Asheville
Chamber Music Series: The Mozart Piano Quartet – appassionato y
fuoco, ad hoc
by Roger A. Cope
Asheville, NC, September 30, 2005: The
all-volunteer non-profit Asheville
Chamber Music Series has
existed since 1952. Since that time, it has presented an impressive
string of ensembles – over 230 concerts total – and has
become one of our most enduring chamber music organizations. Since
1991 the programs have been presented at the Unitarian Universalist
Church just off the downtown area. This setting offers reasonable comfort
(when the ventilation system is working) and intimate seating. But
because the place mostly operates as a church, certain "accommodations" must
be made. Some heavy things need to be moved (altar, piano), "stuff" needs
to be relocated ("let's put it over there"), and the reception
area is actually a library. Even without bringing up the street-curb
neighborhood parking subject, the whole thing has a thrown-together
feel that belies 53 years of experience producing concerts. It's curious
why they aren't downtown in the well-suited and ample Diana
Wortham Theater, just off Pack Square within yards of a parking
garage.
The Mozart Piano Quartet (Mark Gothoni violin, Hartmut Rohde viola,
Peter Hoerr cello, and Raul Rivinius piano) is from "Yur-up";
the players wear black and talk funny. They didn't talk much – instead,
they walked out and laid down a level-nine performance of what might
otherwise have been an average program of chamber works. These guys
can make it go.
At the 8:05 p.m. the hall was full for Beethoven's Piano Quartet in
E-flat Major, in three movements. It appeared in two versions when
published in 1801 – one for three strings and piano and also
as a quintet with piano and winds. The duality probably has something
to do with publishers trying to expand their market. Actually that's
a good point because this piece isn't a searing virtuoso tour-de-romp
you'd expect from a band like this. Instead, Beethoven is making nice-nice,
going straight for the lyrical line above a fairly conventional foundation
that makes the whole not all that remarkable. But.... These guys are
all about precision, lots of body language, eye contact, and That String
Thing – making a triad swell or grow like a balloon and then
retreat. In this setting, the composition was really a tune-up piece
for the band to get their legs, settle in, and hear the room. It made
great theater for the audience. The pianist was clearly top rank and
had great fun working a five-foot Schimmel.
It was in the Beethoven that I noticed the violinist was sitting on
a wooden piano bench and the pianist and the two remaining strings
were on stackable upholstered chairs. The altar had been moved to a
lower level and laid on its side directly between the audience and
the artists. The ventilation system was not working, or was working
in the wrong way – odd, that on the first truly cool night of
fall the room was actually hot and uncomfortable. More ad hoc feel....
Next came the Piano Quartet in E-flat, Op. 47, by Robert Schumann (1810-56).
This was written in 1842 and premiered in 1844 at Leipzig, with Clara
Schumann at the piano. It is in four movements including a zippy scherzo.
The MPQ made a breathtaking start and kept excellent ensemble throughout
the lively chromatic writing. The scherzo starts off like a moto perpetuo,
has a nice pause for a slow, lyric melody, and then returns to a quick
pace. The last movement uses imitative entrances in order – viola,
piano, violin, and then cello. Schumann seemed a little confused toward
the end, but got his center back with a tightly-focused canonic coda.
During intermission, the ventilation system finally started functioning
as desired while the audience met in the library for refreshments.
Cool air flowed through open doors from outside again, giving a sense
of fall and the renewal each season offers. This was the opening concert
of the 2005-6 season, and while the first program was only half finished
it had already produced some stunning ensemble.
The second half was devoted to the four-movement Piano Quartet in C
Minor, Op. 13, by Richard Strauss (1864-1949). This was written during
1883-4, and there is constant reference of a melodic debt to Brahms.
This reference appeared in the program notes and is also cited in The
Grove Dictionary of Music. Here we have long, impassioned lines and
parallel figures in harmony – often fifths, which seem a little
out of character for the era. The musicians coped with changing temperature
and air conditions very well, and they simply drove around any variables
in intonation: they were in tune all night! The scherzo has a delightful
call-and-response device. The slow movement features a lot of trading
of ideas between instruments, and there is also a deep sense of longing
and wanting in the melodic material. The last movement has a lovely
long viola line that was played with skill and great tone. Then it
was done. There was no encore.
The MPQ is a front-rank chamber ensemble and a delight to experience.
They don't talk – they play!
