Haus für Mozart
Prokofiev:
Overture
on Hebrew Themes, op.34
Schumann:
Piano Quintet in E-flat
major, op.44
Schumann:
Violin Sonata no.1 in A
minor, op.105
Schumann:
Andante
and Variations for two
pianos, two cellos, and horn in B-flat major, WoO 10
Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim (pianos)
Michael Barenboim, Mohammed Hiber (violins)
Miriam Manasherov (viola)
Astrig Siranossian, Adi Tal (cellos)
Jussef Eisa (clarinet)
Ben Goldscheider (horn)
Schumann chamber music, with a
Prokofiev overture: in this case a chamber overture, that ‘on Hebrew themes’,
op.34. Martha Argerich and members of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra treated
us to a faithful, captivating performance, through the piece’s various twists
and turns. Clarinettist, Jussef Eisa offered a sinuous Klezmer solo, set nicely
against rhythmically insistent playing from the rest of the small band, all of
whose solo passages made their mark keenly when required. It is a work I have
long held dear, having played the piano part a few times for a sixth-form ensemble.
Had I heard Argerich then, I may well have given up in despair – which may or
may not have been a good thing.
Schumann’s Piano Quintet
likewise brought out the best in its players, the first movement opening
forthright, yet soon melting as it should in Argerich’s hands. It would be more
or less impossible for her presence not to be first among equals here, but this
was true chamber music playing from all concerned, with no sense of being overwhelmed.
A cello and viola duet could be just as wonderfully ‘accompanied’ by her – and was.
A proper sense of structure becoming dynamic form was felt, the exposition ‘repeat’
no mere repeat, the development duly exploratory. There was sadness, too, in
the recapitulation, Schubert’s example perhaps especially apparent both there
and in a searching, enigmatic account of the second movement. There were
visions of other worlds, yes, but it was not necessarily vouchsafed to us what
they were. Argerich on piano proved the securest of foundations for a
propulsive scherzo, exultant, whilst nonetheless bearing memorial traces of
what had preceded it. Instrumental poetry, ever the key to Schumann, characterised
in different ways the two trios. The finale’s character can be difficult to
judge, or at least to convey: not so here, its corners navigated with skill and
conviction, motivic working and poetic mood as one. Brahms may at times have
been but a stone’s throw away, but this remained unmistakeably Schumann. Affinity
is not, after all, identity.
Having served ably as first
violin in both of these works, Michael Barenboim took the stage with Argerich
after the interval for the first of Schumann’s violin sonatas. They proved well
matched, not unlike the first movement’s Romantic turbulence and Innigkeit. Barenboim’s tone was
beautifully centred, with well-judged vibrato and occasional portamento;
Argerich was, well, Martha Argerich, the nagging motivic insistence of her part
never too much, though how it mattered. The central Allegretto benefited from rapt yet never precious lyricism and an
elfin fantasy that again foretold the world of Brahms. Quicksilver changes of
mood in the finale, never quite to be likened to one another, were effected by
both musicians with ineffable musicality. Instrumental balance was, quite
simply, never an issue. (If only I might say the same for student performances
I should rather forget…)
The 1843 Andante and Variations for two pianos, two cellos, and horn in
B-flat major, WoO 10, is an engaging rarity. In performances that seemed
already to look forward to a welcome brace of encores, Argerich and Barenboim
senior imparted different yet kindred ‘voices’ to their instruments, without
one necessarily being able to say how, let alone why. Much the same might be
said of cellists, Astrig Siranossian and Adi Tal. Together with horn player,
Ben Goldscheider, the unusual ensemble offered mercurial yet responsive
performances; the players drew us in, led us on paths both familiar and
surprising. A quotation from Frauenliebe
und –leben – aptly, perhaps, for the two female cellists – drew me up
sharp. What are we to make of it? Whatever we wish, I suppose. It must surely
have made Clara Schumann smile when the work was first played, likewise her
piano partner, Felix Mendelssohn.
