The Taneyev Festival at the Wigmore Hall was inspired
by Steven Isserlis' desire to showcase the music of an
obviously neglected master, and I can only use that last phrase, since
this composer was not previously known to me, or indeed to most of the
rest of the audience. Isserlis says that for him, the point of having
a Festival is to highlight works which would not otherwise be heard,
not to celebrate composers who already have "good P.R.," and it is immensely
to his credit and that of the Hall's management that they were prepared
to take a chance in organising three concerts based around such a relatively
obscure composer. Of course, it helped that Isserlis had gathered around
him an extraordinary collection of fellow enthusiasts, from the young
Daniel Müller-Schott to the veteran Ivry Gitlis.
The opening work was Taneyev's String Quintet No.
1 in G major, and what a fascinating work it is. Direct, passionate
and fiery, it has overtones of the works of many other composers, most
notably Schubert and Rimsky-Korsakov, yet its most striking characteristic
is its individuality; this is vigorous, densely textured music which
might best be described as attempting to fuse the Germanic and Russian
traditions, with some success. Taneyev was a highly academic, learned
musician, who Tchaikovsky described as ".the greatest master of counterpoint
in Russia..." and this mastery is evident throughout the Quintet, which
is nevertheless extraordinarily accessible on first hearing, thanks
to its variety and lyrical qualities.
Using the Schubert division of instruments rather
than the Mozart, the Quintet begins with a highly spirited Allegro incorporating
elements of folk-song as well as more obviously classical elements,
and continuing with a series of variations within which the players
function as temporary virtuosi; the ninth one is perhaps the most original,
with its strangely angular style, but the final one is the most beautiful
- parts of it have that juxtaposition of serenity and anxiety normally
associated with Schubert. This innovative, advanced, complex music manages
to delight the ear on first hearing as well as challenge the intellect,
and I look forward to learning more about this fascinating composer
who was such a profound influence on his contemporaries.
Isserlis and his collaborators played it with tremendous
gusto, commitment and passion, despite one or two awkward moments in
ensemble between the violins, and it was highly entertaining to watch
the differing performing styles on display, Kuusisto equalling Isserlis
in his flamboyant stage manner at one extreme, and Müller-Schott
playing with beautiful serenity at the other.
The second work was Tchaikovsky's A minor Piano Trio,
which Ivry Gitlis had, amazingly, learnt especially for this performance.
Whether or not this would account for his less than ideal playing is
a matter of conjecture, but his style seems rather reminiscent of a
bygone age, especially in its method of attack. The violin dominated
the overall sound, although in the lovely, poignant slow movement he
did manage to rein himself in to produce some flowing tone. Some of
the violin/'cello dialogues were affected by the violin's off-pitch
sourness, although Isserlis never once looked as though the experience
was anything other than rapturous. The pianist Nelson Goerner
provided solid, musical support throughout, especially in the challenging
fifth variation.
The audience gave the Taneyev an ecstatic reception,
and rightly so, for this exciting work was played with real verve and
that all-too-rare sense of excited partisanship, but the Tchaikovsky
was received with a somewhat less unified attitude; amongst the applause
and cheering there was a fair amount of booing, too, occasioned presumably
by the wayward playing of the first violin. Such frankness, or if you
prefer, rudeness, is infrequent at the Wigmore, mainly because the quality
of the performers is usually such that one is more often compelled to
stand up and cheer, and indeed much of this evening's music-making reached
that kind of excellence.
Melanie Eskenazi
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