SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Beethoven, Ravel and Rachmaninov: Barbirolli Quartet (Katie Stillman, Rakhl Singh (violins), Ella Brinch (viola), Victoria Simonsen (cello)) – Alissa Firsova (piano), Wigmore Hall, 11.5.2009 (BBr) 

Beethoven: String Quartet in F minor, Serioso, op.95 (1810/1811)
Ravel: String Quartet in F (1903)
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E, op.109 (1820)
Rachmaninov: Piano Sonata No. 2 in Bb minor, op.36 (1913)

Beethoven: the first Romantic? Discuss. This is the kind of question which was once, and I hope no longer, so beloved of music examination papers. The reason why I hope that it no longer matters as a question is because we have the answer through performances such as the two given tonight. With the benefit of hindsight, and the enthusiasm of youth, Beethoven seems to sit firmly, in his later works, with the romantics. Perhaps it is that our young musicians feel more comfortable in that slightly later period, or perhaps it is simply because his ground-breaking works still have the feel of experimentation, and not classicism, about them.

Whatever the reason the performances we heard tonight were of full-blooded romantic scores, and they felt right and good. The Barbirolli Quartet bear’s the name of Glorious John - a hero of mine from my schooldays when he was particularly kind to me. How he would have loved their playing. They got things started with a vital, virile and forthright performance of the Serioso Quartet, which brought out all the symphonic structuring of the piece. It’s easy to see why Mahler lavished time and attention on it in making his orchestral version. Neither were the light and shade and tenderness neglected and the nose thumbing coda to the finale came off very well indeed. If I have one criticism it is that the slow movement lacked sufficient mystery, but that will come as the Barbirolli’s interpretation ripens, as it most surely will. The Quartet revelled in the Ravel, making it seem the masterpiece it isn’t but should be. There was some lovely playing here, most notably an almost miraculous pianissimo in the second subject of the first movement and a cool poise and calm in the slow movement which incorporated a beautiful seascape in the middle section. The finale was given as a real powerhouse of passion. This was superb stuff.

To be honest, and no disrespect to Ms Firsova, I would have been happy with another hour of the Quartet, but as these Park Lane Group recitals go we have to share and I wouldn’t have wanted to be without Ms Firsova’s programme. The op.109 Sonata in E was given an interesting performance – the first movement’s moments of playfulness contrasted well with the short and violent scherzo, but it is the final set of variations which really test the pianist’s skills. Tonight, Ms Firsova chose to not to characterise each variation separately, rather she brought them together as a whole. Thus when the theme returned at the end it wasn’t as if it had been taken on a long journey which had changed it, it came back as an old friend in the same clothes, and made a somewhat questioning, rather visionary, ending. I have known the original version of Rachmaninov’s 2nd Sonata for many years, but I have never heard it live – only in radio broadcasts and on recordings. I now understand why the composer chose to revise it in 1931, for it is very thickly textured, the pages black with notes, and there are some very Scriabinesque purple passages. Ms Firsova did her very best to make the music clear for us, indeed, it’s hard to imagine a better performance and she gave an exciting and impressive interpretation. Ms Firsova showed us just what a major addition to the piano repertoire it is. We seldom hear the revised version either, not to mention Horowitz’s own version of an amalgamation of both versions which he made in 1942, but I don’t foresee many pianists putting in the work to learn it, and in some ways it’s easy to see why. It’s not just the hair-raising difficulties, it’s a very hard work for an audience to sit through for it is relentless in all three versions. I don’t mean that as a criticism, it’s just that Rachmaninov gives us too much to get to grips with in quite a short time-span. This was a magisterial performance and a tribute to the Park Lane Group in allowing us not just to hear fine, young, musicians at work, but to hear unusual and neglected repertoire. Full praise to them and long may their patronage continue.

Bob Briggs

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