Juilliard Chamber Music: Beethoven, Schumann and Shostakovich

I recently posted about the first chamber music recital I saw at Juilliard's Morse Hall this past Sunday. The second, at 2:30 p.m., was just as exciting as it featured works by Beethoven, Schumann and Shostakovich.

The program opened with Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69 (1808).  Written ten years after the Op. 12 sonatas, the Op. 69 was composed well into Beethoven's middle period at roughly the same time as the Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6 and the Choral Fantasy.  The composer was long past his apprenticeship to Haydn by this point and yet the sonata retains the classical three movement structure and is far more genial than the bulk of Beethoven's output during this period.  The adagio cantabile that opens the final movement is among the loveliest passages Beethoven would compose.  The work is revolutionary, however, in the importance given the cello itself.  From the opening bars that are played by the cello without accompaniment, it is apparent that the instrument has come into its own with this work.  Long relegated to the role of continuo in the Baroque era, the cello is here treated for the first time as a solo instrument.

The performers were cellist Tomsen Su and pianist Johanna Bufler; they were coached by Julian Martin

The next work was Schumann's Piano Quintet in E-flat major Op. 44 (1842). In an earlier post, I compared this piece to the Piano Quartet, Op. 47 and wrote as follows:

"In general, and to oversimplify, the Quintet has a bigger sound that is at times almost symphonic while the Quartet is a more intimate work. The Quintet's opening movement, marked allegro brillante, is designed to impress the listener while the funeral march that follows is the very essence of Romanticism. And at the end is the vibrant finale that is among the finest chamber movements Schumann composed during his short career. In addition, this is the first major piece to pair the piano with string quartet, and Schumann deserves credit for having established with it a new musical genre. It was Mendelssohn, filling in for an ailing Clara Schumann, who premiered the work at a private gathering and his suggestions led Schumann to make a number of revisions before the public premiere (at which Clara did play), but the honors are all due to Schumann himself."

Schumann himself succumbed to madness in 1854 after first having attempted to drown himself in the Rhine.  He died two years later while still institutionalized.

The quintet was performed by Ariel Seung Hyun Lee and Sophia Steger, violins, Frida Oliver, viola, Sanae Kodaira, cello, and Salome Jordania, piano; their coaches were Astrid Schween and Joseph Kalichstein

After intermission, the program resumed with Shostakovich's Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57 (1940). This is without doubt one of the greatest chamber works of the twentieth century and a high point in Soviet musical history. Shostakovich, whose work was so often charged with "formalism," was even awarded a Stalin Prize for his effort. Listening to the piece, it's easy to understand why it was so successful. This a sophisticated modernist work composed in an unusual five-movement format that drives relentlessly forward. At the same time, though, it possesses an emotional range that renders it easily accessible to its audience.

The musicians were Elaine Qianru He and Ariel Seung Hyun Lee, violins, Ao Peng, viola, Jenny Bahk, cello, and Jeong-Min David Kim, piano; they were coached by Joseph Kalichstein and Joel Smirnoff.

It was by now close to 4:30 p.m. and though one work still remained on the program, Elliot Carter's Woodwind Quintet, I felt I had heard enough for one afternoon.  I had reached the point where I was no longer able to appreciate the subtleties of the music and so took early leave.