Yesterday afternoon in Davies Symphony Hall, the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) presented the penultimate program in its series of six chamber music recitals. The second half of the program was devoted entirely to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Opus 50 piano trio in A minor, while the first half served as a “bridge” between the late twentieth century and works from the previous decade. As usual, most of the performers were SFS members, joined by pianist Elizabeth Dorman, who would be familiar to those attending these chamber music performances regularly. There were also a “guest appearances” by Evan Kahn, Principal Cello in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and guitarist Steven Lin.
Kahn performed in the Tchaikovsky trio, along with Dorman and violinist Chen Zhao. I have to confess that, in my personal hierarchy of the Tchaikovsky catalog, this trio has gradually risen above all of the symphonies and overtures. It is a lengthy undertaking, due primarily to the middle movement, which is an extended series of highly diverse variations on a relatively basic classical theme. In the printed program for this performance, the final variation is listed as a movement unto itself, which completes the composition with a reflection on the opening theme, followed by a dark funeral march.
All three of the performers gave this music all of the interpretative passion they could muster. Thus, while the “ride” through the score was a long one, it abounded with a wide spectrum of dispositions, all of which were given just the right level of expressiveness by the performers. The journey through Opus 50 may have been a long one, but there was never a dull moment.
The three recent compositions in the first half were presented in reverse chronological order. There first of these was Durwynne Hsieh’s 2013 Four Duos, which amounted to a (four-movement) suite for cello (David Goldblatt) and guitar (Lin). To some extent the movements reminded me of the short compositions that Virgil Thomson wrote as “portraits” of his friends and acquaintances. (Indeed, the first of the duos is entitled “Portrait of Professor X.”) However, brevity was the soul of wit behind each of Thomson’s portraits, while each of Hsieh’s movements felt like it would go on forever (even when the clock may have declared otherwise). Nevertheless, there was no faulting the efforts of cellist David Goldblatt to evoke a stimulating interpretation in partnership with Lin.
This was followed by a late (2011) composition by Krzysztof Penderecki. Those of my generation had our “first contact” with this composer when encountering his “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima.” Scored for a large ensemble of strings, each with its own individual part, the dissonances could not have been more bone-chilling. Fortunately, the composer mellowed with age. Violinist Jessie Fellows performed his 2011 “Duo Concertante” with Daniel G. Smith on bass. Their account was downright playful, making for a refreshing relief from Hsieh’s long-winded rhetoric.
Smith then returned to play the first and last movements of the Concert Duo that Edgar Meyer (himself a virtuoso bass player) composed in 1999. The other instrument in this duo was a violin, played by David Chernyavsky. Back when my wife and I were going to performances in New York, we often encountered Meyer’s bass recitals, which were almost always in that “downright playful” category. Scoring this duo for extremes was clearly part of Meyer’s playfulness, and both Chernyavsky and Smith had no trouble getting into the spirit of things.
Taken as a whole, the program was a journey worth taking; and the trio performance definitely reinforced my conviction that this was Tchaikovsky at his best!
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