Daniil Trifonov, piano; and Kremerata Baltica. April 25, 2018.

Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall.  Balcony Center (Seat D107, $48).

Program

Variations on “La ci darem la mano” from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Op. 2 (1827; arr. Andrei Pushkarev) by Chopin (1810-49).

Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 8 (1828-1829) by Chopin.

Mazurka in A Minor, Op. 17, No. 4 (1833; arr. Victor Kissine) by Chopin.

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11 (1830; arr. Yevgeny Sharlat) by Chopin.

Chung Shu had an extra ticket for the event, and asked me to come along.

I have chosen not to label this as an “all-Chopin” program since all but one of the compositions were arrangements by subsequent composers.  The Playbill “At a Glance” tries to defend these arrangements as ‘stand[ing] on solid ground,” as during Chopin’s time composers “adopted a flexible approach to instrumentation.”  Composers that day might have written the parts knowing what instruments were available, to say substituting a viola for a clarinet would be what Chopin would have done had the clarinet not been available to him is close to nonsense.  I am fine with arrangements, just don’t pretend the original composer would have been fine with them.

I didn’t know Chopin had written any instrumental chamber music. Wikipedia returns four, with tonight’s piece being the only trio.  Most of the work reminded me of Mozart’s violin sonatas, which some people characterize, with justification, as piano solos with violin accompaniment.  That was especially true with the first two movements (Allegro con fuoco and Scherzo: Vivace); the strings had more prominent roles in the last two (Adagio sostenuto and Finale: Allegretto).  My appreciation of chamber music is limited, so while I get how the different instruments interacted with one another, I don’t quite get how the movements are constructed.  This was my first encounter with Gidon Kremer (on record, anyway), and he came across quite weak.  Not so much the volume – which was a problem – but also intonation and command of basic techniques like keeping the bow on the strings.  The principal cellist Giedre Dirvanauskaite did much better with her part.  I suspect most people’s attention were focused on Trifonov’s playing, which was justified.  Interesting, the annotator’s view of the movements is diametrically opposite to mine, he thinks the piano seems to be held in check in the first two movements, and takes the initiative in the last two.  I will grant that I have listened to this trio all of one time.

Gidon Kremer, Daniil Trifonov and Giedre Dirvanauskaite after performing the Chopin Trio.

The mazurka is a short 4-minute piece, for tonight arranged for a solo violin and a string orchestra.  It was pleasant enough.  Unfortunately it cemented for me how weak a violinist Kremer is.

The concert began with a set of variations on one of Mozart’s well-known themes from Don Givanni, the seduction scene. It began with an Introduction (Largo – poco piu mosso) that was hardly related to the theme.  After a statement of the theme (Allegretto) there is a set of five variations: Brillante; Veloce, ma accuratamente; Sempre sostenuto; Con bravura; and Adagio – Alla polacca, each a different showcase for the pianist’s techniques.  As I heard this work for the first time, my attention was mostly paid to the piano parts.

Chopin’s first piano concerto when Chopin was 20 years old, and he expressed at some point the sentiment that it was “far too original and I shall end up not being able to learn it myself.”  I have heard it a couple of times, once performed by Lang Lang.  Tonight Trifonov was as impressive as expected.  I particularly enjoy the second movement, especially the beginning, it was simply movingly done.  (In contrast, my blog entry of the Lang Lang performance said I was falling asleep due to jet lag.)  The three movements are (i) Allegro maestoso; (ii) Romance: Larghetto; and (iii) Rondo: Vivace.

After performing Chopin's First Piano Concerto.

This is also the piece that I felt the orchestration was inadequate.  The viola is a nice sounding instrument, but not enough to fill in the parts originally written for woodwinds.  Oftentimes the sections play multiple lines to mimic the full orchestration, resulting in a thin and weak sound from the ensemble as a whole: we sometimes look for conflicts between the soloist and the orchestra.  One can make all kinds of excuses about how small a population the orchestra members are from, but at the end it is not that great an organization.  (Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia have a total population of about 6 million.)

I wonder how often Trifonov’s name is used to sell tickets.  That was distinctly the case with Goerne the baritone; Goerne was a great singer.  In this case without Trifonov the orchestra would just be one of the many so-so ones.  It should be noted that the orchestra performs without a conductor.

I got to the area at around 6:30 pm, and found plenty of parking on Columbus.  I gladly paid the $14 for the 4 hours that I parked.  After walking up to Lincoln Center to exchange a couple of tickets, I had “lamb on salad” again at Robert Tucker Park. The drive home with CS was straightforward.