“Musical Fireworks” proves masterful, uplifting

Giorgio Koukl | 20 SEP 2021

On Sunday, September 19th, a pleasantly astonishing and surprising concert of real chamber music fireworks took place at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, presented simultaneously to both in-person and virtual audiences by Concerts@First.

The well-chosen opener was the first movement of the Piano Quintet in A Major, op. 81 of Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904), “Allegro ma non tanto.” With its 13 minutes duration, it is a real showcase for the abilities of all interpreters. Written in summer 1887, this was the composer’s second attempt to write a piano quintet, but the only surviving one, as the precedent youth work was considered inadequate by the Czech master. The tempi chosen by the musicians were very lively, the rubato presented with extreme efficacy, and the frequent mood changes expressed at their best. All went well except for a few intonation uncertainties.

Tomaso Vitali’s (1663-1735) Chaconne, which followed, is one of those compositions where serious doubts about the work’s authenticity are declared by the musicology experts. In this case, mainly due to the wild changes of keys, using even B flat minor – a key rarely of ever used in Vitali’s period.

Violinist David Coucheron was accompanied by organist Jens Korndörfer. The organ’s versatility was a surprise; its technical possibilities were best explored by Mr. Korndörfer so as never to be an obstacle to the solo violin with its marvelous cascades of virtuosity passages.

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Next came the first movement, “Allegro,” from the Trio in G major, K.564, of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), written in October 1788 as the last of his piano trios.

Keeping in mind the previously unsurpassed rendering of Kogan, Rostropovich, and Gilels, I followed the clear and qualitatively very high-standard version of David Coucheron, Charae Krueger, and Julie Coucheron with pleasure. They were definitely of no lesser musical quality, even if choosing a rather traditional approach.

The subsequent “explosion” of the fireworks, so to say, was Danza no. 1 by Manuel de Falla (1876-1946), a part of his well-known opera La Vida Breve in an unusual transcription for piano six hands. Written at 26 years only, it is probably the most original of all compositions of the Andalusian composer.

The Danza was a real showpiece. Seeing the tiny place where the three pianists had to move was thrilling and somewhat frightening. Despite the evident “logistical” difficulties, they managed to be perfectly synchronized, and out of the whirlwind of hands, from time to time, someone’s hand emerged to turn the next page. Incredible.

The third movement of the Piano Trio in G minor by Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884), called “Finale, Presto” followed.

This piece has a sad story behind it. Dedicated “in memory of our eldest child Bedřiška, whose rare musical talent gave us such delight; too early snatched from us by death at the age of 4 1/2 years,” the Czech composer wrote it after the death of his most beloved daughter.

For me, this was the best piece of the whole program. The flexibility of the interpretation, united with the thrilling technical skills of Julie Coucheron, created a unity that was genuinely moving and of the highest quality.

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One of the good sides of such a mixed program is the ability to surprise the audience with a new atmosphere and mood.

And so it was with Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) and his Four Seasons of Buenos Aires or to say it in original language, Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas, written in 1965. We could listen to “Summer.” Usually, musicians work with an arrangement by the Russian composer Desyatnikov which introduces a few Vivaldi citations, inverting the seasons to correspond to the southern hemisphere. (Summer would correspond to Vivaldi’s Winter.)

Here, the rendering of Helen Hwaya Kim, Charae Krueger, and Elisabeth Pridgen was a bit too classical despite all its qualities of elegance and sensuality. Some more of wild Argentinian blood would have been good to add.

In his Four Seasons, published in 1725, Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) divides his Summer into three traditional movements “Allegro non molto,” “Adagio,” and “Presto.” The third movement is also called “Thunderstorm.” Well, in Vivaldi’s Italy, it is not snowing like in Buenos Aires.

Violinist David Coucheron delivered a respectable version, well accompanied by his quasi orchestra. The use of piano for the basso continuo is something one needs some time to grow accustomed to. But after a while, this can work, too.

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Tommaso Albinoni (1671-1751) was an unusual composer, son of a wealthy Venetian family, who lived his whole life without struggling to find a generous sponsor or to play publicly, as most of his less lucky contemporaries did. He even refused to join the Venetian professional musicians’ academy (Accademia dei suonatori) as he didn’t like to play in public.

Most of his work was destroyed in World War II during the bombing of Dresden. Mostly known today for his Adagio in G minor, it is quite ironic that this work probably is not his at all. It is composed or “reconstructed” from some surviving fragments found in the Dresden library by Italian musicologist Remo Giazotto, who published it in 1958. Since then, the fortune of this short work rocketed, and today it is a symbol for many uses, like funerals (Margaret Thatcher) or cinematic installments like in the film Rollerball among others.

The rendering in this Atlanta concert was quite an interesting one, de facto demonstrating the extreme flexibility of the beautiful melody.

The last piece of the program, Czardas by Neapolitan maestro Vittorio Monti (1868-1922), was written in 1904 as part of an operetta, Mam’zelle, in an arrangement permitting the majority of the musicians to be on stage. This music is probably the composer’s best-known piece.

Here, at last, the group of musicians had their occasion to deliver us the most hilarious and witty rendering of the concert, visibly enjoying themselves in a sort of “competition” between the three pianists and a dangerous play of violins exchanging the melody flow. The small detail of changing a pianist on a keyboard while playing is a thing few could afford without losing the rhythm.

So bravo to all, firstly for the original choice of music, touching, witty, playful, and uplifting, secondly for the remarkable capacity to change the mood in such an elegant and masterly manner. All visibly of great satisfaction to the public and would certainly deserve to be repeated in the future. ■

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