music that ranges from the playful first and fourth pieces to the warm of the lyrical lullaby.

I have to confess this was my first encounter with the music of Adam Khudoyan (1921-2000), though, as the Wigmore Hall booklet writer Brian David discussed, he was one of Armenia’s most highly-regarded twentieth-century composers. He completed his Solo Cello Sonata no.1 in 1961, the first of a number of works for the instrument. It is a relatively short but intense work, David writing that ‘it has at its heart a deep, extended lament that moves between extremes of sorrow and anguish’.

Mendelssohn’s middle period of composition saw him writing with incredible spontaneity, and it is into this part of his career that both his major works for cello fall. Both of his cello sonatas are rich in expressive melodies and positive feeling, and the outpouring of good spirits at the start of the Second is difficult to shake off through the work. It does have a profound side too though, found in the slow movement where Mendelssohn works a prayerful chorale in a manner often interpreted as a contemplation of his dual Jewish/Christian heritage.

Performance verdict

From this evidence the partnership of Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan and Russian pianist Pavel Kolesnikov is most definitely one to keep an eye on. The duo clearly enjoy the music they make together, and while the perception is that Narek is the one to wear his heart on his sleeve more obviously, Pavel provides some wry humour as a counterpart.

That was most evident in the second movement of the Mendelssohn, where the piano phrases were beautifully shaped and strung out just a bit longer to enhance the witty theme. This performance was excellent, maybe a bit over-wrought in the first and last movements but reaching a degree of stillness in the slow movement that was very moving.

Their Schumann was also very enjoyable, played with a very fresh approach and again with a nice dash of humour. This music is rich in melody and the two clearly enjoyed each new tune and turn of phrase.

It was also very satisfying to hear the Khudoyan sonata for the first time, extending this Armenian’s credentials as an extremely proficient writer for cello. The use of folk melodies gets us close to the heart of Armenia quickly, and it was clear from his expression that Hakhnazaryan felt the same way. A technically superb and emotionally charged performance of music that has real concentrated expression.

What should I listen out for?

Schumann

1:32 – a bright and slightly mischievous first piece, marked ‘Vanitas vanitatum’, where the spiky cello and detached piano embark on a breezy march. The middle section from 2:50 is by contrast heavier and assertive.

4:49 – a rather gorgeous lullaby, led by the cello with dreamy accompaniment from the piano.

8:46 – a graceful dance that is a little within itself, the cello elusive and the piano quiet as though in thought. Perhaps a sign of shadow that suggests this to be a later composition – though the warmer middle passage, where the cello plays chords, is a much more positive complement.

12:49 – the exuberant fourth piece, led by the cello in breezy fashion – with a nice, more lyrical theme to boot from 13:15.

14:47 – the last piece is quite a frenetic affair that sounds almost as though it could have been written by Brahms. Here the cello and piano are in much more obvious dialogue with the syncopated rhythms.

Khudoyan

19:36 – the solo sonata starts with a bold statement, with chords on the cello. The forceful and heady mood. It brings to mind a little the rather bigger sonata by Kodály, especially at 20:45 when a slower tune is heard, one that seems to be inspired by folk music.

There are some quite jarring moments where Khudoyan puts two pitches very close together but overall the sonata is full of powerful and moving melodic lines, the composer using the cello chords as more of a rhythmic prompt.

25:45 – from here the cello has a brief but thoughtful section of ‘pizzicato’ (plucking) before the material from the beginning returns with even greater force. The piece ends with powerful chords.

Mendelssohn

29:33 – right from the beginning it is clear this is going to be a positive piece. Cello and piano open together with a sweeping melody, and the piano part is typically busy for Mendelssohn. The cello retains a song-like delivery to its melodies, and the music continues to surge forward strongly, suggesting the composer’s inspiration was very instinctive at this point in his life. The main theme returns at 34:00.

37:33 – this is a lovely example of Mendelssohn’s lightness of touch, a piece of music that has subtle humour and a memorable tune to go with it. This is introduced by the piano and repeated by the pizzicato (plucked) cello. A contrasting and flowing theme crops up at 39:22, before the main ‘scherzo’ material comes back at 40:49. A strong coda section begins at 41:58, with a more obviously romantic mood in the cello line.

44:04 – the slow movement begins with a set of chords from the piano that sound rather like a hymn (or ‘chorale’). The top note of each of these chords forms the melody which the cello eventually takes up, reaching an impressive intensity at 47:02. Then a meditative passage takes place over a long held note on the cello. The whole movement is almost certainly under the influence of Bach in the stepwise manner in which it moves and is beautifully simple.

49:44 – the finale returns us to the brisk manner of the first movement, cello and piano ducking and diving as they move towards the main theme at 50:09 on the cello. The music proceeds at a bustling pace, often with little opportunity for breath, as though Mendelssohn were writing music as fast as he possibly could!

Encore

57:54 – an encore in the form of an arrangement for piano of Rachmaninov’s Vocalise. A lovely, romantic, slow moving piece of music where time slows down a little – for nearly seven minutes, in this case!

Further listening

If you enjoyed the Mendelssohn and Schumann in this concert then there is more to explore in the cello and piano repertory from both composers. A very attractive account of Mendelssohn’s complete music for the combination can be found here, played by Antonio Meneses and Gérard Wyss:

The same combination released an album of Schubert and Schumann works for cello and piano in 2006, on which the Schumann pieces all make a lasting impression – as does Schubert’s substantial Arpeggione Sonata:

Wigmore Mondays – Emerson String Quartet in Bartók and Brahms

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Emerson String Quartet – Eugene Drucker & Philip Setzer (violins), Lawrence Dutton (viola), Paul Watkins (cello) – Wigmore Hall, London, live on BBC Radio 3, 16 November 2015

Listening link (open in a new window):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06p50ql

on the iPlayer until 16 December

Spotify

In case you cannot hear the broadcast, here is a Spotify playlist of the music in this concert, as recorded by the Emerson String Quartet themselves:

What’s the music?

Brahms: String Quartet No.2 in A minor, Op.51/2 (1873) (32 minutes)

Bartók: String Quartet No.4 (1928) (26 minutes)

What about the music?

It is odd to think of Brahms suffering from any lack of conviction, given the consistently high quality of his output – but the shadow of Beethoven and Schubert was so long that he waited a long time before issuing any symphonies or string quartets. On the symphony front he waited until the age of 43 before publishing his first work in the form. The string quartets arrived a little earlier, the pair of works issued as Op.51 completed around his fortieth birthday.

They are extremely accomplished works, and as is the case with much of Brahms’s writing there is a lot going on in each part. Because of that it often sounds as though more than four stringed instruments are playing, and in the A minor work the Emersons perform here there is consistent melodic interest, Brahms often referring to several recurring ideas. This piece flows beautifully, and is clearly the work of an organised mind! Despite that there is clear emotion too.

The same could be said for Bartók, who achieves an incredible balance of structure in his String Quartet no.4 of 1928, while at the same time writing music of remarkable poise and power. This work is in five movements and is written like a mirror. Movements one and five are fast-ish sections carrying similar material, the instruments often working together. The second and fourth are ‘scherzos’ – fast music with a humourous side – though the humour here comes across as more devilish. The second movement is played with the mutes, while the second is wholly pizzicato (plucked). The third movement, the emotional centre, is a famous example of the composer’s night music, where a heady atmosphere is set by the other three instruments against a folk-inspired melody on the cello – which eventually transfers to violins and back.

Bartók’s Hungarian roots are very much on his sleeve here – but like Brahms he writes with his head as well as his heart, with not a note wasted.

Performance verdict

Electricity is in the air when the Emersons play Bartók, and something about the recent personnel change with Paul Watkins coming in seems to have fired the quartet afresh. It helps also that first violinist Eugene Drucker appears to be in much better health – back-wise at least – and these elements appear to have fired a new-found enthusiasm.

Watkins was a focal point in the third movement of what proved to be a stunning performance of the Bartók. When the Emersons recorded the six quartets of the Hungarian master in 1988 they laid down what for me were standard bearing feats of technical prowess. Here, at the Wigmore, they showed those were emphatically no fluke, and some of the sounds issuing from the four instruments I can genuinely say I have not heard from a string quartet before. The scratchy sound from Lawrence Dutton’s viola at the end of the second movement Scherzo, the weird, accordion-like chords halfway through the third – both were eyeopening moments.

The Brahms was inevitably a more sober performance but here too there was characterisation and much warmth, especially in the fast part of the scherzo and in the finale. Some of the composer’s quartet writing is extremely busy in this quartet, but under the Emersons we got clarity if perhaps an over-rich sound at times in the slow movement.

What should I listen out for?

Brahms

1:53 – the quartet begins with a smooth theme but with a certain amount of anxiety too. There are a lot of different melodic threads here but Brahms keeps them closely united. A lilting theme at 3:16 is a little more relaxed, but still with a lot of nervous energy going on elsewhere. When this theme comes back, at 8:05, the mood is a little sunnier – but elsewhere the anxiety seems to remain.

12:09 – the slow movement of the quartet, marked Andante moderato (which means ‘moderately, at a walking pace). This has a lyrical feel to it, and is given in a tender mood. Again Brahms works very smoothly, with little to no join between the different sections. The key of A major (as opposed to the overall key of the work, A minor) presents a much sunnier outlook too.

21:54 – a movement marked as a Minuet, which seems to acknowledge the historical use of this dance in the string quartet by Haydn and Mozart. Yet this is classic Brahms, with a slight syncopation running through the tunes and an elegance to the quartet writing. At 23:33 the mood changes with a much faster ‘trio’ section, the main material returning again at 24:51.

27:18 – a forceful tune begins this movement from the first violin, and is then taken up on the viola. A sweeter second theme then makes itself known at 28:07, but the work ends forcefully – almost defiantly – at 34:06.

Bartók

36:31 – Immediately the power of this work is set loose as the four instruments play closely together. There are jarring dissonances but also bittersweet folk melodies, passed between the instruments. Bartók often pairs the instruments in melody, as he does with the first violin and cello at 38:59. Then he explores contrasts between loud, jarring statements and really quiet answers, until a bruising passage brings the movement to an end at 42:33.

43:06 – the second movement is marked Prestissimo, con sordino­ – which means ‘very fast, with the mute’ – the small contraption each string player fits over their bridge to dull the sound. It gives an eerie effect, especially with the writing Bartók uses here, where the instruments sound like moths circling around a flame. The effect is that of night-time music – as it is also for the following:

46:50 – Bartók gets some really striking sonorities in his writing for strings here, with some held chords from the three upper instruments before a soliloquy from the cello at 47:11. The atmosphere is heady, and to get the most effect you are advised to listen in a quiet room or on headphones! Further solos from the violin follow, and the music becomes more animated, before the cello takes over again at 50:54.

52:59 – the fourth movement, a mirror of the second – only this time the instruments are required to use pizzicato – which is plucking the string. Sometimes Bartók asks them to twang against the fingerboard, which produces a snappy sound (53:45 for example). Even here there are striking melodies.

56:26 – a savage Hungarian dance begins, in a similar profile to the first movement, all players close together in range. The power of the unison playing is something to behold, especially as a lot of the time the players have been using double stopping (more than one string at a time). The frequent use of open strings leads to a coarse sound. The finish at 1:01:56 is particularly emphatic.

Encore

As an encore, not on the radio, the Emersons gave the Cypress No.3, a song by Dvořák which he arranged for string quartet. It is a beautifully warm piece of music.

Further listening

The Emersons’ Bartók recordings of 1988 were a landmark for the quartet, and it is well worth revisiting them. All six quartets are superbly performed, though one recommendation on its own would be the String Quartet no.2 – whose second movement Scherzo (the second track on Disc 2) has incredible forward drive.

Edinburgh String Quartet – Intimate Voices

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Ben Hogwood visits the Edinburgh String Quartet on their home turf for an inventive program studying the intimacy of the string quartet
Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Wednesday 11 November

Schubert String Quartet in E flat major, D87 (1813)

Shostakovich String Quartet no.7 (1960)

Sibelius String Quartet in D minor, Op.56, Voces Intimae (1909)

Intimate Voices was the subtitle of this triptych from the Edinburgh String Quartet, an intriguing look at how the combination of two violins, viola and cello has become one of the main expressive forms in classical music.

To show how composers have approached the medium in different ways they presented a quartet by the teenage Schubert, a mature and compact example by Shostakovich and the only fully published example by Sibelius.

Of the three pieces it was perhaps this one – subtitled Intimate Voices – that carried the most penetrating emotional impact, played with passion and purpose by the quartet, whose dynamic control was especially impressive. The quiet moments, helped by an attentive Queen’s Hall audience, were a real window into Sibelius’ mind, and his string writing, which as the perceptive booklet note pointed out was boosted by his knowledge of stringed instruments through playing the violin, was interpreted with real style.

This piece was equalled in emotional impact by the Shostakovich, arguably the most effective of his fifteen quartets at making its mark in a very short space of time. Just twelve minutes pass in the String Quartet no.7 but in it we get deep into the thoughts of the composer. Shostakovich vividly illustrates his humour in the face of adversity but also the adversity itself, and the Edinburgh Quartet could be found warily treading forward as though worried what might be around the corner. Here again they paid exquisite attention to the quiet writing, so that when the third movement exploded out of the box it did so angrily and with maximum impact.

By complete contrast the first item in the program served notice that the sixteen year old Schubert was capable of going places. While taking obvious leads from Haydn (the second movement) and Mozart (the third) the String Quartet in E flat, published as D87 in the composer’s catalogue, is a beautifully crafted work that is by no means a copy. Schubert writes with confidence and melodic interest, the roots of his work in song already sown and making their most poignant effect in the first and third (slow) movements. The second movement was a blink-and-you-miss-it affair, with first violinist Tristan Gurney and cellist Mark Bailey helping to bring out the humour. Overall the intimacy between the players was as Gurney said in an insightful chat with the audience, essentially being a conversation between friends.

Gurney’s introduction was a key part of the enjoyment of this concert, showing that the theme Intimate Voices need not be restricted to the four players, but that the audience were included as well.

The Edinburgh String Quartet website can be accessed here

Tomasz Lis at Leighton House – Tchaikovsky and Chopin

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Tomasz Lis

Richard Whitehouse on an intriguing recital from the Music at Unique Venues series
Leighton House, London Tuesday 10 November

Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37b (1875-6)

Chopin: Preludes, Op. 24 – selection (1835-9)

Tomasz Lis (piano)

This evening’s recital formed part of the series Music at Unique Venues, aiming to combine the appeal of music and art by holding recitals at places not normally associated with live performance or, moreover, that are not often open to the general public. Although Leighton House has been accessible over much of the past century, not least for live music-making, a lengthy period of renovation had effectively taken it out of circulation; making performances such as that given tonight by the Polish pianist Tomasz Lis a much-needed act of redress.

Each half began with Lis placing the music in the context of fine-art from the same period. Thus he prefaced his account of Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons with consideration of those paintings A Rye Field and Winter by Ivan Shishkin (1832-98), whose deftly achieved realism found its complement in the understated and folk-inflected ethos of Tchaikovsky’s cycle; played with a winning combination of grace and eloquence by Lis, who pointed out it might have been titled ‘The Months’ were it not for the commercial acumen of its publisher.

The second half duly opened with Lis considering the paintings Souvenir de Mortefontaine by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875) and Fire at Sea by JMW. Turner (1775-1851); their powerful synthesis of feeling with depiction finding direct equivalent in the 24 Preludes of Chopin, 16 of which (Nos. 1-11 and 13-17) were heard here. Two-thirds of such a closely integrated cycle might have been in error, but Lis ensured this selection unfolded with a cohesion such that the A flat prelude rounded-off the sequence with requisite poise.

Add to this visual and musical feast the opportunity to enjoy the surroundings of the house made famous by Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-96) out of opening hours, and the result was an evening as instructive as it was pleasurable. Tomasz Lis has recently released his debut album – featuring impromptus by Schubert, Chopin and Fauré – via Rondeau Productions (Klanglogo KL1511), which is well recommended. The Music at Unique Venues continues next February at Armourers Hall in the City of London and then in May at the Saville Club.

You can read more about the Music at Unique Venues series here

Meanwhile the website of Tomasz Lis is here