Fans of 19th century chamber music were treated to a fine concert at Gallery 345 in Parkdale on Monday night — notable not just for fine musicmaking, but also careful programming and well-suited venue.
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
Two of Toronto’s busiest (and most accomplished) string players — Canadian Opera Company associate concertmaster Benjamin Bowman and Toronto Symphony Orchestra cellist Winona Zelenka — teamed up with Ottawa-based pianist Mauro Bartoli.
What they may have lacked in hours spent in each other’s musical company they more than made up for with technical brilliance coupled with careful teamwork.
The three pieces were cleverly programmed, not just stylistically but in how they gave each performer a chance to shine.
The recital began with Beethoven for two: an early Violin Sonata (Op. 12, No. 1) in D Major, followed by a later work, the Cello Sonata Op. 102 No. 1 in C Major. That last piece prepared us stylistically for Johannes Brahms’ Op. 8 Piano Trio, an early work.
The first sonata, which dates from 1798, is a mix of Classical symmetries and Sturm und Drang Romanticism. Bowman gamely tore into the piece with gusto, emphasizing Beethoven’s dynamic contrasts and passionate exclamations, while making easy work of the virtuoso challenges.
In this work, as with all of the others in Monday’s concert, the piano is an equal partner in the musicmaking, not just an accompaniment. Bartoli proved himself a capable, attentive collaborator who was ready to fully engage in a dialogue with his collaborators.
Bertoli and Bowman had several opportunities to show off together — nowhere more than in the second-movement theme and variations.
Zelenka quickly plumbed the darker side of her instrument in the second Beethoven sonata, which was a much more experimental, brooding work much more concerned with emotional effect than the careful exposition of Classical sonata forms.
Both she and Bartoli created beautiful sounds out of Beethoven’s shadowy emotional landscape.
All three came together with a tight, vivid interpretation of Brahms’ first trio, completed in 1854, but revised three-and-a-half decades later. This is one of the most beautiful of all piano trios, technically demanding and loaded with interpretive traps.
Bowman, Zelenka and Bartoli made it all sound so very easy, making this complex music sound clearly shaped and laid out. This wasn’t an interpretation for the ages, largely because it lacked many small-detail bits of finesse — things only possible when three musicians have worked together long and hard — but the trio made up in sincerity what they lacked in fine polish.
Just hearing this piece live, performed well, was treat enough.
All three of Monday’s musicians could easily have spend a quiet fall evening at home with their loved ones. Instead, they chose to sweat through a demanding recital programme for a warmly appreciative, small audience.
I suspect everyone was better off for the experience.
John Terauds
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
