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RECITAL REVIEW
A Passionate Romantic, Wandering Far
March 12, 2001
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By Michael Fiday
The recital given by violinist Kyung-Wha Chung and pianist Itamar Golan on Monday of last week at Davies Symphony Hall proved to be a fascinating study in the limits of romantic interpretation. Whereas the second half of the program (featuring works by Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff) found the performers right at home, the first half presented distinct challenges as to how romantic interpretation comes to bear on Neoclassical-period Stravinsky (with its intended sense of objectivity and emotional reserve) and the music of Bach (given the predominance of "authentic performance practice" in Baroque repertoire). It is here that the performers took interpretive risks, some of which paid off better than others.
Stravinsky's Duo Concertant for violin and piano, completed in 1931, consists of five brief movements, some of whose titles (Eglogue, Dithyrambe) refer to Greek poetry, in keeping with the Neoclassical profile. The duo gave a thoroughly poetic reading, from the declamatory opening and taut drama of the opening Cantilène to the brightness of Eglogue I (reminiscent of the "Shrovetide Fair" section of Petrushka, complete with a folkish children's tune played in canon), to the final cathartic statement of the concluding Dithyrambe.
The issue of interpretation did raise its head: The slow melody in Eglogue II contained too much schmaltz for my taste, and I'm not sure I want to hear portamento used in this work, or in any Stravinsky for that matter. But if any work of Stravinsky's could be successfully injected with a romantic sensibility it would be this one, particularly in the Dithyrambe, which itself translates as "an exalted or impassioned statement." Here the work came to a passionate climax, with Golan striking resonant, bell-like chords before the opening theme recurred softly, dying away in a whisper.
Those expecting a "stylistically sensitive" performance of Bach's masterly D Minor Partita would have been disappointed. Chung's rendering was passionate and impetuous, and though I was hardly expecting to hear Sigiswald Kuijken or the like, her interpretation was over-the-top at points. The elasticity of tempo with which she approached the opening Allemande and the beautiful third-movement Sarabande, for example, had too much of a stop-and-go quality to it, creating a sensation of falling off a cliff mid-phrase. Though rubato is certainly not unwelcome in Bach's unaccompanied violin works, it is best used at certain well-chosen moments and with a sense that an underlying pulse ticks away, even when you step out of it. There were two interpretive risks taken with regard to form. First, each of the first four dance movements consists of two halves, and each of them gets a repeat. Whereas most performers typically decide either to take them all or not, Chung took the repeat of the first half but not that of the second. This left me with a clear impression of the first half, but only a vague recollection of the second. A more successful risk was taken at the end of the Gigue, where Chung went straight into the final Chaconne without pause. The Gigue became a fast, virtuosic prelude to the monumental Chaconne, whose expansive drama was heightened all the more because we were thrust into it with such velocity. A nice trick — and one that worked! The emotional breadth and clear design of the Chaconne were grippingly rendered But again the interpretation suffered from occasional excess, particularly during the climactic points, which were simply too harsh and jarring.
The second half of the program found the duo on more comfortable ground, beginning with an inspired reading of Prokofiev's First Violin Sonata. This was romanticism in the best sense of the word: rich, versatile, intelligent and full of contrast. The opening Andante assai is a brilliant invention, predominantly dark in shade, with its opening theme in the low register of the piano reminiscent of the opening of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra. The closing section of this movement was strikingly composed and executed. Golan's soft chordal passages provided a backdrop over which Chung played soft, rapid filigree, then sharp, stark pizzicato passages. The Allegro Brusco was brusque indeed, with its "knock-knock" theme hammered out in percussive piano work and double down-bows in which grinding half-steps figure prominently. Here the ensemble work and communication were at their best, featuring some stellar work on the part of Golan. The duo was equally at home in the Rachmaninoff Two Pieces, Op. 6, with the opening Romance beautifully and contemplatively played and the deliciously vulgar Hungarian Dance providing an apt vehicle for Chung's "dig down to the bottom of the string" approach. The audience's appreciation was reciprocated by not one, not two, but three encores. Most striking was the second: a violin and piano arrangement of the opening section of Stravinsky's Petrushka, arranged by Samuel Dushkin (for whom the previous Duo Concertant was composed). The number exists in a solo piano version arranged by Stravinsky himself, but this version proved equally successful, with the violin providing the bright, jangly edge the piece requires. This was preceded by Debussy's brief and vaporous Beau Soir and followed by a considerably schmaltzy rendition of Dvorák's Humoreske, which found beginning violin students throughout Davies air-bowing in unison. (Michael Fiday, a former instructor at West Chester and Temple Universities in Philadelphia, is a composer and a relatively recent transplant to the San Francisco Bay Area.) ©2001 Michael Fiday, all rights reserved |