Violin and Piano—Classic

And Classical. On Sunday afternoon, 3/4/12, Yeou-Cheng Ma (violin) and Lisa Weiss (piano) performed a Chaconne (Tommaso Vitali, a composer new to me) and three Sonatas: Mozart, Sonata No. 4 in B-flat Major KV 317d(378); Beethoven, Sonata No. 6 on A Major, Op. 30 No. 1; and Schumann, Sonata in A minor, Op. 105.

The chaconne was a single-movement piece that was bright and energetic—just right for opening the concert. Of the sonatas, the Beethoven was my favorite, followed in order by the Schumann and the Mozart. I guess I should get this out in the open and let the haters take their best shots—I’m not a big Mozart fan. I think part of it is that while I agree that he’s a genius, I start feeling almost defensive when people (broadcasters, online commenters, etc.) venerate every note as genius. Maybe I’m letting the hype trump the music—or letting it trump letting the music speak for itself. Whew! sorry about that.

Anyhoo, while the Mozart was okay, I felt that the Beethoven had more heft to its three movements, ending with an Allegretto con Variazioni whose variations meandered just a wee bit before finishing up. There were a few minor intonation problems in the slower second movement. The Schumann opened with a slightly dark and dramatic feel to it, followed by a song-like and (briefly) dance-like Allegretto. The last movement was marked Lebhaft. I had to look it up, so you get an added bonus in this post:
Origin of LEBHAFT
G, lively, fr. MHG lebehaft alive, fr. leben to live (fr. OHG lebēn) + -haft (adj. suffix).

Interestingly, all three sonatas had a movement that ended with pizzicato playing by the violinist. That’s plucked or strummed strings as opposed to bowed. Throughout, the playing was enjoyable, with a (very) few intonation problems. A shout out to the page turner, who made things run very smoothly for the entire concert (and helped to avoid an almost-train wreck in the Schumann). It was great to see the pianist thank her after the last work. Can you tell I enjoyed this concert better than Tuesday’s?

ConcertMeister