SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Cadogan Celebrity Recital Series 2007-08: Janine Jansen (violin), Torleif Thedéen (cello), Maxim Rysanov (viola), Cadogan Hall, London 22. 2.2008 (MMB)

Johann Sebastian Bach – Two-Part Inventions, BWV 772-786, arranged for violin and viola – Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin, BWV 1004 – Three-Part Inventions (also called Sinfonias), BWV 787-801, arranged for violin, viola and cello.

Alfred Schnittke – Trio for violin, viola and cello.

J. S. Bach and Alfred Schnittke,  what an interesting combination.  When I first saw the programme that Janine Jansen, Torleif Thedéen and Maxim Rysanov had chosen to play and which was being announced on Cadogan Hall’s website, I remember particularly looking forward to two of the listed pieces. One, the performance of Schnittke’s String Trio (1985), an incredibly personal and deeply introspective work, commissioned by the Alban Berg Foundation to celebrate Berg’s centenary and two, Bach’s magnificent Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin (ca. 1720), a demanding, fabulous piece, which always appears to me as if Bach wrote it with an age of instrumental virtuosity in mind that still lay far ahead in the future. I  was not disappointed. The three musicians were excellent, Janine Jansen in particular who excelled all my expectations in her delivery of the fiendishly difficult Bach’s Partita.

Sadly, Cadogan Hall was less than half full and while I could not help feeling that  a concert of this quality deserved to be sold out, this fact gave it an intimate feeling, a sense of being in a large room with family and friends that created a pleasant atmosphere and, to a certain extent, made the evening a better and richer musical experience.

The concert began with Bach’s Two-Part Inventions (ca. 1720, revised in 1723), originally composed for the keyboard and specifically designed as exercises for his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, at the time only 12 years old. There are 15 Inventions, each written in one of the 15 keys considered at the time to be the standard for keyboard use. How young Wilhelm felt about the difficulty of the pieces is not known but the standard is extremely high for any child of that age, even  the son of J. S. Bach. The Two-Part Inventions are written for two voices,  and are suited for the development and maintenance of finger dexterity. They transfer perfectly for transcription to two different instruments like the violin and viola in fact may be  more interesting  in this format rather than for the original keyboard. Janine Jansen and Maxim Rysanov played all fifteen pieces in an effective, expressive manner, elegantly displaying the required dexterity in a harmonious dialogue. Mr Rysanov’s charismatic, quieter viola contrasted wonderfully with Ms Jansen’s undeniably energetic and exciting performance but one sensed throughout that the music was the  important thing for both players. They never lost sight of it, bringing their instruments together in an excellent interpretation, which showed the differences between the two voices but also enhanced their “togetherness”, as a single performer would exhibit on the keyboard.

The neat Two-Part Inventions were followed by Schnittke’s sad but vibrant and emotional Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello, for which Ms Jansen and Mr Rysanov were joined on stage by cellist Torleif Thedéen. The composer once said that the music of Alban Berg was dearest to him “above all others” and so he must have been delighted and proud to receive  the commission from the Berg Foundation. Schnittke’s love and admiration for Berg’s music undoubtedly made him create a work that is more personal than any other he composed before or after. In 1985, shortly after the work's premiere, at which Schnittke was present, he suffered the first of a series of devastating strokes, which left him incapacitated for the rest of his life though amazingly no less creative. He continued to compose with great quality and variety, leaving an enormous body of work, which includes nine symphonies, twelve concertos, three ballets and three operas. Because the first and most severe of Schnittke’s strokes happened just after the premiere of the String Trio, some people claim to hear 'unusual, grim and alarming notes' in the piece, which are perhaps a premonition of the composer’s imminent illness. Personally, I wonder if Schnittke was actually remembering his traumatic three-year stay in Vienna, from 1946 to 1948, when he was in his early teens. The cultural centre had been bombed to the ground, a place where once Classicism and Enlightenment had reached their peak and this fact must have been a shock for a young man.

The work is fabulous, vibrant and emotional and at the same time compassionate from beginning to end; it is not only a suitable tribute to Berg but also to the city that witnessed his birth. Ms Jansen, Mr Thedéen and Mr Rysanov gave the audience one of the highlights of the evening, performing the piece with powerful surges of fiery emotion, allowing the sound to erupt like an awakened volcano, and at the same time contrasting it with sadder, more introspective, personal passages, sometime of an almost impossible  lyricism that left me close to tears. The two large movements of the piece, Moderato and Adagio, were played with the same level of excellence throughout. They were moving and scary at the same time; the violin and the viola occasionally appearing as if they were suffering, screaming out their pain as if being tortured, which actually translated into two broken bow strings for Ms Jansen and one for Mr Rysanov: but they continued, unfazed, wonderfully seconded by the more sober, wiser sound of the cello.

The three performers never lost sight of the musicality of the piece or of its emotional baggage, at times violent, at others calm almost a dolce legato singing line. Mr Thedéen has a quiet, distinguished style of playing, which brought colour, contrast and balance to the performance as a whole, giving us the third side of the triangle, contrasting with Ms Jansen’s exuberant, powerful, energetic delivery, and Mr Rysanov’s intriguing, at times almost mysterious performance. The intensity of the piece took its toll on the performers and even the audience took time to recover before erupting with enthusiastic applause.

After the break Janine Jansen really came into her own with the performance of Bach’s Partita No. 2 for Solo Violin. Bach’s Partita is a virtuosic piece, consisting of a sequence of five different French Baroque dances, Allemanda, Corrente, Sarabanda, Giga and Ciaconna. The fact that the Partitas are written in the simple format of a suite of dances is deceptive and does not make them easy to perform. This one, in D minor, is arguably the most difficult and certainly the most famous, which is usually regarded as requiring a virtuoso of the instrument. Should anyone be in doubt, Ms Jansen proved with her assured, brilliant delivery that she is one of the high exponents of the violin. Her performance was infused with a fiery energy from beginning to end, as if it ran in her blood and was naturally transferred to the violin. Seldom have I heard a rendition of this Partita that I liked better,  or which had so much exuberance, vivacity and feeling injected into it.  I was on the edge of my seat, particularly during the final movement, the monumental Chaconne, which exceeds fifteen minutes (longer than the rest of the work put together) and is formed from  a colossal series of 64 variations on the phrase heard at the beginning. This is a stunning, sublime feat of composition and Ms Jansen undoubtedly rose to the occasion. Her delivery was virtuosic, perfectly true to the musicality and demands of the piece but injected with her own personal passion and sheer brilliance. Wonderful!

To finish the concert - and after two such powerful performances of Schnittke’s String Trio and Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D minor -  the three performers returned to the stage to deliver a sober but delightful arrangement for string trio of the second part of Bach's Three-Part Inventions. Like the Two-Part Inventions, each of the three part pieces is written in one of the standard 15 keys of the time. The third voice,  makes things considerably more difficult on the keyboard, for obvious reasons, but renders the collection perfect for string trio. Ms Jansen, Mr Rysanov and Mr Thedéen  played the ingeniously composed sequence perfectly,  each one a miniature masterpiece in its own right.

This was a calm, sober and relaxing finish to a fine concert and the enthusiastic recognition given the three performers by a knowledgeable public was thoroughly deserved. The direction of Cadogan Hall might usefully  promote their concerts more vigorously however. Quality like this deserves a better filled hall.

Margarida Mota-Bull


Back to Top                                                    Cumulative Index Page