OXFORD CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY
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GK Woodgate: The Oxford Chamber Music Society, OCMS 2007
In 1997 Kem Woodgate wrote a brief history of the Oxford Chamber Music Society (OCMS), to mark the centenary of its foundation as the Oxford Ladies’ Musical Society in 1898. A second edition was published in 2007. With such venerable lineage the OCMS, which has contributed so much to the musical life of Oxford, has been inexcusably neglected by Oxford Magazine since I started contributing in 2002, though its concerts were regularly reviewed in the magazine from the 1950s by Robin Drummond-Hay who became Chairman in 1968. Originally run as a series of private concerts open only to the Lady Members, allowed one guest each (of either gender), now concerts are open to the general public, though members take priority. Before taking the Chairmanship, Drummond-Hay had proposed the change of name to the ‘Oxford Chamber Music Society’ and at the same time the concerts moved to the Maison Française d’Oxford, which had opened on its present site in 1963, with a small auditorium possessing ideal acoustics for the performance of chamber music. Many will remember the performers introduced there to Oxford audiences, including the cellist Rohan de Saram (forever breaking strings), the Lindsay Quartet and, most notably, pianist Susan Tomes, both as soloist and in ensemble; the latter first as leader of the peripatetic Domus and then the Florestan Trio. All amateur chamber music piano players regard her as a role model for exercising strong control on her strings, sitting almost side-saddle on the piano stool to do so!
In 1987, the Society moved back to the Holywell Music Room, with its bigger capacity, where it had intermittently held concerts from 1915. Since then it has given six concerts a year. Regrettably I have attended only rarely in recent years. being unwilling to tie myself down on Sunday afternoons (the weather either being too good or too bad), but I report below on the most recent concert by the Wihan Quartet. To look forward to is 25 November, with piano quintets by Elgar and Ian Venables, an attractive contemporary work, to be played by the Coull Quartet with Mark Bebbington who recently recorded it.
*******
Oxford Chamber Music Society: Gagliano Ensemble, 20 November 2016
The 20 November Chamber Music Society concert was given by the Gagliano Ensemble who delighted us with Schubert Quintets in 2014. On this occasion, they played works by Richard Strauss, JS Bach and Brahms. The concert opened with the String Sextet arrangement of the Prelude to Strauss’ last opera, light-hearted Capriccio written in 1942 as an act of defiance at Nazi cultural values. By contrast, it concluded with Metamorphosen, which grew out of despair at the destruction of Europe at the end of the War. It was given in the String Septet version arranged by Rudolph Leopold, which we had heard at this year’s Oxford Chamber Music Festival. Both performances did full justice to the rich, intense scoring. (I was reminded that von Karajan conducted a full string orchestra version in the Sheldonian many years ago.)
The founder and leader of the Gagliano Ensemble, Kasakh violinist Galya Bisengalieva played four of the five movements of JS Bach’s Partita no 2 for solo violin. This was a very good performance though not in the class of Alina Ibragimova, who makes much more of the inner voices implicit in the score.
The other item in the programme was Brahms’ Piano Quartet no 3 in C minor. This received a robust performance, not altogether achieving a good balance between piano and strings.
But it is Metamorphosen we shall remember.
*****
The founder and leader of the Gagliano Ensemble, Kasakh violinist Galya Bisengalieva played four of the five movements of JS Bach’s Partita no 2 for solo violin. This was a very good performance though not in the class of Alina Ibragimova, who makes much more of the inner voices implicit in the score.
The other item in the programme was Brahms’ Piano Quartet no 3 in C minor. This received a robust performance, not altogether achieving a good balance between piano and strings.
But it is Metamorphosen we shall remember.
*****
Oxford Chamber Music Society: Grier Trio with Joseph Shiner, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 30 October 2016.
The concert on 30 October consisted of two towering masterworks of chamber music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Beethoven’s Archduke Trio, first performed in 1824 and Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du Temps, composed and first performed in German prison camp in January 1942. The concert was given by the Grier Trio who were joined by the clarinettist Joseph Shiner for the Messiaen. The members of the trio are Francis Grier, one time organist at Christ Church Cathedral, (piano) and his daughters Savitri (violin) and Indira (cello), both still students.
Both performances were out of this world for different reasons. The Archduke was played better than I can remember ever having heard it before in a live performance. Clearly, the family connection must have influenced the total unity of the interpretation. The balance was perfect and the tempi well-judged. The exposed opening bars on the piano, among the most difficult openings to judge in all chamber music, flowed naturally. Particularly exciting were the staccato sforzando chords from the pianist which permeate the first movement and give it its driving momentum. It was beyond criticism.
Messiaen presents me with problems. I have heard the work in concert twice before and it has left me completely cold. Knowing that for many it is an overwhelming experience, I felt I should try once more to gain some understanding. It must be said that it could not have had a more persuasive performance than from the Grier, who again played with total dedication, with a very fine clarinettist, Joseph Shiner. But it was no good. My mind refused to be drawn into the religious mysticism which pervades this composer’s work and I listened with increasing detachment.
2 November 2016
*****
Oxford Chamber Music Society: Vanburgh String Quartet, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 9 October 2016.
The first concert of the 2016/17 season of the Oxford Chamber Music Society was given by the renowned Irish ensemble – the Vanburgh String Quartet in works by Mozart, Shostakovich and Beethoven. They celebrate their thirtieth birthday in 2018.
Their quality was established from the first notes of Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue in c minor, a rich warm tone with perfect balance between the instruments. In a robust performance of the fugue, the part playing was crystal clear (putting to shame the interpreters of Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge at the Chamber Music Festival). The following two works were Shostakovich’ Third Quartet and the mammoth Beethoven Op.132. These two works have a lot structurally in common, each consisting of five movements, alternately fast and slow, cheerful and serious.
Both received engrossing performances. The Shostakovich was memorable for the long section in the Adagio fourth movement for viola and cello, played as if on a single instrument.
The Beethoven was played as I have never heard it before. Reputedly ‘difficult’ for the listener, it was on this occasion played with all the subtleties laid bare so that one could sit back and enjoy the flow of the music.
The Music Room was full but not packed and tickets were available at the door. But you should not take a chance for the next concert on 30 October when the Greer Piano Trio with Joseph Shiner, clarinet playing Beethoven’s Archduke and Messiaen Quatuor pour la fin du temps. www.oxfordchambermusic.org .
10 October 2016
******
Oxford Chamber Music Society, Marsyas Trio et al: Haydn, Ravel, Couperin, Schoenberg, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 6 March 2016
Oxford Chamber Music Society, Marsyas Trio et al: Haydn, Ravel, Couperin, Schoenberg, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 6 March 2016
The Oxford Chamber Music Society concert heard on 6 March was given by the Marsyas Trio, Helen Vidovich (flute and piccolo), Val Welbanks (cello) and Fei Ren (piano), together with soprano Jessica Summers, Patrick Dawkins (violin and viola) and Jon Russell (clarinet and bass clarinet). The programme consisted of works by Haydn and Couperin, three Chansons Madécasses by Maurice Ravel and a rare chance to hear Schoenberg’s great sprach-gesang, Pierrot Lunaire.
The Haydn Trio in G which opened the programme, Hob.XV.15, was the first and most substantial of the set of three trios for piano with flute and cello accompaniment written in 1890. In playing this, one gets the feeling that it must have been written with a particular amateur flautist in mind, the instrumental part being nursed along by the keyboard. Here it received an attractively spirited performance with good balance,
Following the Haydn, the Trio was joined by soprano Jessica Summers for the three Chansons by Ravel, settings of the exotic poet Evariste Désiré de Forge Parny. The first describes explicitly an outdoor amorous encounter between two lovers. The second is a polemic against colonial racism, while the third recounts the reflections of a male chauvinist, entertained by singing and dancing girls during a languid summer afternoon but ending with his instruction to them: now go and prepare the evening meal.
After the interval came the main item in the programme – a rare opportunity to hear a live performance of Schoenberg’s extraordinary composition written in 1912 which features a vocalist delivering a half way between spoken and sung setting of twenty -one poems from a set of fifty by the Belgian poet Albert Giraud, translated into German by Otto Erich Hartleben. The instrumental accompaniment was provided by the Marsyas Trio supplemented by Patrick Dawkins on violin and viola and Jon Russell on clarinet and bass-clarinet. Jessica Summers appeared wearing Pierrot costume – black trousers, white smock and white impassive face. This so surprised the audience that they omitted to applaud her entrance! But it added to the magic of her performance. The three Parts of the cycle, Moondrunk, Night and Nostalgia. Part 1 has Pierrot fantasising about his love for Columbine turning to morbid thoughts of death in Part 2, relaxing into tranquillity and reconciliation in Part 3. The audience was totally mesmerised by the imagery of the music, even if not at this one hearing fully comprehending the detail.
This was yet another thought-provoking intense experience in this season’s OCMS programme. The last in the series will be on 24 April with Trio Isimsiz playing a conventional programme of Schubert’s E flat Trio, Beethoven’s opus 70 no 2 (the companion to The Ghost, lesser known but equally impressive) and Dvořák Trio no 3. Next season opens on9 October with Vanburgh String Quartet playing Mozart, Shostakovich and Beethoven.
17 March 2016
*******
The Haydn Trio in G which opened the programme, Hob.XV.15, was the first and most substantial of the set of three trios for piano with flute and cello accompaniment written in 1890. In playing this, one gets the feeling that it must have been written with a particular amateur flautist in mind, the instrumental part being nursed along by the keyboard. Here it received an attractively spirited performance with good balance,
Following the Haydn, the Trio was joined by soprano Jessica Summers for the three Chansons by Ravel, settings of the exotic poet Evariste Désiré de Forge Parny. The first describes explicitly an outdoor amorous encounter between two lovers. The second is a polemic against colonial racism, while the third recounts the reflections of a male chauvinist, entertained by singing and dancing girls during a languid summer afternoon but ending with his instruction to them: now go and prepare the evening meal.
After the interval came the main item in the programme – a rare opportunity to hear a live performance of Schoenberg’s extraordinary composition written in 1912 which features a vocalist delivering a half way between spoken and sung setting of twenty -one poems from a set of fifty by the Belgian poet Albert Giraud, translated into German by Otto Erich Hartleben. The instrumental accompaniment was provided by the Marsyas Trio supplemented by Patrick Dawkins on violin and viola and Jon Russell on clarinet and bass-clarinet. Jessica Summers appeared wearing Pierrot costume – black trousers, white smock and white impassive face. This so surprised the audience that they omitted to applaud her entrance! But it added to the magic of her performance. The three Parts of the cycle, Moondrunk, Night and Nostalgia. Part 1 has Pierrot fantasising about his love for Columbine turning to morbid thoughts of death in Part 2, relaxing into tranquillity and reconciliation in Part 3. The audience was totally mesmerised by the imagery of the music, even if not at this one hearing fully comprehending the detail.
This was yet another thought-provoking intense experience in this season’s OCMS programme. The last in the series will be on 24 April with Trio Isimsiz playing a conventional programme of Schubert’s E flat Trio, Beethoven’s opus 70 no 2 (the companion to The Ghost, lesser known but equally impressive) and Dvořák Trio no 3. Next season opens on9 October with Vanburgh String Quartet playing Mozart, Shostakovich and Beethoven.
17 March 2016
*******
Oxford Chamber Music Society, The Škampa Quartet: Suk, Shostakovich, Janáček, Fischer, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 7 February 2016.
The OCMS concert on 7 February was given by the renowned Czech string quartet, the Škampa Quartet, a late substitute for the advertised Pavel Haas Quartet, also from the Czech Republic.
The Škampa was formed in 1989 under the leadership of Pavel Fischer, one of whose works concluded the programme. They are well-known in the UK through their many appearances at the Wigmore Hall, on BBC Radio and elsewhere and through their recordings. They appear as a group of individual soloists who have come together in good humour and in perfect musical accord to transmit to their audience transparent interpretations of the works they play. The sonorities of their very fine instruments blend together perfectly to give a rich and mellow sound.
The members of the Quartet are (requiring much use of the ‘Insert – Symbol ‘keys) the violinists Helena Jiřikovská (a successor of Fischer) and Adéla Štajnochrová with the viola player Radim Sedmidubský and cellist Lukáš Polák. They were seated in the order violin, violin, cello, viola giving a good balance to the sound. Each work was introduced by the violist, summarising the copious programme notes as an invaluable guidance to the listener.
The first item in the programme was the Meditation on an Old Bohemian Chorale by Josef Suk who is fated to live over the by-line Dvořák’s son-in-law. The Chorale was once foreseen as a national anthem of Czech freedom from the Habsburg Empire but it was not to be.
Introduced as the first of two ‘main courses’, Suk was followed by Shostakovich String Quartet no 3, Opus 73. Written in 1946, at the end of World War Two it summarises in five movements the peace-lover’s attitude to war and thus fall foul of the authorities for not striking a triumphalist tone. With this background we were able to appreciate the warmth and dedication of the performance.
Following the interval, the second ‘main course’ was a work of more personal feeling, Janáček String Quartet no 2 – Intimate Letters associated with the extended correspondence of the composer and the love of his life Kamila Stösslová, many years younger. Again the Quartet followed sensitively the changing moods of the music.
The final work the ‘dessert’ was Morava – String Quartet no 1 by Pavel Fischer consisting of five movements of easy-listening based on Moravian and Carpathian folk music. In the third movement the three upper strings put down their instruments and accompanied a virtuoso cello with hand-held percussion instruments.
This concert was a substantial four-course ‘meal’, well-balanced and easily digestible served up by the Škampa Quartet. They reminded us of the qualities a mature quartet, playing music of their homeland, can bring to their performances in contrast to the youthful enthusiasm of the many young quartets we hear today.
15 February 2016
*******
The Škampa was formed in 1989 under the leadership of Pavel Fischer, one of whose works concluded the programme. They are well-known in the UK through their many appearances at the Wigmore Hall, on BBC Radio and elsewhere and through their recordings. They appear as a group of individual soloists who have come together in good humour and in perfect musical accord to transmit to their audience transparent interpretations of the works they play. The sonorities of their very fine instruments blend together perfectly to give a rich and mellow sound.
The members of the Quartet are (requiring much use of the ‘Insert – Symbol ‘keys) the violinists Helena Jiřikovská (a successor of Fischer) and Adéla Štajnochrová with the viola player Radim Sedmidubský and cellist Lukáš Polák. They were seated in the order violin, violin, cello, viola giving a good balance to the sound. Each work was introduced by the violist, summarising the copious programme notes as an invaluable guidance to the listener.
The first item in the programme was the Meditation on an Old Bohemian Chorale by Josef Suk who is fated to live over the by-line Dvořák’s son-in-law. The Chorale was once foreseen as a national anthem of Czech freedom from the Habsburg Empire but it was not to be.
Introduced as the first of two ‘main courses’, Suk was followed by Shostakovich String Quartet no 3, Opus 73. Written in 1946, at the end of World War Two it summarises in five movements the peace-lover’s attitude to war and thus fall foul of the authorities for not striking a triumphalist tone. With this background we were able to appreciate the warmth and dedication of the performance.
Following the interval, the second ‘main course’ was a work of more personal feeling, Janáček String Quartet no 2 – Intimate Letters associated with the extended correspondence of the composer and the love of his life Kamila Stösslová, many years younger. Again the Quartet followed sensitively the changing moods of the music.
The final work the ‘dessert’ was Morava – String Quartet no 1 by Pavel Fischer consisting of five movements of easy-listening based on Moravian and Carpathian folk music. In the third movement the three upper strings put down their instruments and accompanied a virtuoso cello with hand-held percussion instruments.
This concert was a substantial four-course ‘meal’, well-balanced and easily digestible served up by the Škampa Quartet. They reminded us of the qualities a mature quartet, playing music of their homeland, can bring to their performances in contrast to the youthful enthusiasm of the many young quartets we hear today.
15 February 2016
*******
Oxford Chamber Music Society, Frith Piano Quartet: Schumann, Turnage, Dvořák, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 6 December 2015.
The third of the 2015-2016 season’s concerts was given by the Frith Piano Quartet. The Quartet formed in 2000 consists of Benjamin Frith, piano, Robert Heard, violin, Louise Williams, viola, and Richard Jenkinson, cello. They shared with the two preceding ensembles a deep maturity in their approach in authoritative interpretations. The balance of piano and strings, so difficult to achieve with this combination, was perfect. The programme consisted of two of the great romantic war-horses of the piano quartet repertoire, that by Robert Schumann and the second of the two by Antonin Dvořák, together with three miniatures by Mark-Anthony Turnage entitled Wish 1, Wish 2, Wish 3.
The Schumann was played with utmost clarity, so that the contrapuntal nature of the work stood out, each instrument having equal weight. The second movement, Scherzo molto vivace, could have been taken considerably faster in view of its resemblance to Mendelssohn where this time signature is often taken to mean ‘as fast as possible’.
The three Turnage pieces were a delight. Much lighter in tone than the surrounding works, they explored the sonorities of the piano quartet in a most entertaining fashion.
The final work in the programme was the second piano quartet of Dvořák. The performance was a veritable tour de force leaving an indelible memory, just as had the Schubert string quartet in the first concert of the series and the Brahms Horn Trio in the second. The role of the piano in piano quartets can vary. Sometimes it just accompanies the strings. At the other extreme it is accompanied by the strings in a concerto-like fashion. Sometimes there is a dialogue between strings and piano, sometimes amicable, sometimes in competition. This quartet is firmly in the last category, leading to a finale in which piano and strings alternate thematic material in an exhilarating virtuostic conclusion.
The next concert on 17 January is a two-course feast: Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet followed by the Schubert Octet, given by members of the London Chamber Collective. Arrive early!
12 December 2015
******
The Schumann was played with utmost clarity, so that the contrapuntal nature of the work stood out, each instrument having equal weight. The second movement, Scherzo molto vivace, could have been taken considerably faster in view of its resemblance to Mendelssohn where this time signature is often taken to mean ‘as fast as possible’.
The three Turnage pieces were a delight. Much lighter in tone than the surrounding works, they explored the sonorities of the piano quartet in a most entertaining fashion.
The final work in the programme was the second piano quartet of Dvořák. The performance was a veritable tour de force leaving an indelible memory, just as had the Schubert string quartet in the first concert of the series and the Brahms Horn Trio in the second. The role of the piano in piano quartets can vary. Sometimes it just accompanies the strings. At the other extreme it is accompanied by the strings in a concerto-like fashion. Sometimes there is a dialogue between strings and piano, sometimes amicable, sometimes in competition. This quartet is firmly in the last category, leading to a finale in which piano and strings alternate thematic material in an exhilarating virtuostic conclusion.
The next concert on 17 January is a two-course feast: Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet followed by the Schubert Octet, given by members of the London Chamber Collective. Arrive early!
12 December 2015
******
Ianthe Ensemble: Ligeti, Franck, Brahms, 15 November 2015. Holywell Music Room, Oxford
The second concert, on 15 November, was given by the Ianthe Ensemble, an unusual combination of horn, Anna Douglass, violin, Yuka Ishizuka, and piano, Maria Canyigueral. From the limited repertoire for horn trio they played works by Ligeti and Brahms. The other item in the programme was the Violin Sonata by César Franck.
The Ligeti Horn Trio is an intriguing work not easy to assimilate at first hearing. The extended first movement was followed by three shorter, abruptly ending. The first caught the imagination. It came over as an intimate conversation between the feminine voice of the violin and the male voice of the horn with the piano occasionally joining in, ending with a brief coda with all three instruments in agreement. The references to Beethoven and to Brahms mentioned in the programme note were hard to detect.
It is a long time since I have either played or heard the César Franck Violin Sonata. It was very refreshing to hear it again in such an accomplished performance. They were in perfect accord with each other and with the music. What struck me on this occasion was how it looked back at early sonatas for these two instruments as a sonata for piano with violin, reflecting the composer’s background as a keyboard player.
The Brahms Horn Trio also received a golden performance, exploring the whole range of sonorities of this combination of instruments. My only criticism was that the Trio of the Scherzo was rather slow. Technical difficulties were swept aside as it proceeded to the glorious climax of the last few pages.
This was an extremely enjoyable concert, well-worth venturing out on a blustery Sunday afternoon. The Ianthe proved themselves convincing ambassadors for their chosen music. The concert deserved a fuller house.
The 6 December concert by the Frith Piano Quartet will be reported next Term, as will Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet and Schubert’s Octet on 17 January, followed by the four remaining concerts in the series.
16 November 2015
*****
it.
The Ligeti Horn Trio is an intriguing work not easy to assimilate at first hearing. The extended first movement was followed by three shorter, abruptly ending. The first caught the imagination. It came over as an intimate conversation between the feminine voice of the violin and the male voice of the horn with the piano occasionally joining in, ending with a brief coda with all three instruments in agreement. The references to Beethoven and to Brahms mentioned in the programme note were hard to detect.
It is a long time since I have either played or heard the César Franck Violin Sonata. It was very refreshing to hear it again in such an accomplished performance. They were in perfect accord with each other and with the music. What struck me on this occasion was how it looked back at early sonatas for these two instruments as a sonata for piano with violin, reflecting the composer’s background as a keyboard player.
The Brahms Horn Trio also received a golden performance, exploring the whole range of sonorities of this combination of instruments. My only criticism was that the Trio of the Scherzo was rather slow. Technical difficulties were swept aside as it proceeded to the glorious climax of the last few pages.
This was an extremely enjoyable concert, well-worth venturing out on a blustery Sunday afternoon. The Ianthe proved themselves convincing ambassadors for their chosen music. The concert deserved a fuller house.
The 6 December concert by the Frith Piano Quartet will be reported next Term, as will Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet and Schubert’s Octet on 17 January, followed by the four remaining concerts in the series.
16 November 2015
*****
it.
Oxford Chamber Music Society. Henschel Quartet: Haydn, Schulhoff and Schubert, 4 October 2015
The first of the season’s Oxford Chamber Music Society’s Sunday afternoon concerts was given by the Henschel Quartet on the 4 October. This string quartet launched its international career in 1995 and in the past decade has won many honours and given prestigious concerts including the Vatican and at the court in Madrid makes annual appearances playing Stradivari instruments from the royal collection. Christoph and Monika Henschel, first violin and viola are the remaining founder members with now Daniel Bell (violin) and Mathias Beyer-Karlshøj (cello). Their playing is characterised by complete unity of sound and a deep dedication to the music.
They played three contrasted quartets, by Haydn, by a little known Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942) and one, among the greatest of them all, Schubert’s last string quartet in G major (D887). The Haydn came over as a much more introverted work than usual, though not without some sardonic humour. It introduced us to the Herschel’s serious style of playing, digging deep into the music. The Schulhoff String Quartet no 1 proved to be an eclectic neo-romantic work with strong jazz and folk influences. Extraordinary sounds were produced with the players doing strange things with their bows. The Quartet performed with laid-back straight-faced humour.
The performance of the Schubert G major Quartet was a rare musical experience commanding intense concentration from the audience. It was clear that the Henschel played with complete authority in total mastery of every detail, making the case that this ranks with the late quartets of Beethoven with which it is contemporary. This was a different style of Schubert playing from that we are used to in Oxford with Priya Mitchell and friends at the Oxford Chamber Music Festivals striking a different balance between beauty of sound and dramatic intensity. Both equally give insight into Schubert’s genius.
***
The second concert, on 15 November, was given by the Ianthe Ensemble, an unusual combination of horn, Anna Douglass, violin, Yuka Ishizuka, and piano, Maria Canyigueral. From the limited repertoire for horn trio they played works by Ligeti and Brahms. The other item in the programme was the Violin Sonata by César Franck.
The Ligeti Horn Trio is an intriguing work not easy to assimilate at first hearing. The extended first movement was followed by three shorter, abruptly ending. The first caught the imagination. It came over as an intimate conversation between the feminine voice of the violin and the male voice of the horn with the piano occasionally joining in, ending with a brief coda with all three instruments in agreement. The references to Beethoven and to Brahms mentioned in the programme note were hard to detect.
It is a long time since I have either played or heard the César Franck Violin Sonata. It was very refreshing to hear it again in such an accomplished performance. They were in perfect accord with each other and with the music. What struck me on this occasion was how it looked back at early sonatas for these two instruments as a sonata for piano with violin, reflecting the composer’s background as a keyboard player.
The Brahms Horn Trio also received a golden performance, exploring the whole range of sonorities of this combination of instruments. My only criticism was that the Trio of the Scherzo was rather slow. Technical difficulties were swept aside as it proceeded to the glorious climax of the last few pages.
This was an extremely enjoyable concert, well-worth venturing out on a blustery Sunday afternoon. The Ianthe proved themselves convincing ambassadors for their chosen music. The concert deserved a fuller house.
The 6 December concert by the Frith Piano Quartet will be reported next Term, as will Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet and Schubert’s Octet on 17 January, followed by the four remaining concerts in the series.
16 November 2015
They played three contrasted quartets, by Haydn, by a little known Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942) and one, among the greatest of them all, Schubert’s last string quartet in G major (D887). The Haydn came over as a much more introverted work than usual, though not without some sardonic humour. It introduced us to the Herschel’s serious style of playing, digging deep into the music. The Schulhoff String Quartet no 1 proved to be an eclectic neo-romantic work with strong jazz and folk influences. Extraordinary sounds were produced with the players doing strange things with their bows. The Quartet performed with laid-back straight-faced humour.
The performance of the Schubert G major Quartet was a rare musical experience commanding intense concentration from the audience. It was clear that the Henschel played with complete authority in total mastery of every detail, making the case that this ranks with the late quartets of Beethoven with which it is contemporary. This was a different style of Schubert playing from that we are used to in Oxford with Priya Mitchell and friends at the Oxford Chamber Music Festivals striking a different balance between beauty of sound and dramatic intensity. Both equally give insight into Schubert’s genius.
***
The second concert, on 15 November, was given by the Ianthe Ensemble, an unusual combination of horn, Anna Douglass, violin, Yuka Ishizuka, and piano, Maria Canyigueral. From the limited repertoire for horn trio they played works by Ligeti and Brahms. The other item in the programme was the Violin Sonata by César Franck.
The Ligeti Horn Trio is an intriguing work not easy to assimilate at first hearing. The extended first movement was followed by three shorter, abruptly ending. The first caught the imagination. It came over as an intimate conversation between the feminine voice of the violin and the male voice of the horn with the piano occasionally joining in, ending with a brief coda with all three instruments in agreement. The references to Beethoven and to Brahms mentioned in the programme note were hard to detect.
It is a long time since I have either played or heard the César Franck Violin Sonata. It was very refreshing to hear it again in such an accomplished performance. They were in perfect accord with each other and with the music. What struck me on this occasion was how it looked back at early sonatas for these two instruments as a sonata for piano with violin, reflecting the composer’s background as a keyboard player.
The Brahms Horn Trio also received a golden performance, exploring the whole range of sonorities of this combination of instruments. My only criticism was that the Trio of the Scherzo was rather slow. Technical difficulties were swept aside as it proceeded to the glorious climax of the last few pages.
This was an extremely enjoyable concert, well-worth venturing out on a blustery Sunday afternoon. The Ianthe proved themselves convincing ambassadors for their chosen music. The concert deserved a fuller house.
The 6 December concert by the Frith Piano Quartet will be reported next Term, as will Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet and Schubert’s Octet on 17 January, followed by the four remaining concerts in the series.
16 November 2015
Oxford Chamber Music Society: Aronowitz Ensemble, Holywell Music Room,
26 April 1015.
The final
concert in the Oxford Chamber Music Society’s season of Sunday afternoon season
was truly exceptional. Given by the young Aronowitz Ensemble, formed by seven
like-minded musicians including the pianist Tom Poster, winner of the BBC Young
Musician of the Year in 2000 and well-known to Oxford audiences. Each binging
their own musicianship to the group, they form a unified ensemble with its own
characteristic sound, as did the early days of the Nash Ensemble heard in
concerts in Wolfson College many years ago. The three works in the programme by
Mozart, Britten and Brahms were each played with complete fidelity to the style
of the composer.
Thus, in the first work, Mozart’s Piano Quartet in E flat major, in effect a concerto for piano and string trio, the strings played together in close ensemble in support of the piano. In the Brahms’ Piano Quintet the individuality of each instrument was apparent, the tone of the whole being determined particularly by characteristic sounds of the first violin and the cello. A minor blemish was a slight lack of precision in the driving motif of the Scherzo. Separating these two works, Poster and Guy Johnston played the Sonata for cello and piano in C major by Benjamin Britten. More a suite rather than a sonata this five movement work was lovingly played so that one could sense the newly discovered rapport between the cellist Rostropovich and the pianist-composer which it commemorated.
The end of the concert was marked by a well-deserved near standing ovation of spontaneous applause from the packed audience. Of all the performances of the Quintet I have heard in the Holywell Music Room, with the added frisson of the possibility of a player falling from the platform, it is this one which I am sure I will remember as the best.
This was an appropriate finale to the 2014-2015 season. Looking back, such was the skilful programming that the result was greater than the sum of the parts, spanning the whole of chamber music, a well-balanced mixture of classical and modern, familiar and challenging, solo to ensemble; in particular one may contrast the ultimate and penultimate concerts, one a fully professional, extrovert performance with direct communication with the audience to the more intimate experience of listening to the inner thoughts of the musicians.
Next year’s programme promises to be equally stimulating with many well-loved favourites, but including Horn Trios by Brahms and Ligeti, Schubert Octet, Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire and modern works by Schulhof, Turnage and Haas. A feast to be savoured!
28 April 2015
*********
Thus, in the first work, Mozart’s Piano Quartet in E flat major, in effect a concerto for piano and string trio, the strings played together in close ensemble in support of the piano. In the Brahms’ Piano Quintet the individuality of each instrument was apparent, the tone of the whole being determined particularly by characteristic sounds of the first violin and the cello. A minor blemish was a slight lack of precision in the driving motif of the Scherzo. Separating these two works, Poster and Guy Johnston played the Sonata for cello and piano in C major by Benjamin Britten. More a suite rather than a sonata this five movement work was lovingly played so that one could sense the newly discovered rapport between the cellist Rostropovich and the pianist-composer which it commemorated.
The end of the concert was marked by a well-deserved near standing ovation of spontaneous applause from the packed audience. Of all the performances of the Quintet I have heard in the Holywell Music Room, with the added frisson of the possibility of a player falling from the platform, it is this one which I am sure I will remember as the best.
This was an appropriate finale to the 2014-2015 season. Looking back, such was the skilful programming that the result was greater than the sum of the parts, spanning the whole of chamber music, a well-balanced mixture of classical and modern, familiar and challenging, solo to ensemble; in particular one may contrast the ultimate and penultimate concerts, one a fully professional, extrovert performance with direct communication with the audience to the more intimate experience of listening to the inner thoughts of the musicians.
Next year’s programme promises to be equally stimulating with many well-loved favourites, but including Horn Trios by Brahms and Ligeti, Schubert Octet, Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire and modern works by Schulhof, Turnage and Haas. A feast to be savoured!
28 April 2015
*********
Dangerous Moonlight
Burov/Miletic Duo: Bach, Beethoven,
Shostakovich, Oxford Chamber Music Society, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 15
March 2015.
The
Burov/Miletic Duo formed by Bulgarian String Player Dimitar Burov and Belgrade
born, Serbian-Bulgarian pianist Mina Miletic gave the penultimate Oxford
Chamber Music Society’s concert of the 2014/2015 season with performances of works by Bach (Chaconne for solo violin), Beethoven (Moonlight Sonata) and Shostakovich (Sonatas for violin and piano and for viola
and piano). In the works for solo instrument they showed the quality of
their playing and in the Shostakovich how well matched they are as a duo.
Although both trained in London, they had both retained an East European
darkness to their playing which stood them in good stead
The Bach Chaconne in D minor, best known to non-string players in its version for solo piano by Busoni – hence its familiar name as the Bach Busoni Chaconne. This performance with its robust rhythm and rigorous phrasing and part-playing, came over as a violin arrangement of the Busoni piano version. It seemed to owe more to Busoni than to the original Bach – a real virtuoso feat.
The Moonlight Sonata is so well-known that to perform it publicly is a brave undertaking – hence my title. Here the first movement received a strictly classical performance without the romantic overtones implied by the title. The Allegretto second movement was played crisply followed by the headlong rush of the last movement in which the two quavers at the top of each run were not always distinctly separated.
I listened to the two Shostakovich String Sonatas with innocent ear. Despite their profundities, reflecting the troubled times in the composer’s life in which they were written, their appeal was very immediate with the persuasive playing of the duo.
This was a most enjoyable concert. A lack of professional polish was entirely appropriate to the informal atmosphere of the Music Room, with the performers communicating to the audience their love and feeling for the music.
22 March 2015
*****
The Bach Chaconne in D minor, best known to non-string players in its version for solo piano by Busoni – hence its familiar name as the Bach Busoni Chaconne. This performance with its robust rhythm and rigorous phrasing and part-playing, came over as a violin arrangement of the Busoni piano version. It seemed to owe more to Busoni than to the original Bach – a real virtuoso feat.
The Moonlight Sonata is so well-known that to perform it publicly is a brave undertaking – hence my title. Here the first movement received a strictly classical performance without the romantic overtones implied by the title. The Allegretto second movement was played crisply followed by the headlong rush of the last movement in which the two quavers at the top of each run were not always distinctly separated.
I listened to the two Shostakovich String Sonatas with innocent ear. Despite their profundities, reflecting the troubled times in the composer’s life in which they were written, their appeal was very immediate with the persuasive playing of the duo.
This was a most enjoyable concert. A lack of professional polish was entirely appropriate to the informal atmosphere of the Music Room, with the performers communicating to the audience their love and feeling for the music.
22 March 2015
*****
Trio Apaches: Frank Bridge, Claude
Debussy arr Sally Beamish, Maurice Ravel, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 22
February 2015.
Trio Apaches, taking their name from the French word for hooligans, are a piano trio of three talented and likeminded soloists formed in 2012 to perform programmes of unusual or little known works. Their hooliganism is reflected in the enthusiastic endorsement of each work, each interrupting the others in their garrulous introductions. This enthusiasm is also transmitted in their programme notes. Each forging a successful career as soloist, it is pianist Ashley Wass who is best known to Oxford audiences for his virtuoso and loud performances in Oxford May Music and other festivals. The question was would he drown out the strings? The violinist is Matthew Trusler and the cellist Thomas Carroll.
Before the interval they played Frank Bridge’s Piano Trio no 2 and an arrangement by Sally Beamish of Debussy’s three symphonic sketches La Mer. The Bridge, a work of four short contrasting movements was easy enough listening but left no lasting impression. The arrangement of La Mer, written as a programme filler to a nautical work by Beamish just did not work as a transcription of Debussy. The piano trio does not have the range of tone colour possible with a full orchestra. There was no sense of the vastness of the ocean as depicted by Debussy. In the third sketch Dialogue du Vent et de la Mer there was no dialogue.
After the interval we were treated to a glorious performance of Ravel’s Trio in A minor, a work beyond the reach of most amateur players. Each player played full out to their virtuoso best and yet the piano did not overwhelm the strings.
27 February 2015
*******
Trio Apaches, taking their name from the French word for hooligans, are a piano trio of three talented and likeminded soloists formed in 2012 to perform programmes of unusual or little known works. Their hooliganism is reflected in the enthusiastic endorsement of each work, each interrupting the others in their garrulous introductions. This enthusiasm is also transmitted in their programme notes. Each forging a successful career as soloist, it is pianist Ashley Wass who is best known to Oxford audiences for his virtuoso and loud performances in Oxford May Music and other festivals. The question was would he drown out the strings? The violinist is Matthew Trusler and the cellist Thomas Carroll.
Before the interval they played Frank Bridge’s Piano Trio no 2 and an arrangement by Sally Beamish of Debussy’s three symphonic sketches La Mer. The Bridge, a work of four short contrasting movements was easy enough listening but left no lasting impression. The arrangement of La Mer, written as a programme filler to a nautical work by Beamish just did not work as a transcription of Debussy. The piano trio does not have the range of tone colour possible with a full orchestra. There was no sense of the vastness of the ocean as depicted by Debussy. In the third sketch Dialogue du Vent et de la Mer there was no dialogue.
After the interval we were treated to a glorious performance of Ravel’s Trio in A minor, a work beyond the reach of most amateur players. Each player played full out to their virtuoso best and yet the piano did not overwhelm the strings.
27 February 2015
*******
Bowing and Scraping
The Ligeti String Quartet: Oxford
Chamber Music Society, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 18 January 2015.
The Ligeti String Quartet, formed in 2010, is a group of young, extremely talented group of musicians whose main purpose is to promote the work of modern composers of the post- Ligeti generation, not only by performing their work but also, in workshop fashion, aiding them in the process of composition. In their concert on 18 January in the Sunday afternoon series of the Oxford Chamber Music Society, they pitted two avant-garde works against two great works from the standard string quartet repertoire. The concert opened with the two modern works: a quartet from 1988 by John Zorn entitled Cat O’Nine Tails and, the first twenty-first century work of the OCMS, String Quartet No. 1 by Nicola Price. These were contrasted with Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge op.133 and Bartok’s String Quartet No.5.
This was a very original and thought-provoking programme. To the untrained ear, the modern works shared a lingua franca of basic structure proceeding from meaningless scraping to meaningful scraping to glissandi ending in pizzicato. In the Zorn, such passages were interspersed with melodic fragments in an eclectic set of styles of various lengths. This led to a very entertaining, humorous experience but I doubt whether of any great depth. The Price Quartet would bear a second hearing. Composed under workshop conditions under the guidance of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, this work contained passages of great lyricism, particularly in the final Scherzando. Both works, requiring virtuoso playing by all fourperformers and precision in passing the lead from instrument to instrument, received extremely persuasive performances from players completely at home in the style.
Their Beethoven was more problematic. At the outset it was difficult to adjust to the nineteenth century style after the modernism. Maybe they were trying to prove a point. As with the late Beethoven of the Wu Quartet heard in the first concert of the season, one felt the performers were concentrating on the beauty of the sound rather than plumbing the depths of the composition. The emphasis was on maintaining the ‘vertical’ beat of the music so that the ‘horizontal’ continuity of the counterpoint was almost lost and there was little variation in the dynamics.
The best came last. The second part of the concert was devoted to an immaculate performance of Bartok’s fifth string quartet. This was a joy, a worthy tribute to the composer of a worthy challenge to the players. They were completely at home in this music. Their encore of the pizzicato movement from the fourth string quartet was absolutely appropriate.
20 January 2015
***
WA Mozart, G Ligeti, C Nielsen, F Poulenc Music for Wind, New London Chamber Ensemble, Michael Dussek, Oxford Chamber Music Society, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 7 December 2014.
The second of the season’s Oxford Chamber Music Society concerts was a delightful programme of music for wind and piano given by members of the New London Chamber Ensemble with the pianist Michael Dussek. There were four works, two with piano, the Mozart Quartet with oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon and the Poulenc Sextet with additional flute. These works were reasonably familiar. The other two works, new to me were six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet by György Ligeti and a Wind Quintet by Carl Nielsen.
The strengths of the Ensemble were displayed in the Mozart. They produced a very robust sound and played with great exuberance. The wind balance was good, though one felt that the bassoon and horn were setting the level, the higher instruments keeping up. The piano, situated behind the wind, was, from where I was sitting, rather overwhelmed – a pity in view of the concerto-like nature of this work.
The six varied bagatelles by Ligeti were deceptively simple and short. Played with humour and precision, they reinforced a wish to become more familiar with the Composer’s music. I cannot say Carl Nielsen is a composer who normally warms my heart but this Quintet was an exception. A long bassoon solo at the beginning, with the characteristic humour of that instrument, set the light-hearted mood of the piece. The concluding theme and variations were ingeniously varied and instrumented.
Poulenc’s sextet, which concluded the programme, is the most complex of his works for wind and piano, all thematically similar. This was an extremely pleasing performance. This time the piano has an accompanying role so the balance was not such an issue.
15 December 2014
***
Oxford Chamber Music Society: Wu Quartet, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 2 November 2014
The first of the OCMS 2014 -5 season of Sunday afternoon recitals was given by the Wu String Quartet on 2 November. The Wu is a young much-awarded String Quartet. Its members are Qian Wu and Edward Brenton (violins), Mathew Kettle (viola) and Joseph Zettlin (cello). They presented an imaginative programme starting with Haydn Op 50 No 4, an unusual, rather mysterious, work in the unusual key of F sharp minor. This received a thoughtful interpretation reaching the hidden depths of the work. There followed the short two-movement String Quartet, Op 3 by Alban Berg - a work not too different in mood from the Haydn, again with an attention-compelling performance. It was all the more sad that the late Beethoven Quartet Op 131 was rather disappointing. While they played all the right notes in, the right order, there was no more than that. They failed to do justice to the depths of this great work.
10 November 2014
The Ligeti String Quartet, formed in 2010, is a group of young, extremely talented group of musicians whose main purpose is to promote the work of modern composers of the post- Ligeti generation, not only by performing their work but also, in workshop fashion, aiding them in the process of composition. In their concert on 18 January in the Sunday afternoon series of the Oxford Chamber Music Society, they pitted two avant-garde works against two great works from the standard string quartet repertoire. The concert opened with the two modern works: a quartet from 1988 by John Zorn entitled Cat O’Nine Tails and, the first twenty-first century work of the OCMS, String Quartet No. 1 by Nicola Price. These were contrasted with Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge op.133 and Bartok’s String Quartet No.5.
This was a very original and thought-provoking programme. To the untrained ear, the modern works shared a lingua franca of basic structure proceeding from meaningless scraping to meaningful scraping to glissandi ending in pizzicato. In the Zorn, such passages were interspersed with melodic fragments in an eclectic set of styles of various lengths. This led to a very entertaining, humorous experience but I doubt whether of any great depth. The Price Quartet would bear a second hearing. Composed under workshop conditions under the guidance of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, this work contained passages of great lyricism, particularly in the final Scherzando. Both works, requiring virtuoso playing by all fourperformers and precision in passing the lead from instrument to instrument, received extremely persuasive performances from players completely at home in the style.
Their Beethoven was more problematic. At the outset it was difficult to adjust to the nineteenth century style after the modernism. Maybe they were trying to prove a point. As with the late Beethoven of the Wu Quartet heard in the first concert of the season, one felt the performers were concentrating on the beauty of the sound rather than plumbing the depths of the composition. The emphasis was on maintaining the ‘vertical’ beat of the music so that the ‘horizontal’ continuity of the counterpoint was almost lost and there was little variation in the dynamics.
The best came last. The second part of the concert was devoted to an immaculate performance of Bartok’s fifth string quartet. This was a joy, a worthy tribute to the composer of a worthy challenge to the players. They were completely at home in this music. Their encore of the pizzicato movement from the fourth string quartet was absolutely appropriate.
20 January 2015
***
WA Mozart, G Ligeti, C Nielsen, F Poulenc Music for Wind, New London Chamber Ensemble, Michael Dussek, Oxford Chamber Music Society, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 7 December 2014.
The second of the season’s Oxford Chamber Music Society concerts was a delightful programme of music for wind and piano given by members of the New London Chamber Ensemble with the pianist Michael Dussek. There were four works, two with piano, the Mozart Quartet with oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon and the Poulenc Sextet with additional flute. These works were reasonably familiar. The other two works, new to me were six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet by György Ligeti and a Wind Quintet by Carl Nielsen.
The strengths of the Ensemble were displayed in the Mozart. They produced a very robust sound and played with great exuberance. The wind balance was good, though one felt that the bassoon and horn were setting the level, the higher instruments keeping up. The piano, situated behind the wind, was, from where I was sitting, rather overwhelmed – a pity in view of the concerto-like nature of this work.
The six varied bagatelles by Ligeti were deceptively simple and short. Played with humour and precision, they reinforced a wish to become more familiar with the Composer’s music. I cannot say Carl Nielsen is a composer who normally warms my heart but this Quintet was an exception. A long bassoon solo at the beginning, with the characteristic humour of that instrument, set the light-hearted mood of the piece. The concluding theme and variations were ingeniously varied and instrumented.
Poulenc’s sextet, which concluded the programme, is the most complex of his works for wind and piano, all thematically similar. This was an extremely pleasing performance. This time the piano has an accompanying role so the balance was not such an issue.
15 December 2014
***
Oxford Chamber Music Society: Wu Quartet, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 2 November 2014
The first of the OCMS 2014 -5 season of Sunday afternoon recitals was given by the Wu String Quartet on 2 November. The Wu is a young much-awarded String Quartet. Its members are Qian Wu and Edward Brenton (violins), Mathew Kettle (viola) and Joseph Zettlin (cello). They presented an imaginative programme starting with Haydn Op 50 No 4, an unusual, rather mysterious, work in the unusual key of F sharp minor. This received a thoughtful interpretation reaching the hidden depths of the work. There followed the short two-movement String Quartet, Op 3 by Alban Berg - a work not too different in mood from the Haydn, again with an attention-compelling performance. It was all the more sad that the late Beethoven Quartet Op 131 was rather disappointing. While they played all the right notes in, the right order, there was no more than that. They failed to do justice to the depths of this great work.
10 November 2014
****
Gagliano
Ensemble: Schubert Quintets, Oxford
Chamber Music Society, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 27 April 2014
The final
concert of the Oxford Chamber Music Society season was given by members of the
youthful Gagliano Ensemble, formed in 2011. They played two contrasting quintets by Schubert – the exuberant, extrovert Trout for
piano quartet with double bass and the profound C major Quintet of the composer’s last years for two violins, viola and two
cellos. Both works received carefully constructed and inspirational
performances which were greeted with deserved ovations from the discerning
audience.
However,
there were aspects of the playing which deserve closer analysis. Each of the
musicians has a career as soloist as well as in chamber music and orchestral
playing. In the quintets each brought out an individual contribution to the
whole. It is remarkable how they have managed to fuse their styles into a
characteristic sound much like the early days of the Nash Ensemble. It should
not be necessary or possible to single out individuals but I cannot avoid
mentioning Oliver Coates, cellist in the Trout
and the Kazakh leader Galya Bisengalieva who unostentatiously kept everything
under tight control. Having said all this, I must confess that I found the
sound quality a little too bright for my taste and lacking the limpidity of
great Schubert playing. But the unity of the ensemble is more important.
19 April 2014
Colin Carr (cello) Thomas Sauer (piano): Oxford Chamber
Music Society, Holywell Music Room, 1 March 2014.
It was an enormous privilege to be part of the packed
audience in the Holywell Music Room on 1 March for the penultimate concert of
the season of the Oxford Chamber Music Society. It was given by the duo Colin
Carr cello and Thomas Sauer piano. I stress this was a duo of two great
instrumentalists, perfectly matched and playing as one on instruments perfectly
attuned to the acoustics of surroundings. Carr played a 1730 cello made by
Matteo Gofriller in Venice while the piano was the Music Room’s own Steinway C.
This was an experience on a higher level to most of the chamber music concerts
in Oxford, confirming the international reputation of the performers.
The interestingly constructed programme consisted of four
works, with well-known sonatas by Beethoven and Mendelssohn flanking the less
known short Debussy sonata and four pieces written by Thomas Adés in 2009; as
an encore they played the second movement of Chopin’s Cello Sonata. The four
pieces by Adés entitled Lieux retrouvvé
(rediscovered places) are short very graphic evocations of still water,
mountains, fields and town - Cancan macabre, combining virtuoso playing and
precise intertwining of both players. The last movement, more macabre than cancan, was particularly spectacular.
The Beethoven Sonata was the two-movement opus 102 no 1. It
received an immaculate performance combining the humour and energy of early
Beethoven with the structural freedom of his late works. Mendelssohn’s second
and most popular Sonata opens allegro
assai vivace. As here, the tempo mark is interpreted as ‘as fast as
possible’ which is like starting a mile race with a sprint – few can sustain this
speed. Carr and Sacher made a fair shot at it without lowering the excitement
of the opening. The following Scherzo and chorale-like adagio were exquisitely played and the last movement, another molto allegro e vivace drew a great
ovation for a wonderful concert.
4 March 2014
****
Heironymus String Quartet
The second
2014 concert of the Oxford Chamber Music Society was given by the youthful
Hieronymus String Quartet, formed in 2011 at the Guildhall School of Music and
Drama. They played quartets by Haydn, Beethoven and Bartók. The Haydn opus 20
no 4 which opened the concert is an unusually dark and complex work which was
played impressively with appropriate Sturm
und Drang. This was a good introduction to the two last string quartets of
Beethoven (opus 135) and of Bartók (Quartet no 6 Sr 114) both played with great
maturity doing full justice to the profundity of these works. It was a
fascinating juxtaposition bringing out the similarities in musical content,
though they should have been played in chronological order.
In the Bartók,
attention was grabbed by the solo viola in the opening mesto, and indeed throughout, not only for the musicianship of the
player Jenny Lewisohn but also for the beautiful alto sound of her instrument.
It was revealed before the Beethoven that this was her first appearance as
member of the Quartet. The others were Yolanda Bruno and Hun Ouk Park (violins)
and Vladimir Waltham (cello). It is apparent that work has to be done to
integrate the new member into producing a balanced sound for the ensemble. But
there is enormous potential.
11 February 2014
****
London Soloists Ensemble: Piano Quartets Oxford Chamber Music Society,
Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 19 January 2014.
There can be few more civilised ways of spending a Sunday afternoon in
Oxford than joining like-minded lovers of chamber music In the Holywell Music
Room to attend a concert arranged by the Oxford Chamber Music Society. Many in
the audience are long-standing members of the Society, paying an annual
subscription for the year’s concerts. Tickets
for individual concerts are availabGK Woodgate: The
Oxford Chamber Music Society, OCMS 2007le,
though much in demand. The concerts are noted for their intelligent
programme-planning and for the quality of the performers.
The first concert of 2014 was given by members of London Soloists
Ensemble, Lorraine McAslan (violin), Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola), Karine
Georgian (cello) and John Lenehan (piano) playing quartets by Mozart, Walton
and Brahms. With the strings seated unusually, in a straight row in front of
the piano, it was clear from the first notes that their playing was special. It
was as if one was drawn into the heart of the music by the intimacy of the
performance. Some ensembles are noted for the clarity of their playing,
distinguishing each instrumental line. Here the string sound was totally
integrated, impossible to distinguish the instruments, thus enhancing the
concerto-like structure of Mozart’s second Quartet. The piano playing was
notable for the delicate alternation of staccato and legato.
There followed a performance of William Walton’s youthful Piano Quartet
in D minor. Started at the age of sixteen and completed in revised form at the
age of nineteen, it did not receive a performance until 1929.and remains a
rarity. Played with appropriate enthusiasm, the work displays many influences
to be assimilated into the composer’s later style.
The third work was Brahms’ second Piano Quartet, in A major. As in all
this Composer’s chamber works involving piano this is a battle between piano
and other instruments. The challenge to the players is to find a balance and to
strike a truce. (Schoenberg solved the problem by orchestrating the great G
minor Quartet on the grounds that the strings could never be heard.) As in all
these works the first movement opens demurely enough with a friendly exchange
but bursts into exuberant life at the piano’s first page turn. In the A major
quartet, the piano opens with a rhythmic motif which pervades the movement. In
this performance a good balance was maintained throughout, if anything
favouring the strings maybe due to the seating arrangement.
****
(
Elgar, Venables: Piano Quintets
The concert given in the Holywell Music Room on 25 November 2012 by the Coull String Quartet with Mark Bebbington (piano) consisted of three works: Piano Quintets by Ian Venables and Edward Elgar and the Piano Sonata in E minor/major (sic) by John Ireland. The main reason for attending this concert and reporting on it here was the opportunity to hear a live performance of the Venables Quintet, though the chance to hear again the Elgar and having another go at the Ireland were added incentives
Ian Venables was born in 1955. He has lived for the last twenty six years in Worcester, near the heart of Elgar country. His music shares the Englishness but is in no way derivative of that composer. Mainly known for his song settings, Venables’ Piano Quintet was completed in 1995 and is known to us from the CD by the same players and from an amateur recording. Best described as Modern Romanticism, the Quintet has immediate audience appeal. In attempting to choose two adjectives to sum up the overall impression I initially picked on its ‘dense’ scoring and ‘luscious’ texture. This raised objections from those whom I asked to comment on a draft: the composer accepted ‘luscious’ but not ‘dense’ while those who had performed the work objected strongly to ‘luscious’ but were prepared to accept ‘dense’. Having listened again to the recording, I remain unrepentant but I will settle for a consensus: The work is notable for its rich scoring and elegiac texture with three contrasting movements, yet with a musical coherence and compactness linking the opening and closing bars. The difficult task of integrating piano and strings was seamlessly tackled.
The performance was received with extended ovations for both the performers and the composer and there was an immediate interval sell-out of the available recordings. It is astonishing that a work of such potential appeal to those who play for their own pleasure has so far failed to find a publisher. It must surely find its place among the handful of great works for this combination: Schumann, Brahms, Dvořák, Franck, Elgar and Shostakovich, not to mention the abstruse Fauré and quirky Dohnányi.
I am in general a great admirer of the works of John Ireland, particularly his piano concerto, now rarely heard. However I was hearing the Piano Sonata for the second time, having heard it played in the Music Room some years ago. I found no reason to change my first impressions that, whatever its inspiration in the events of the First World War, what comes across is a piece of self-indulgent pianism for a virtuoso pianist, with little to offer the listener.
After the interval came the Elgar Quintet. The performance was marred for me by a strange imbalance between the players, not only between the piano and strings. This was maybe an acoustical effect for those of us seated in the front row on the left hand side, though it was not noticed in the Venables. Thus in the all-important balance of the opening between aggressive strings and soothing piano, the piano could hardly be heard. Similarly where the piano and strings are fighting it out in the climax of the final pages, it was no longer a draw. There were however some sublime, sensitive, passages, particularly in the slow movement and the performance was greeted warmly by most of the audience.
20 December 2012
****
The Wihan String Quartet, Holywell Music Room, 4 March.2012
The Wihan is a Czech String Quartet formed in 1985. Three players are founder members, the viola having joined a couple of years later. Winners of many national and international awards, they first played for OCMS in the 2001-2 season and have been regular visitors since. They seem to have an affinity with the OCMS audience and attracted a near-packed audience to the Holywell Music Room for their programme of Beethoven, Dvořák and Schubert. Each chamber music series in Oxford has its own following and one does not see many faces in common. OCMS seems to attract a wider age group than most thanks to its membership of the Cavatina Music Trust which gives free tickets to 8-25 year-olds. The attentive and discerning audience gave serious applause to each item, in contrast to the often uncritical ovations of the Sunday morning Coffee Concerts. The programme opened with the fourth of Beethoven’s Opus 18, possibly the least often played of the six and noted for the absence of any movement slower than andante scherzando. The performance established the uniform warm quality and balance of sound from the four instruments, aided by the unusual arrangement of the cellist seated between the violins and viola (with the leader seated on the cellist’s usual piano stool). This is a String Quartet which concentrates on the integrated sound rather than the individual contribution of each instrument. A very moving performance.
Whenever I hear a piece of chamber music which sounds like Brahms but can’t place it, it is almost invariably by Dvořák (but sometimes Schumann). On this occasion, played by compatriots, there was no doubt as to the composer and we were treated to a genuine interpretation of his ninth quartet written under tragic circumstances in 1877. A slighter work than its companions in the programme, this was an experience to cherish although I noted at the time that the slow movement seemed too fast.
The Wihan’s Schubert reminded me of that of the Amadeus Quartet This is not a compliment: I did not like their interpretations of his later works. Let me explain. Most of Schubert’s music including his songs appeal directly to the heart but in the last years of his life, he wrote a number of elusive works which after any performance leave the feeling of depths yet unexplored. From his last year, 1828: the String Quintet in C major, the Quartet in G major, the last three Piano Sonatas, the F minor Fantasy for Piano Duet, der Hirt auf dem Felsen (voice, clarinet and piano), auf dem Ström (voice, horn and piano) and from earlier years: the Serenata notturna for Piano Trio (thought to be 1827) and the Arpeggione Sonata of 1824. These works are all characterised by long discursive passages of sublime serenity, interrupted by periods of sharply contrasted mood, in the last works deep anguish. It is the absence of this clear contrast which mars the interpretations of those cited. However, on this occasion, after three movements played too aggressively, the Wihan were transformed and inspired in the last movement of the last String Quartet so that we left the auditorium with uplifted hearts and souls.
The concert given in the Holywell Music Room on 25 November 2012 by the Coull String Quartet with Mark Bebbington (piano) consisted of three works: Piano Quintets by Ian Venables and Edward Elgar and the Piano Sonata in E minor/major (sic) by John Ireland. The main reason for attending this concert and reporting on it here was the opportunity to hear a live performance of the Venables Quintet, though the chance to hear again the Elgar and having another go at the Ireland were added incentives
Ian Venables was born in 1955. He has lived for the last twenty six years in Worcester, near the heart of Elgar country. His music shares the Englishness but is in no way derivative of that composer. Mainly known for his song settings, Venables’ Piano Quintet was completed in 1995 and is known to us from the CD by the same players and from an amateur recording. Best described as Modern Romanticism, the Quintet has immediate audience appeal. In attempting to choose two adjectives to sum up the overall impression I initially picked on its ‘dense’ scoring and ‘luscious’ texture. This raised objections from those whom I asked to comment on a draft: the composer accepted ‘luscious’ but not ‘dense’ while those who had performed the work objected strongly to ‘luscious’ but were prepared to accept ‘dense’. Having listened again to the recording, I remain unrepentant but I will settle for a consensus: The work is notable for its rich scoring and elegiac texture with three contrasting movements, yet with a musical coherence and compactness linking the opening and closing bars. The difficult task of integrating piano and strings was seamlessly tackled.
The performance was received with extended ovations for both the performers and the composer and there was an immediate interval sell-out of the available recordings. It is astonishing that a work of such potential appeal to those who play for their own pleasure has so far failed to find a publisher. It must surely find its place among the handful of great works for this combination: Schumann, Brahms, Dvořák, Franck, Elgar and Shostakovich, not to mention the abstruse Fauré and quirky Dohnányi.
I am in general a great admirer of the works of John Ireland, particularly his piano concerto, now rarely heard. However I was hearing the Piano Sonata for the second time, having heard it played in the Music Room some years ago. I found no reason to change my first impressions that, whatever its inspiration in the events of the First World War, what comes across is a piece of self-indulgent pianism for a virtuoso pianist, with little to offer the listener.
After the interval came the Elgar Quintet. The performance was marred for me by a strange imbalance between the players, not only between the piano and strings. This was maybe an acoustical effect for those of us seated in the front row on the left hand side, though it was not noticed in the Venables. Thus in the all-important balance of the opening between aggressive strings and soothing piano, the piano could hardly be heard. Similarly where the piano and strings are fighting it out in the climax of the final pages, it was no longer a draw. There were however some sublime, sensitive, passages, particularly in the slow movement and the performance was greeted warmly by most of the audience.
20 December 2012
****
The Wihan String Quartet, Holywell Music Room, 4 March.2012
The Wihan is a Czech String Quartet formed in 1985. Three players are founder members, the viola having joined a couple of years later. Winners of many national and international awards, they first played for OCMS in the 2001-2 season and have been regular visitors since. They seem to have an affinity with the OCMS audience and attracted a near-packed audience to the Holywell Music Room for their programme of Beethoven, Dvořák and Schubert. Each chamber music series in Oxford has its own following and one does not see many faces in common. OCMS seems to attract a wider age group than most thanks to its membership of the Cavatina Music Trust which gives free tickets to 8-25 year-olds. The attentive and discerning audience gave serious applause to each item, in contrast to the often uncritical ovations of the Sunday morning Coffee Concerts. The programme opened with the fourth of Beethoven’s Opus 18, possibly the least often played of the six and noted for the absence of any movement slower than andante scherzando. The performance established the uniform warm quality and balance of sound from the four instruments, aided by the unusual arrangement of the cellist seated between the violins and viola (with the leader seated on the cellist’s usual piano stool). This is a String Quartet which concentrates on the integrated sound rather than the individual contribution of each instrument. A very moving performance.
Whenever I hear a piece of chamber music which sounds like Brahms but can’t place it, it is almost invariably by Dvořák (but sometimes Schumann). On this occasion, played by compatriots, there was no doubt as to the composer and we were treated to a genuine interpretation of his ninth quartet written under tragic circumstances in 1877. A slighter work than its companions in the programme, this was an experience to cherish although I noted at the time that the slow movement seemed too fast.
The Wihan’s Schubert reminded me of that of the Amadeus Quartet This is not a compliment: I did not like their interpretations of his later works. Let me explain. Most of Schubert’s music including his songs appeal directly to the heart but in the last years of his life, he wrote a number of elusive works which after any performance leave the feeling of depths yet unexplored. From his last year, 1828: the String Quintet in C major, the Quartet in G major, the last three Piano Sonatas, the F minor Fantasy for Piano Duet, der Hirt auf dem Felsen (voice, clarinet and piano), auf dem Ström (voice, horn and piano) and from earlier years: the Serenata notturna for Piano Trio (thought to be 1827) and the Arpeggione Sonata of 1824. These works are all characterised by long discursive passages of sublime serenity, interrupted by periods of sharply contrasted mood, in the last works deep anguish. It is the absence of this clear contrast which mars the interpretations of those cited. However, on this occasion, after three movements played too aggressively, the Wihan were transformed and inspired in the last movement of the last String Quartet so that we left the auditorium with uplifted hearts and souls.