Sarah E. Geller, violin; Wenhan Anderson, piano
Sonata in A Major, K. 305 – Allegro di molto; Tema con variazioni – Andante grazioso – W. A. Mozart (1756–1791)
Romance, Op. 23 – Karol Szymanowski (1882–1937)
Sonata in G Major, Op. 13 – Lento doloroso – Allegro vivace; Allegretto tranquillo; Allegro animato – Edvard Grieg (1843–1907)
Mazurka – Commodo e con gracia (from Five Pieces, Op. 81, No. 1); Romance – Andante (from Four Pieces, Op. 78, No. 2) – Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)
Sonata in a minor, Op. 105 – Mit leidenschaftlichem Ausdruck; Allegretto; Lebhaft – Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso – Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)
The first movement of the Mozart had a strong opening, including nice interplay, varied volume and intensity, and more interesting ideas than I usually encounter with Mozart. Maybe I like his chamber music better than his orchestral works? The second movement was gentler, yet still full and had an extended solo piano section. To me, it was almost Bach-like in form, though still more Classical than Baroque. Some of the variations veered almost into the ‘too precious’ Mozart territory for me. And perhaps less would have been better.
The Szymanowsky was interesting, if a little offbeat. I liked it even though it didn’t quite fit into any neat category or niche. It was oddly fascinating.
The first movement of the Grieg was dramatic but not overly flashy. There were varied moods shifting back and forth, though it was hard to figure out how they worked together. It was interesting, if a little strange. The second movement began with a solo piano opening that was then followed by the violin repeating the theme and other motifs. And there were strong and effective phrases followed by shifting moods that worked pretty well together followed by a bit of a strange ending. The final movement was dance like and fun—a welcoming, weird waltz that also had a few slightly darker sections before returning to its bright and sunny ending.
The first Sibelius piece was slightly on the dark side and included some virtuosic touches, as well as some strange twists and turns that I liked. The second was like a song and was very pretty to listen to even with its lightly melancholic feel.
The beginning of the Schumann was a bit (though barely) dark yet also a bit fiery. And there were touches of sweetness, too. As I was writing that it ran a bit too long for me, it abruptly ended. The second movement was absolutely lovely from the very beginning. The middle section was energetic—almost too much so—and though it was a little disjointed, I kept liking it, especially its lovely arpeggiated ending. The last movement was very brisk, even from section to section. Even though the sections seemed not to mesh well, I nevertheless liked the music.
The Saint-Saëns began very sweetly, in an almost sad way, though also with some complexity. Next, it launched into a bravura section that started out fairly simply and then kept building. I just sat back and enjoyed it. It’s a showoff piece that, in this case, also showed the techniques that are very difficult to bring off. I think I would have liked not seeing the techniques as much as I did. But it still was a fun piece to end the concert with.
When I began writing this post, I added a note to myself to check whether I'd seen these artists before. Indeed I have, at least once. I wrote a blog post about the two of them performing together on October 31, 2015. My memory is still (somewhat) functional.
ConcertMeister
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