Another Impressive Beethoven-Schubert Pairing

Kiveli Dörken, the new pianist performing with Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff (from her Web site)

Readers may recall that this past Saturday evening in Herbst Theatre served up impressive accounts of string quartets by the two “later” composers of the First Viennese School, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. The first half of the program prepared by the Chiaroscuro Quartet began with Franz Schubert’s D. 703 in C minor, identified simply as “Quartettsatz,” followed by Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 95 “Serioso” quartet in F minor. Yesterday afternoon the lightning struck a second time in Herbst, this time for the Chamber Music San Francisco recital performed by the trio of violinist Christian Tetzlaff, cellist Tanja Tetzlaff, and pianist Kiveli Dörken.

This time the program began with the third (and last) of Beethoven’s Opus 1 piano trios, composed in C minor (the only one of the three in a minor key). Schubert then took over the entire second half of the program with his D. 898 (first) piano trio in B-flat major. It is worth noting that the Beethoven selection was one of his earliest compositions, already showing significant departures from past traditions, while D. 898 was composed in 1827, the year of Schubert’s death. These two compositions were separated by a much later undertaking, Antonín Dvořák’s Opus 26 (second) piano trio in G minor, composed in 1876, thus complementing Schubert’s achievement early in that same century.

The original pianist in the Tetzlaff’s trio was Lars Vogt, who died of cancer this past September, three days before his 52nd birthday. Dörken was Vogt’s pupil in her early years, suggesting that her presence amounted to the passing of a torch. That torch is still held high with piano work that consistently blends seamlessly into the interplay of violin and cello. The result amounted to fresh and stimulating accounts of all three of the works on the program. Each of the compositions had its own repertoire of engaging subtleties, not to mention no end of provocative flashes of wit. Thus, no matter how familiar the music may have been from past performances and recordings, there was a spontaneity that kept the attentive listener on the edge of his/her/their seat.

This was definitely a good weekend for the nineteenth century!