Blind violinist Takayoshi Wanami lists David Oistrakh
and Joseph Szigeti as his teachers. An impressive duo, and his long
career (his Wigmore debut, for example, was in 1969) has brought with
it its fair share of competition triumphs. He enjoys a duo partnership
with pianist Mineko Tsuchiya that has been extant for the past 25 years.
This duo presented a varied programme to a well-filled
Wigmore (augmented, unsurprisingly, by a clutch of labrador guide dogs
who deserve a mention for their impeccable behaviour). Although the
five listed composers might work well on paper, the overall impression
was that the Beethoven was something of a token gesture: despite some
stylish and imaginative piano playing from Tsuchiya, Wanami’s tone was
frequently coarse and grating (uncomfortably so, it has to be said).
Subtlety was missing in the Andante, and there was little or no grazioso
element to the finale. A disappointment, and one it took a while to
recover from.
The inclusion of Takemitsu was perhaps predictable,
and the juxtaposition of his perfumed sound-world of ‘From far beyond
Chrysanthemums and November Fog’ (1983) against that of the Beethoven
of 1798 should have been a success. However, despite Tsuchiya’s adequately
misty gestures, Wanami’s approximate harmonics detracted from the beautiful
harmonies, as did his inappropriately disjunct cadenza. It was only
in the Janácek Violin Sonata (1913) that any sense of moving
into the essence of the music emerged: the simplicity of the second
movement Ballade, with its almost Debussian textures, lingered particularly
in the memory.
The Ysaye Sonata for Solo Violin No. 2, Op. 27 No.
2 (1924) was a brave way to start the second half. If there seemed to
be evidence of an improved tone in the upper registers, tuning tended
to slip. This piece makes frequent and effective reference to the Dies
irae in all of its movements (it forms the basis of the variation third
movement) and Wanami highlighted this well. The Franck Violin Sonata
made an effective partner to the Ysaye, and here Tsuchiya came in to
her own, particularly in the tricky second movement (Allegro). She also
added an appropriate depth to her tone, which was established right
from the very opening chords. True, more fantasy would have been welcome
from both players throughout, but this remained the highlight of a mixed
recital.
Colin Clarke