This concert formed part of the Nash Ensemble’s series
‘Echoes of Romanticism,’ a typically enterprising and illuminating set
of concerts which places works by Haydn, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Schubert
and Mahler alongside those of lesser-known composers such as Zemlinsky
and Korngold. A beautifully balanced programme here framed songs by
Zemlinsky and Schubert’s rarely performed ‘Auf dem Strom’ with piano
trios by Mendelssohn and Schubert, all given performances of the highest
musical excellence.
Schumann famously regarded Mendelssohn’s C minor Piano
Trio as being on a level with Beethoven, and in this performance Marianne
Thorsen, Paul Watkins and Ian Brown almost persuaded me that Schumann’s
praise was justified; it is typical Mendelssohn in that its structure
is fastidiously formal yet its melodic expression is often almost rhapsodic
in its freedom and inventiveness, and the playing caught the perfect
balance between those two sides, especially in Ian Brown’s fluid, sensitive
piano part. The ‘cellist Paul Watkins is a highly individual musician
who can at times seem to indulge in a little over-bowing, but that was
not entirely inappropriate in the D flat theme of the first movement,
and both he and Thorsen played the passionate final movement with real
fire.
Zemlinsky does not fit very comfortably into our scheme
of twentieth century music: though he was much admired by contemporary
composers in his lifetime, he was later overshadowed by the second Viennese
school and for some time remembered only as Schoenberg’s brother-in-law,
but in recent years his works have gained wider recognition. Those who
might know this composer from his opera ‘Der Zwerg’ or perhaps his ‘Lyric
Symphony,’ with its intensely romantic fourth song ‘Sprich zu mir, Geliebter!’
might be surprised to hear these often austere songs, which show so
clearly that Zemlinsky was in many ways a bridge between the Lied of
Schumann and Brahms and the music of Schoenberg. They are neither easy
to programme nor straightforward to sing, and it is typical of the Nash
and of the tenor soloist, John Mark Ainsley, that such relatively obscure
music should be presented here with such a level of commitment.
The Four Songs of 1903-5 were written when Zemlinsky
was also working on the fantasy opera ‘Der Traumgörge,’ and they
too have a sense of otherworldliness about them, especially in their
glimpses into the darker sides of life.
Heine’s ‘Es war ein alter König’ was set by many other composers, but
not with the kind of grim undercurrents we hear in this version, and
the two ‘cradle songs’ are anything but soothing: Liliencron’s ‘Űber
eine Wiege’ has the child dead in the crib, and Beer-Hofmann’s
‘Schlummerlied’ offers little comfort save oblivion. The only glimpse
of charm comes with the third song, a rather oblique invitation. Ainsley
sang them with the intelligence and sensitivity to language which always
mark out his performances, although on this occasion he obviously had
a cold which affected his production of some of the higher-lying parts,
and some of his chest and head notes did not quite join as seamlessly
as they usually do. Nevertheless, his performance went far beyond what
one often hears in this music, often bringing rare distinction to the
musical line and giving real point to such words as ‘Patschen’ (footfall)
and ‘Sommervogel.’
The four ‘waltz songs after Tuscan folksongs’ are perhaps
less problematic in that their musical language is more readily recognizable,
and they gave Ainsley and Ian Brown a chance to show intimacy of ensemble
and often eloquent virtuosity, especially in the last stanza of the
first song and the final line, which one could imagine Mahler setting
in a similar way – ‘Es siegt, we dauert in Ewigkeit’ and which was sung
with ringing authority.
The all-Schubert second half began with ‘Auf dem Strom,’
written in the final year of Schubert’s life and first sung by the tenor
Ludwig Tietze, whose technical facility at the top of his voice influenced
Schubert to write other songs for what his friend Walcher called a ‘damnably
high’ tenor voice. This setting of one of Rellstab’s more sombre poems
for tenor, horn and piano is not performed often, for fairly obvious
reasons: not only is the horn obbligato part a demanding one, but the
singer’s role is challenging in terms of achieving the right balance
between a perfect legato line and the bleak anguish of the words. Richard
Watkins’ playing provided the right note of sombre, haunting companionship,
whilst Ainsley gave pulsating drama to ‘Durch das grau gehobne Meer!’
and evoked the characteristic Schubertian sense of longing in such lines
as ‘Wo ich ihre Liebe fand,’ and most obviously the muted hopefulness
of the final stanza, where the melancholy beauty of his timbre at ‘Dort
begegn’ ich ihrem Blick’ closed a performance of the most heartfelt
tenderness.
The final work was Schubert’s much more frequently
heard B flat major Piano Trio, superbly played by Thorsen, Brown and
Paul Watkins, each of whom invested it with ideal warmth and melodic
finesse. It was an especially apposite partner for the preceding work,
since it was probably written for the same trio of musicians who played
the E flat trio at the concert in March 1828 where ‘Auf dem Strom’ was
first performed; a typically Nash Ensemble piece of planning. The wonderful
Andante, its harmonies so evocative of ‘Im Abendrot,’ highlighted Thorsen’s
wonderfully supple articulation, and the Scherzo drew from all three
some lively, highly communicative playing, especially in the animated,
Landler-like finale.
This concert was typical of the Nash Ensemble’s inspired
programming and high standards of musicianship, and the next two concerts
in the series look equally appealing: on December 14th they
will be joined by Wolfgang Holzmair for Mahler’s Rückert Lieder
and songs by Weber, framed by Mozart’s G minor Piano Quartet and Schumann’s
E flat Piano Quartet, and on January 11th they will give
a concert dedicated to William Lyne, including works by Mahler, Debussy
and Mozart, with Lisa Milne as soloist – all highly recommended.
Melanie Eskenazi
Return to:
Music on the Web