June 8, 2009: Schubert without Berg

Last night's chamber music recital at Davies Hall was not explicitly part of the Dawn to Twilight festival of the music of Franz Schubert and Alban Berg.  However, Schubert figured heavily on the program;  and the featured soloists, pianist Yefim Bronfman and violinist Julia Fischer, played significant roles in both the first and second programs for this past week of festival offerings.  For the final event in this season's Great Performers Series, Schubert was joined by Robert Schumann, represented at the beginning of the program by his1849 Opus 73 set of three Fantasiestücke for clarinet (Luis Baez) and piano (Bronfman).  Schumann had already applied this title to his Opus 12 piano composition of 1837;  but, while the eight pieces in that set were given programmatic titles, the pieces in Opus 73 are identified only by tempo markings.  Whether or not the later pieces have any "dramatic" or "fantastic" qualities is debatable.  More interesting, particularly in the Dawn to Twilight context, is the extent to which these pieces can be heard as an advance beyond the approach Schubert had taken to the clarinet in "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen" (D. 965).  Like Schubert, Schumann explores a broad spectrum of moods in these three pieces;  but his edges are sharper than those Schubert had honed.  Both Baez and Bronfman caught that edge, providing a compelling reading of one of the more intriguing elements of the clarinet repertoire.

The rest of the evening was Schubert's.  Before the intermission Fischer and Bronfman performed the 1816 D. 385 violin sonata in A minor.  After the intermission they were joined by violist Yun Jie Liu, cellist Peter Wyrick, and bassist Scott Pingel for the 1819 D. 667 quintet in A major ("Trout").  The sonata came from the same year in which Schubert composed his D. 438 A major rondo for violin and strings;  and, in spite of its minor key, the sonata shares many of those graceful elements that Fischer had brought out in the rondo earlier in the week.  Having heard Bronfman take on both Schumann's erratic nature and the extreme virtuosity demanded by Alban Berg, this graceful interlude for what I have called "The Spirit of the Schubertiad" was most welcome.  That Schubertiad ambiance was also very much present in the "Trout" quintet, not only in the high spirits of the music itself but also in the apparent delight of the performers in rendering those spirits.  As I have previously observed, the bass gives this work a decidedly characteristic sound, which tends to elude most recording technology;  so the music is always best appreciated when heard "live."  This time I was particularly struck by the way in which the cello alternates between serving as a melody instrument and supporting the bass line (making for a "two bass hit," if I may shameless appropriate that phrase from Dizzy Gillespie).  As I previously remarked about a performance of Beethoven earlier in the afternoon, this was an approach to Schubert through which one could discover new ways of hearing what one thought was familiar.