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June 18, 2016
"Here is a composer...who is quite uninfluenced by most of the currents and countercurrents of 'modernity' that are troubling the musical waters these days".
One can only assume that this remark of Richard Aldrich — NY Times music critic from 1902-23 — about Ernst von Dohnányi was intended as a compliment, although in an age apparently in love with modernity per se, it could easily be misunderstood.
Dohnányi's posthumous reputation has certainly not been helped by his steadfast refusal to jump onto any of the twentieth century's various musical bandwagons (he died in 1960). And yet his music, when one gets the opportunity to hear it, reveals a hugely talented, melodically-gifted, albeit conservative, composer.
It was particulary gratifying, then, that Saturday's third Eine Kleine Summer Music programme included Dohnányi's opus one, his Piano Quintet No.1, composed and first performed in 1895, while he was still a student at the Hungarian National Academy. It came to the attention of Johannes Brahms, who immediately arranged for a Viennese performance at which he played the piano part himself.
Brahms also remarked of the quintet that "I could not have written it better myself" (on the basis of Brahms' own Op.34, I'd venture to suggest that he could not even have written it as well, but that is, of course, just my opinion).
Lorraine Min, Terence Tam, Julian Vitek, Kenji Fusé and Laura Backstrom closed the afternoon's music-making with an inspired performance of the quintet.
The first movement built inexorably from its calm opening to a rapturous climax and dramatic close. The playing from all parties — excellently balanced — was as impassioned as one could have desired.
The spirited, elfin scherzo, with its gently swaying trio, was delightful, while the slow movement was one long melodic outpouring. The exquisite accompanied viola solo which opened the movement made one regret that Dohnányi did not compose a sonata for the instrument.
Although Brahms is usually — rightly — cited as the main influence on the quintet, Schumann also gets a nod in the shape of the main theme of the finale, a somewhat lumpish figure which feels rather four-square; a considerable achievement in light of the movement's main 5/4 rhythm. I should, though, in all fairness point out that lumpish and four-square though the theme may be, it is of such instant memorability that it is still running through my head as I write this, days later.
Perhaps Dohnányi's inspiration in this movement was on a slightly lower level than in the previous three, but the cello-led fugato was rather fun and the rousing coda (no doubts as to where it began) brought the piece and the afternoon to a joyful close.
A request: more Dohnányi please.
There are some pieces of music which seem to be completely perfect, not necessarily the most profound works, but those in which one feels that changing even a single note would diminish them.
One such, for me, is Schubert's "Trout" Quintet. Another is Ravel's sole string quartet, which closed the first half of Saturday's programme.
The account of the quartet by Tam, Vitek, Fusé and Backstrom was a fine one indeed, characterised by excellent tonal coloration and first-class ensemble.
For me the outstanding movement was the lush, languid Tres lent, which my notes summed up with the single word "lovely".
The lively finale — like the Dohnányi, in 5/4 (be honest, how often does one hear two movements in quintuple-time in a single concert?) — made clear, more than in many performances, the thematic connection to the earlier movements. It was also quite thrilling.
Sergei Rachmaninov's Trio Élégiaque No.1 is also a student work, the reason for whose title remains something of a mystery.
Despite the composer's youth, it is a work well worth the occasional outing, particuilarly when this convincingly played. Although the harmonies are less lush than in much of his mature music, some would not necessarily consider this a shortcoming.
Min, Tam and Backstrom opened the programme with a performance which played the work's volatility to the hilt and maintained the listener's interest until the sombre close.
A thoroughly enjoyable an satisfying afternoon.
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