Wigmore Hall
Couperin – Concert royal no.4 in E minor
Quantz – Two CapricciiFranz Benda – Flute Sonata in E minor
Rameau – Pièces de clavecin en concerts: ‘Le Forqueray’
Jacques Duphly – Troisième livre de pièces de clavecin: ‘Le Forqueray’
Pierre Danican Philidor – Suite in E minor, op.1 no.5
This was my first visit to the
Wigmore Hall’s series of late (10 p.m.) Friday evening concerts; I am sure that
it will not be my last. It is a wonderfully civilised time to hear music, and
these were wonderfully civilised performances of wonderfully civilised music. Adam
Walker and Mahan Esfahani left one wanting more – which is just as it should
be.
The fourth of Couperin’s Concert royaux made for an arresting and
varied opening work. Its Prélude offered impetus and leisure; what could be more Versailles-like? Harmonies and
melodies alike proved generative, but above all juste. The Allemande proved a playful response (even, I am
attempted to suggest, quasi-liturgically and with an ear to the Boulezian
future, a playful répons). Yet, as
one listened, many of the same qualities as those heard in the preceding dance
were revealed. The first Courante likewise presented continued affinity and
difference: very much the trick in a Baroque Suite (so very different from the
world of sonata form). In that ‘French’ dance, and in its ‘Italian’
counterpart, variegation was very much the thing. Character without
exaggeration was to be heard and experienced; we were made, or perhaps better,
gently yet firmly led, to listen. Dynamic contrasts, terraced and otherwise,
were always meaningful, always tending towards musical explication. The
Sarabande, graceful, but certainly not in a merely generic way, had me
visualise knowing glances between dancing partners. A keen Rigaudon and a
Forlane (opening with Esfahani tapping the rhythm on the case of the
harpsichord) of impeccable rhythmic, and thus melodic, impetus proved both
charming and exploratory.
Two Quantz Capriccii for solo flute followed. Walker truly transformed what
can easily sound like mere studies – in a way, that is precisely what they are –
into music, beautifully phrased and shaped. Esfahani joined him once again for
Franz Benda’s E minor Sonata (published in 1756). Again, juste was the word that came to mind in the first movement, ‘Largo,
mà un poco andante’: not just in mood, not just concerning tempo, but also with
respect to its status as chamber music in the truest rather than just the
default sense. The second movement, ‘Arioso, un poco allegro’ proved both
quickened and quickening. It was absorbing to follow its twists and turns, our
musicians the surest of guides. More than that, it was fun. Rhythm and harmony
likewise worked together in the final ‘Presto’, goading each other to the
conclusion.
Esfahani had the stage to
himself for two ‘Le Forqueray’ pieces, the first by Rameau, the second by
Jacques Duphly. In the former, rhetoric ‘spoke’, without the exaggeration
sometimes marring performances of such music as music. Rather to my surprise, although I greatly enjoyed the
busy quality of that piece, I found that Duphly’s perhaps went deeper. Or at
least its mood was more thoughtful (the piece, that is, for both performances
were excellent). Rubato was well judged: enhancing, enticing.
Pierre Danican Philidor’s E
minor Suite concluded proceedings. The variety of flute colours summoned up by
Walker from his instrument was not the least of the joys of the Prélude.
Likewise the colours from Esfahani’s harpsichord. The players took their time,
and the performance was all the better for it. Much the same might be said of
the ensuing Allemande, although its mood and its mode of eloquence were, of
course, quite different. The Sarabande took my mind back to that of Couperin,
as much on account of subtle difference as kinship. The give and take between
musicians ensured considerable variety, without sacrifice to a strong sense of
the whole. The final Gigue did just what a Gigue should. Far less hard-driven
than one too all often hears, this was a musical delight to conclude an evening
of similar yet different delights.
