Max Bruch: Romanza for Viola in F Major, Op. 85
Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night)
Pauline Buet: Cello
Charlotte Chahuneau: Violin
Raphaël Jacob: Violin
Sarah Jacob: Cello
Jérémy Pasquier: Viola
Stéphanie Réthoré: Viola
About twenty-four hours after our first of the two concerts organized by Les musicales (The musical events) association, my mom and I were back at the same time and place, and possibly the same seats, for another evening of exciting compositions performed by top-notch musicians right next door to her place, and we were thrilled to share that second special occasion with our other friend named Jacqueline and her husband Jacques, as well as my mom’s new neighbor Anne-Marie.
Even if the attractive venue was not quite as packed as the night before, probably due to Nathanaël Gouin’s absence from the stage (but not from the audience!) and the organization had not really improved (At least this time we knew where to go to help ourselves with programs), the audience was sizable and the atmosphere congenial. And then it was onward and forward with the music on that fine Thursday night.
And to kick things off in the barest and grandest possible way, we had fearless violinist Raphaël Jacob tackle no less than Johann Sebastian Bach’s monumental Chaconne. Allegedly in order to commemorate his wife’s death, the composer took inspiration from a Spanish tune and came up with one of the most stringently constructed and emotionally dazzling pieces in classical music. Climbing the Himalaya of the violin repertoire with plenty of assurance and dexterity, Jacob commandingly conveyed the somber drama and deep spirituality of the relentlessly daunting life and death ride, and incidentally opened the concert with a resounding bang all by himself (with a little help from Bach).
Max Bruch is of course famous for his first violin concerto, whose immense popularity has never shown any signs of slowing down, to the composer’s never-ending frustration. That said, he was far from being a one-hit wonder, and if none of his other works has fared as well, his Romanza for Viola remains a lovely tribute to the often-neglected instrument. This was particularly clear on Thursday night, when violist Jérémy Pasquier impeccably starred in the one-movement composition while being solidly accompanied by the tight ensemble made of his buddies playing in semi-circle around him.
Since it had been decided that there would not be an intermission after all, we moved right into a resolutely downsized version of Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, a beautiful tone poem that is both lushly romantic and boldly inventive, and revealing a little more than a passing hint of Schoenberg’s ground-breaking endeavors to come. Unsurprisingly, it did not take me long to realize that while this bare-boned Transfigured Night by default did not have the multi-layered texture and countless details of the orchestral original, it still had the capacity to wrap its captive audience into its inconspicuously mesmerizing embrace, as it sure did.
So much so, in fact, that we did not mind that much when no encore was offered. As one of the violists for the evening—and Les musicales’ founder and musical director—Stéphanie Réthoré pointed out, what can you play after THAT?
No comments:
Post a Comment