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RECITAL
April 3, 2005
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By William Wellborn
One and one do not always make two. When two high-powered soloists collaborate, the results are not always congenial: the resulting combination of ego and differing musical personalities can easily make for a kind of uneasy musical tug-of-war. Happily, the pairing of the two super-pianists Martha Argerich and Nelson Freire, heard Sunday night by a capacity audience in Davies Hall, provided just the opposite experience. These two artists of the highest caliber exhibited an astonishingly refined and unified musical collaboration. As the two artists have played together for more than twenty years, this is perhaps not surprising, but it is still not to be taken for granted. By any stretch of the imagination, it was a stunning achievement.
It is no news to say that both artists are extraordinary pianists. Argerich has long been either admired or questioned (depending on both your preference and her mood that day) for her mercurial pianism, and Freire, if less controversial, has also enjoyed a most distinguished career. Throughout the evening, Argerich's slightly brighter sound contrasted beautifully with Freire's somewhat more burnished tone quality. The blending of sound and color was often simply ravishing, the aural equivalent of the best bordeaux wine.
The concert opened and concluded with works that are often heard in their more familiar orchestral versions. Johannes Brahms' Variations on a Theme of Haydn was given a light and transparent reading, with none of the turgidity that is often encountered in this work. It was perhaps a “low-fat” Brahms, less traditionally lush and Germanic, but with its own rewards. Argerich's phrasing of the “St. Anthony” chorale theme was phrased with a stylish elegance that recalled its 18th-century origins. Except for a slight muddiness of texture in the first variation, the reading was crisp and clear, lovely in moments of quiet melancholy and exciting in the bursts of kinetic energy.
This refinement and elegance of conception extended to the next work on the program, the brilliant Second Suite for Two Pianos of Rachmaninoff. This work is a calling card of many two-piano teams, but none in my concert-going experience has equaled Argerich and Freire for their combined ease, clarity of execution, sheer beauty of sound, and exuberance. The dense textures were organized and dispatched with the lightness of Mendelssohn, making it possible for once really to hear Rachmaninoff's weaving polyphony. The Waltz was played with a rhythmic flexibility that would have been admirable for one player, much less two. The sound was so beautiful in the Romance that I was reminded of Debussy's idea of a piano sounding without hammers. This was aural equivalent of exquisitely perfumed meringue for the ears. If it is possible to play these two middle movements any better, I would certainly like to hear it. The final Tarantella also emphasized grace, rather than sheer brute force, but there was no lack of fire or rhythmic excitement. Both pianists tossed off the rapid repeated notes and other difficulties without the slightest hint of effort — the mark of true virtuosi. After intermission, the duo offered Lutoslawski's witty and dynamic Variations on a Theme of Paganini. Written in 1941, it exhibits none of the traits we find in his later works, but it is one of his most popular pieces. The composer uses the famous theme from Paganini's 24th Violin Caprice as a backdrop for his own series of virtuosic and witty variations. One was simply dazzled by the pianism, here Argerich's pinpoint staccato projected with lightening clarity, there Freire's artful coloration, and everywhere a sense of infectious rhythmic sweep. Fun from start to finish. Following all of this bravado was the perfect foil, Schubert's intimate Rondo in A Major for one piano, four hands, D. 951. Written in the last year of his life, the work displays none of the angst and world-weariness of the last three sonatas. Freire's shaping of the melodic (he was primo to Argerich's secondo) displayed a vocal fluidity found in only the most supple of singers, and even more rarely in pianists. Their tender and loving approach to this charming work spoke of a different kind of artistry, one which allowed the music to speak simply through the medium of the performer. Saving the best for last, the duo reverted to their individual instruments for Ravel's own two-piano arrangement of La valse. The work begins with a pianistic frisson, and gradually the hint of a waltz emerges from the depths, building steadily to a roaring and thrilling climax. Here Argerich and Freire displayed the range of color and expression that is given only to the greatest artists. The performance, though fiery, maintained that uniquely French sense of detachment, by turns elegant, volatile, exquisite, impulsive, and always with a myriad of shifting sounds and colors. The standing ovation elicited three encores and the hope that we can hear these truly unique artists again in the near future.
(Pianist William Wellborn performs and lectures in the United States and Europe, and from 1995-97 was host of the program "Piano Legacy" on San Francisco station KDFC. Wellborn is on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory, where he teaches courses in piano, piano history, and opera.)
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Martha Argerich
Nelson Freire