Recital
Music by Ysaÿe, Franck and Schubert
Sarah Spiteri, violin; Joanne Camilleri, piano; Lucie Kucherová, cello
St James Cavalier
This was a very well-prepared and well-performed programme and the intensity of the applause, especially after the Franck Sonata for violin and piano and Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat major, more than made up for the paucity of those present.
The three young ladies made music of the highest order- Albert G. Storace
The performers certainly played with commitment, passion and feeling and a superb level of professionalism, making it such a pity that this music was not heard by a wider audience.
The evening opened with the first movement from Eugène Ysaÿe’s Sonata No. 2 for solo violin, marked Obsession – Prelude: poco vivace. Ysaÿe, like many other composers was obsessed with J.S. Bach, hence the title of this piece because he ingeniously quotes many times over the main theme of the prelude from Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E major for solo violin. There is also a merging with it of the old, Catholic plainchant theme of the Dies Irae from the ordinary of the Requiem Mass.
After the fine display put on in the Ysaÿe piece Sarah Spiteri was joined by pianist Joanne Camilleri in Franck’s Sonata in A. This work requires a violinist and a pianist of distinction, the piano part in this work being of considerable difficulty and one which is virtually treated on equal terms with the violin. The duo functioned perfectly in complete balance, harmony and rapport: A joy to watch and hear.
Franck’s Sonata can be completely disarming because of this feast and feat of melody and intense feeling, a welcome assault on body and mind. The music never lets go whether in its meditative or extrovert passages. Wave after wave of this music built on a simple germ motif produces unity, culminating in the concluding allegretto poco mosso, when a climactic repetition of the principal themes brings the work to a glorious climax. The performers kept up the pace and they gave a truly splendid performance.
Joined by Czech cellist Lucie Ku-cherová the three young ladies made music of the highest order.
The melody tends to be shared more by the piano and violin but the cello often has its say, and the interplay between performers was fine throughout. The seemingly disarming simplicity of this music belies the well-thought out way moulding various elements into a solid, compact whole, with a certain innocence marking the even more serious aspects such as the meditative and rather wistful andante con moto.
There was a convincing projection of this work, which after romping along in the scherzando climaxed with the allegro moderato. The latter confirms the Trio’s unity with the main theme from the opening allegro being stated anew by the deliciously warm cello.