Town Hall, NYC. Orchestra (Seat N117, $15.45).
Program
Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major, Op. 78 (1879) by Brahms (1833-1897).
Out of Doors, Sz. 81 (1926) by Bartok (1881-1945).
Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 7 (1997) by Fazil Say (b. 1970).
Per the Program, both Lewis and Ozel are up and coming musicians. They were recent Avery Fisher Grant winners, which put them in great company.
I have loved the Brahms G Major sonata since I studied it in high school. It was the first "complete" work I played, with a conservatory student playing the piano. I still remember my mother - not a great fan of classical music - telling me how nice the melody sounded.
Lewis explained this as a work expressing Brahms's love for Clara Schumann. Their relationship is also a mysterious and possibly sad one. However, by the time the sonata was finished, Robert Schumann had been dead for over 20 years, and Brahms and Clara probably had parted ways (permanently) by then. Thus I find it unlikely Clara Schumann commented on it the way Lewis described it: that she would want the third movement to accompany her to the next life. Makes for an wistful story, though; and certainly more intriguing than simply calling that movement "raindrop."
All that aside, it was an enjoyable performance. My only "wish" would be for a louder violin.
Bartok's piece "Out of Doors" was for piano only. And it was Ozel's turn to talk about it before the performance. With his reputation of being an ethnomusicologist, it's no surprise that there were considerable folk elements in the Bartok piano suite. Ozel gave a brief description of each of the movements. I. With Drums and Pipes - Pesante, just as the title suggests; II. Barcarolla - Andante, boatman's song; III. Musettes - Moderato, (I forget); IV. The Night's Muse - Lento - Un poco piu andante, what you expect to hear at night; V. The Chase - Presto, galloping horses. That helped considerably with my appreciation of how the music progressed.
Ozel also described how he heard and fell in love with Say's sonata at a very young age, and that he asked the piece be put into today's program. The names of the movement certainly correlated well with how the music sounded, and Ozel described it as a romp (my word) through the Anatolian landscape. Since I have never been to that part of Turkey (not completely true as I did visit some cities once), I will have to take his word for it. The movements are: I. Melancholy - Andante mysterioso, II. Grotesque - Moderato scherzando; III. Perpetuum Mobile - Presto; IV. Anonymous - Andante; and V. Melancholy (Da Capo) - Andante mysterioso.
One way to characterize the piece is a Mozart sonata on steroids. In two senses: first, the piano part clearly dominates in terms of what the audience hears; and second, the violin part is extremely difficult, I am sure the piano part is equally virtuosic. I can like the piece if I get a chance to be more familiar with it.
The astute observer will notice there are two more pieces in the program which I didn't describe. I left after the Say piece. Not because I wasn't enjoying the concert, it's that there were other things on my mind. The day started quite early in Hackensack, I had an evening meeting, and I hadn't eaten anything since toast for breakfast. Together with being back from Europe just a few days ago, and that this would be a busy week, I just didn't want to miss the 4:07 pm train. Given what I heard, I am sure the last two pieces would also be nicely done.
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