SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

   Toronto Summer Music Festival 2009 – Mozart, Dvořák: Menahem Pressler (Piano), Alexander Kerr (Violin), Lawrence Dutton (Viola), Paul Watkins, (Violoncello), MacMillan Theatre, Toronto, 23.7.2009 (PPLL)

Mozart: Piano Quartet in E Flat Major, K.493 (1786)
Dvořák: Piano Quartet in E Flat Major, Op.87 (1889)


Recently honoured with the “Lifetime Achievement Award” on behalf of the Beaux Arts Trio from The Edison Foundation, Menahem Pressler is a favourite alumnus of the Toronto Summer Music Festival (TMSF). Last year, Pressler joined forces with Alexander Kerr (Violin), Paul Watkins (Violoncello) and Roberto Diaz (Viola) in a magical evening of chamber works by Brahms and Schumann (reviewed here). This past Thursday, he reunited with Kerr and Watkins, plus violist Lawrence Dutton from the Emerson String Quartet to deliver a sparkling reading of Piano Quartet in E Flat, K.493 by Mozart and Dvořák's ever-so folksy Piano Quartet in E Flat, Op.87.

The E Flat Major Quartet K.493 was in fact the second of two Piano Quartets that Mozart wrote during 1785-1787. In Vienna during the 18^th and early part of 19^th century, the “Piano Quartet“ was still relatively young and experimental as a composition medium, most  composers choosing  the “Piano Trio” as the preferred idiom for chamber music. Beethoven, for instance, wrote only four Piano Quartets (WoO36 #1-3; Op.16), while Haydn had attempted none. Remarkably though, Mozart wrote for the piano in these quartets as an equal partner with the other 3 string instruments, and this revolutionary approach paved the way for future explorations by the likes  of Schumann and Brahms.

In K.493, the opening minutes already foretell  the great vigor and lightness of spirit that is to come.  Pressler opened with a telling narrative from the keyboard - perhaps reflecting how Mozart regarded the piano as equivalent to the vocal lines in his operas. From one phrase to the next, he attentively guided and prepared his partners gently but persuasively, and together  explored the light-hearted themes lyrically and gracefully throughout the opening Allegro movement. The beautiful A Flat Larghetto movement opened with a lush piano interlude from Pressler, after which each of the musicians took great care  to show-off Mozart’s skills in highlighting the  sonorities of their instruments in turn. It is no surprise to discover that Albert Einstein once described the principal theme of this movement as “the purest, most childlike and godlike melody ever sung.” The Rondo Allegretto movement suited  Pressler's  distinctively identifiable sparkle and finesse, while the warm trio exchanges by Kerr, Watkins and Dutton help to draw the piece to a  truly enchanting close.

(L) to (R): Paul Watkins, Menahem Pressler, Alexander Kerr,
Lawrence Dutton  - Photo by: Dr. Peter Alberti
 

The Dvořák Piano Quartet Op. 87, also in the key of E Flat, contrasts nicely with Mozart because of  its deep-rooted folk influences. Impressively, Pressler presented this work with an  added sense of expansiveness and the result turned out to a more  than welcome interpretation, especially I imagine,  for first-time listeners. Admittedly, there were  times when  not every note seemed  crystal clear, perhaps because of  some over- pedaling and a slight probem in keeping  up with the tempo that this  Allegro con fuoco movement demands. However, Pressler played with conviction and rhythmic drive that kept the music as folksy as possible. Kerr and Watkins, and especially the latter, were on top-form however, whereas Dutton felt  apt technically, but without  optimal momentum in his playing:  as though responding  to his partners slightly passively. Kerr and Watkins presented their melodies with great intimacy and conviction however.

The Lento second movement showed Watkins bringing in the first theme with earnest intensity, while Kerr returned the second theme as a much calmer and pensive undertaking. In the Allegro moderato (con grazioso) a Scherzo with some apparently  “Oriental” influences however, the whole string trio emulated echoes of the cimbalom to great effect. The Allegro finale movement pushed the work to its climax, in which Pressler and Watkins were positively galvanizing.

After rounds of applause, the audience was   rewarded with a single encore. Pressler announced this work as one of the most beautiful in the repertory, and rightly so, as it  was the same movement Pressler and his colleagues presented to last year's  Toronto Summer Music Festival as an encore. For the final 10 minutes, the third movement from  Brahms' Piano Quartet No.3 held everyone in rapt attention. It would be to hear the work given  in full by the same musicians at some future TMSF.

 Patrick P.L. Lam