Piano & Violin (10/15/15)

Raskin & Fleischmann performed at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York recently. Philippe Raskin, piano, and Johannes Fleischmann, violin, presented a varied and interesting program.

Sonata for Piano and Violin in E minor, KV 304 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Phantasy for Violin with Piano Accompaniment, op. 47 – Arnold Schönberg
Matsushima Fantasy, op. 21 – Christoph Ehrenfellner
Sonata for Violin and Piano in E-flat major, op. 18 – Richard Strauss

The first movement of the Mozart opened with the piano and violin playing completely in unison followed by an interesting mix of phrases and filigree. At times, repeated chords were used to drive the rhythm forward. The second movement was fairly gentle, yet still with forward energy, just not some of the heavy, dramatic type of the first movement. I rather enjoyed this sonata. Schönberg’s Phantasy was atonal from the very beginning. It was sort of playful but very harsh—even when the violin phrases were longer and smoother, there was still an awful lot of dissonance. Although it was played well, I didn’t really enjoy it.

Christoph Ehrenfellner’s fantasy had a dramatic opening for solo piano, with deep, full chords. This was followed by long, dramatic lines for solo violin, then for violin with piano accompaniment. The piece was definitely modern—contemporary classical, I’d say—but not quite as jarring as the Schönberg. I also heard hints of a “water music” feeling along the lines of some dramatic Debussy. This was followed by separate sections that were connected in a cohesive way. There was a brief pizzicato section, one section that was bombastic and frantic, and then the piece closed with a section that had the sound that I can best describe as breathing on the strings. For a modern, contemporary piece, this one came off pretty well.

From the pen of 23-year-old Richard Strauss, the sonata’s first movement opened with a full, quasi-Romantic sound. You could really hear and sense the beginnings of the passion that would show up later in his operas. It was rather lengthy and had some themes that kept recurring from time to time. The second movement had a sweet tone to begin with. In general, it was very pretty and accessible in terms of just sitting back and listening. A slightly more rhythmic and dramatic section followed before returning, and ending, gently and tuneful. There was a martial feel to the beginning of the finale. The movement had lots of energy, even when settling into more tuneful sections. And there were many different types of ideas floating around—maybe too many? Still, it was a very nice piece, once again showcasing the more fully developed composer that Strauss would become.

After a bit of rhythmic clapping, the type that European-style audiences are so fond of, the duo played a couple of improvised encores. Even though they were improvised, the pair seemed to have a too pat rapport—I have a feeling that their improvisations are almost slightly scripted. Nevertheless, it was a very interesting program played by two very talented musicians.

ConcertMeister