I am sure many of you still remember the spectacular Stanley Kubrick film Barry Lyndon, starring Ryan O Neal and Marisa Berenson, way back in 1975. Kubrick then broke cinematic barriers and taboos and changed cinematography for good. This film version of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel is a milestone, a reference point that remains as rivetingly beautiful as it was all those years ago.
While listening to the delightful performance of the Haydn Trio of Eisenstadt last Tuesday, I was, as soon as I caught the first strains of the second movement of the Schubert Trio in E Flat, Andante con Moto, taken back to that very haunting and unique atmosphere that Kubrick created in this film. The march-like Swedish folk song, the melodic line of which is sung mostly by the cello, pervades the last movement of this colossal piano trio which the Haydn Trio played with great pathos and warmth and was one of the most memorable passages played during the Kubrick masterpiece.
The Haydn Trio of Eisenstadt with Harald Kosik piano, Verena Stourzh violin and Hannes Gradwohl cello, perform with an elegant deftness and balanced precision that is coupled with a deep sense of correct interpretation; playfulness during the Haydn trio, some moodiness during the Beethoven songs, and, during the somewhat lengthy Schubert, an irrepressible stream of melody that hallmarks the work of this composer who like Mozart died when he was far too young. One wonders what it would have been like had both these composers died in their 70s instead of their 30s! The history of music would have been, I am convinced, totally different.
I had never heard the Beethoven Scottish Folk Songs Opus 108 which the composer arranged over a number of years for the Scottish publisher George Thomson. There are 25 in all out of which the trio and mezzo Lydia Vierlinger chose six. Although performed and sung beautifully I cannot really say that I cared overmuch for the selection as five out of six seemed to be of the Knees Up Mother Brown variety.
It was The Lovely Lass of Inverness which is No.8 in the 25 that was totally different and hauntingly lovely. I will have to reserve my judgement of the entire opus till I get to listen to the whole lot as Beethoven intended and not a sequence of 14, 5, 15, 21, 8 and 11. Be that as it may one would find such a combination, piano trio and voice, very rarely; a similar situation to Schubert's Der Hilt auf dem Felsen for piano, cello and soprano D965 arranged by Carl Reinecke after the composer's death. The performance of the Beethoven selection by the Haydn Trio was therefore an hors d'oeuvres which has certainly whetted my curiosity about the rest of the set. Sadly, I was not too enamoured of Ms Vierlinger's voice and interpretation which at times sounded a trifle hollow, however, here again, one has to consider that these songs were not the ideal vehicle for her voice which during the very different No.8 sounded just as it should have.
Schubert, much as I love him, does tend to go on a bit. His ability to invent the most beautiful and romantic thematic material is second to none. His compositional agility and his playful counterpoint enhance the themes and melodies till breaking point; however, his repetitions can become too much of a good thing. I always feel as if I have overindulged after listening to a work like the Opus 100 or, as it is also known, the D.929. The Haydn Trio of Eisenstadt regaled us with an inspired performance of this rather colossal chamber work that I will not forget in a hurry, especially that utterly wonderful and moving andante decorated as it were with fritillaric touches and nuances from the violin and the piano.
The initial Haydn Piano Trio, in other words, the work, and not the name of the collective performers which is always a brainteaser to work out, was in my opinion the most successful and balanced work played that evening. The Haydn Trio playing the Haydn Piano Trio in C Major Hob.XV 27 was mesmerising such was the crisp elegance of their interpretation. There was a deep rapport that is an essential component to fine chamber music and a playfulness that was at times almost rococo. Although most of the trio epitomised the restrained elegance of the 18th century there were at times distant rumbles that presaged the end of that charmed existence in Esterhaza where the composer was kept in a gilded cage by his owner employer.
It was the lovely andante, a love song without words, that really encapsulated the levels of artistic precision that pervaded the entire evening; a gossamer light crispness, a rhythmic playfulness and a restrained expressiveness that combined into a memorably pleasant evening.
While listening to the delightful performance of the Haydn Trio of Eisenstadt last Tuesday, I was, as soon as I caught the first strains of the second movement of the Schubert Trio in E Flat, Andante con Moto, taken back to that very haunting and unique atmosphere that Kubrick created in this film. The march-like Swedish folk song, the melodic line of which is sung mostly by the cello, pervades the last movement of this colossal piano trio which the Haydn Trio played with great pathos and warmth and was one of the most memorable passages played during the Kubrick masterpiece.
The Haydn Trio of Eisenstadt with Harald Kosik piano, Verena Stourzh violin and Hannes Gradwohl cello, perform with an elegant deftness and balanced precision that is coupled with a deep sense of correct interpretation; playfulness during the Haydn trio, some moodiness during the Beethoven songs, and, during the somewhat lengthy Schubert, an irrepressible stream of melody that hallmarks the work of this composer who like Mozart died when he was far too young. One wonders what it would have been like had both these composers died in their 70s instead of their 30s! The history of music would have been, I am convinced, totally different.
I had never heard the Beethoven Scottish Folk Songs Opus 108 which the composer arranged over a number of years for the Scottish publisher George Thomson. There are 25 in all out of which the trio and mezzo Lydia Vierlinger chose six. Although performed and sung beautifully I cannot really say that I cared overmuch for the selection as five out of six seemed to be of the Knees Up Mother Brown variety.
It was The Lovely Lass of Inverness which is No.8 in the 25 that was totally different and hauntingly lovely. I will have to reserve my judgement of the entire opus till I get to listen to the whole lot as Beethoven intended and not a sequence of 14, 5, 15, 21, 8 and 11. Be that as it may one would find such a combination, piano trio and voice, very rarely; a similar situation to Schubert's Der Hilt auf dem Felsen for piano, cello and soprano D965 arranged by Carl Reinecke after the composer's death. The performance of the Beethoven selection by the Haydn Trio was therefore an hors d'oeuvres which has certainly whetted my curiosity about the rest of the set. Sadly, I was not too enamoured of Ms Vierlinger's voice and interpretation which at times sounded a trifle hollow, however, here again, one has to consider that these songs were not the ideal vehicle for her voice which during the very different No.8 sounded just as it should have.
Schubert, much as I love him, does tend to go on a bit. His ability to invent the most beautiful and romantic thematic material is second to none. His compositional agility and his playful counterpoint enhance the themes and melodies till breaking point; however, his repetitions can become too much of a good thing. I always feel as if I have overindulged after listening to a work like the Opus 100 or, as it is also known, the D.929. The Haydn Trio of Eisenstadt regaled us with an inspired performance of this rather colossal chamber work that I will not forget in a hurry, especially that utterly wonderful and moving andante decorated as it were with fritillaric touches and nuances from the violin and the piano.
The initial Haydn Piano Trio, in other words, the work, and not the name of the collective performers which is always a brainteaser to work out, was in my opinion the most successful and balanced work played that evening. The Haydn Trio playing the Haydn Piano Trio in C Major Hob.XV 27 was mesmerising such was the crisp elegance of their interpretation. There was a deep rapport that is an essential component to fine chamber music and a playfulness that was at times almost rococo. Although most of the trio epitomised the restrained elegance of the 18th century there were at times distant rumbles that presaged the end of that charmed existence in Esterhaza where the composer was kept in a gilded cage by his owner employer.
It was the lovely andante, a love song without words, that really encapsulated the levels of artistic precision that pervaded the entire evening; a gossamer light crispness, a rhythmic playfulness and a restrained expressiveness that combined into a memorably pleasant evening.