Violin, and Piano, and Violin and Piano (9/7/13)

Saturday’s Bargemusic concert was attended by approximately 60 people—the largest audience I’ve seen there. Mark Peskanov started us off with two movements from the Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001 for solo violin, by J.S. Bach. The Adagio was fairly gentle and played very well. The Fuga (Allegro) followed, including finger work fireworks. He then switched gears and played the Partita #3 (also for solo violin), which was in the form of a waltz. He seems very comfortable playing sans accompaniment.

He then introduced pianist Olga Vinokur, who treated us to some solo piano music by Russian composers. She started with four pieces by Alexander Scriabin—I’m not sure whether they were related pieces or four movements from a single work. I am mostly familiar with Scriabin from his highly atonal works, but these were much more lyrical and reminiscent of Chopin’s style of composition. The first piece was calm and fairly lush, with what seemed to be a little more structure than some of the French Romantic/Impressionist styles. The next piece had rippling arpeggios in the left hand and also in some of the right hand lines and phrases, with a brighter tempo and intensity of volume. The third piece opened with some real bombast, followed by a calming section. The final piece had a very rapid tempo and used fiery finger work.

She followed the Scriabin with a movement from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Moment Musicaux. It opened with repetitive figures in the bass line with block chords in the phrases above, from the right hand, followed by more of the rippling writing, as heard in the Scriabin. It had a nice overall shape with a gentle section, then fuller, and a return to a gentle ending.

Ms. Vinokur and Mr. Peskanov then joined forces in the Violin Sonata No. 8, Opus 30, No. 3, by Ludwig van Beethoven. The first movement was bright and sunny, with a few flourishes of drama thrown in for good measure. It had quite a brisk tempo with some driving accompaniment in the piano writing. The second movement, fashioned as a minuet, had song-like (cantabile) writing for the violin with gentler, yet still driving, accompaniment. A brief little “oom-pah-pah” section followed, concluding with a nice interplay of melody in the piano with a countermelody from the violin. The final movement had a very, very brisk opening—a perpetual motion feeling, especially in the piano—that kept the drive going, then a race to the finish. This was a very fun piece in a very fine performance.

These two obviously like performing together, and it shows. Bargemusic is a great standby for a Saturday afternoon culture fix.

ConcertMeister