United States Various: Anton Nel (piano), Peter Wyrick (cello). Gunn Theatre at Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 4.12.2022. (HS)
Beethoven – Cello Sonata, Op.69
Debussy – from Préludes Book 2
Chopin – Ballade No.3
Shostakovich – Cello Sonata in D minor, Op.40
It was to be a celebration of piano trios however the violinist, Alexander Barantschik, took sick, so cellist Peter Wyrick and pianist Anton Nel got here up with what turned out to be a stellar live performance on Sunday afternoon. It was the primary on this 12 months’s San Francisco Symphony chamber music collection which is designed to function a particular violin.
The collection, within the intimate confines of the Gunn Theater on the Legion of Honor, began after Jascha Heifetz bequeathed his 1742 Guarneri del Gésu violin to San Francisco’s Fine Arts Museums (the Legion and the De Young). The museums, in flip, loaned the fiddle to San Francisco Symphony for its concertmaster to play. A provision requires that it’s performed in chamber music on the Legion’s 316-seat Belle Epoque auditorium 4 instances a 12 months.
Since 2002, Barantschik and principal cellists and violists from the orchestra have teamed up with Nel, who flies in from his dwelling base in Austin, Texas, for the live shows, that are normally constructed round trios and quartets. Rather than cancel when Barantschik grew to become sick, Wyrick and Nel put their heads collectively and got here up with a difficult and satisfying lineup.
It was all good, however the spotlight was the cheeky Shostakovich cello sonata that changed the Shostakovich Piano Trio No.2, which had been programmed because the finale. The sonata shared a few of the similar stylistic parts because the trio, which famously begins with a haunting cello solo performed solely on eerie harmonics. In the sonata, the harmonics seem in a spooky sequence when the cellist performs them sliding up and down the strings. Wyrick even managed to make the person pitches sound clearly.
With only some days to organize the sonata, which the 2 had by no means performed collectively, their strategy to the jaunty rhythms and unanimity in modifications of tempo, to not point out splendid dynamic balances, felt like they had been completely on the identical web page. Although the music requires virtuosity, there was by no means a way of displaying off, simply channeling all of it right into a unified and fully pleasant complete.
Although this sonata and the trio it changed share loads of examples of Shostakovich’s punchy rhythms, typically for sardonic comedian impact, the sonata isn’t practically as darkish because the trio. It made for a juicy end to a live performance full of dazzling music.
The different sonata, Beethoven’s Op.69, is acquainted and justifiably fashionable. It displays Beethoven in a cheerful, reflective temper that celebrates the fantastic thing about the sounds the 2 devices can conjure. It additionally options plenty of pleasant interaction, particularly within the back-and-forth of the primary motion. Wyrick and Nel reveled within the contrasts between the candy opening music and the sterner and louder responses that got here subsequent, because the sections alternated, generally unexpectedly. A pervading sense of improvisation made all of it work properly.
The remainder of the sonata unfolded gracefully, and it completed with a flourish.
For his solo contributions, Nel turned first to Debussy for 3 preludes from Book 2. The cakewalk danced with wit, the moonlight shone via a collection of pianistic prospers, and the fireworks topped issues off with loads of pianistic dazzle.
Even higher was a beautiful instance of story-telling on the keyboard in a efficiency of Chopin’s Ballade No.3. Nel reined within the form of heart-on-sleeve feelings one normally hears to disclose a targeted class. There was loads of sprint to the extroverted moments which match properly with the intimacy of the quieter ones and saved issues in a spellbinding stability.
Harvey Steiman