As usual, without a printed program, my notes are sometimes jumbled. Saturday afternoon had two violinists, Mark Peskanov and Margo Didn’t Catch Her Last Name, and pianist Olga Vinokur.
The concert began with a Telemann Sonata for Two Violins. In three movements, it was interesting in that each movement was a strict canon. The first was bright, yet slightly sober; the second was slower; and the third was brisker than the first, longer, and a little more elaborate.
Mr. Peskanov then played a movement from Bach’s Partita #3 in e minor. It was very brisk with constant rhythmic energy, very intricate, and almost perpetual motion.
Ms. Vinokur joined Mr. Peskanov for the first movement of the Beethoven Kreuzer Sonata. Opening with solo violin, it was slow and solid, in a good way, with the piano contributing to that solidity. A second section was brisker and still dramatic. A song-like section followed but then went back to fast and furious. The entire second section was repeated, with slight variations, then into another powerful, brisk section. After a couple of false endings, it finished with a bang.
Bouncing back to two violins, the pair played the second movement of a Sonata for Two Violins by Jean-Marie Leclair. It was nicely rhythmic and was more of a duo. What I mean is that in the Telemann, the second voice of each canon seemed slightly subservient to the first. In the Leclair, the writing seemed more balanced to me. This may sound strange, but it was cheerful though having hints of sadness and sweetness.
The last piece on the program was a Schubert Fantasie for Violin and Piano. Oddly, it was announced from the stage that it was five short movements. In trying to find out more about the piece, I’ve seen it described as six movements and as four. Some of the inconsistency may be that one of the movements includes variations on a song theme, and the movements have no real breaks between them. But I digress.
The piece opened with rapid piano accompaniment to languid phrases from the violin, romantic in style without being saccharine. I was reminded of a snippet of bird song before being launched into what sounded like a gypsy folk song. The tune then switched to the piano with the violin acting as accompaniment, a solid duet that morphed into a dance-like section that was playful but not frivolous. After what seemed like a chorale tune, we got that previously mentioned Schubert song. Overall, my impression was that the piece had everything there except the kitchen sink, but in a good way, although by going into overdrive, it almost veered into overkill. But it was (as were all of the pieces) received enthusiastically by a very appreciative audience.
ConcertMeister
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