Falling in love with Bach again

After an absence of over a month, it felt good to be back at St Catherine of Italy church, Valletta for the Sunday morning recital.

Even with the cumbersome scaffolding, in place for some more months because of the restoration of the cupola’s grisaille wall-painting interior, the music-making there makes one forget the inconvenience. This very music-making helps to defray the cost of the overall restoration of the church’s interior.

The latest concert was called ‘In love with Bach a number of works for solo instruments (two suites for cello and a partita for violin) were performed.

Lucie Kucharova performed the Cello Suites N.1 in G, BWV 1007 and N.3 in C, BWV 1009.

This is far from easy music to play and like any solo work the performer is completely alone, exposed and with nothing but an intense concentration, innate musicality and technical prowess to make for a successful performance.

Kucharova has a considerable amount of all these qualities and began the G Major suite with an incisive decision followed by the various dance movements which were performed with an admirable precision.

They contrasted well in mood and texture best projected in the sobriety of the Sarabande sandwiched as it is between the bouncy Courante and the two Minuets.

Still, the overall feeling was that for all the performance’s goods points there was a little restraint, almost like one erring on the side of caution.

On the other hand, her performance of the Suite in C was far more expansive and at the same time relaxed. It sounded warmer, the contrasts even more vivid, and there was an overall highly stylish and elegant playing.

In between the two cello suites, violinist Nemanja Ljubinkovic performed the Partita N.2 in D, BWV 1004. This is another important work and one which many a violinist would not dare perform, because if anything it includes, as a last movement the famous monumental Ciaccona. It is monumental not only for its vastly impressive musical architecture but for its great, draining difficulty.

While Ljubinkovic does not shirk a challenge, he still approaches what he performs with due respect and preparation. The first four movements are minnows compared to the Ciaccona, but not to be taken lightly either because they pave the way for the final stroke of Bachian genius.

The short initial allemande and brisk corrente paved the way for the sarabande, which was endowed with warmth, with its plaintively dignified melancholy often highlighted by effective double-stopping. The performance continued with a warmth and clarity of tone and with well-tackled increasingly difficult technical hurdles of the gigue.

These paled in significance compared to the concluding ciaccona. The violinist did very well, showing he was as well-prepared as ever to tackle the task at hand. He performed with the right commitment and warmth and the music flowed on nicely.

What a pity that this flow was often broken by the performer having to turn the pages of his score. It is most advisable that next time he should have a page turner to do it for him.