Bach, Capriccio in B flat (Capriccio on the Departure of his Most Beloved Brother) BWV992; Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat Op. 81a ‘Les Adieux’; Schumann, Geistervariationen WoO. 24; Prokofiev, Piano Sonata No. 7 in B flat Op. 83
This recital was entitled ‘Farewell‘ to give it a thematic link – a descriptive noun obvious enough as far as the Beethoven and Bach works are concerned. The Schumann Geistervariationen (Ghost Variations), or Theme and Variations in E-flat major for piano, WoO 24, was written in 1854, and is according to the recital programme the last piano work of Robert Schumann, as the piece was composed shortly before he was admitted into a hospital for the insane. It’s not immediately clear what the ‘farewell’ element is in Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 7 in B♭ major, op. 83 (occasionally, again, according to the programme, called the “Stalingrad”). It’s the second of the three “War Sonatas”, composed in 1942. . Maybe it’s to be seen as a farewell to peace and stability……..
This was not a recital which would have normally justified the expense of a train ticket and a night in a hotel, but my travel to Vienna the following day meant I had to spend a night in London to catch an 0600 Eurostar train. This concert seemed a good way of spending an evening in London, of the options available. Elizabeth Brauss I think I’ve heard once before, playing Mozart with the Halle just after lockdown ended……I remember being impressed……And this was in the event a good concert to go to, with three pieces I hadn’t heard before, which is always a good thing
I was most struck by Ms Brauss’ playing in the Beethoven and Schumann. The Beethoven was confident, dramatic, at times withdrawn and mysterious. I found myself deeply led into Beethoven’s sound world and the pianist had the right muscular strength and clarity of sound I feel the.music needs. The Schumann was quite a find; a beautiful sad piece poetically played with a very fine decline into silence at the end which did seem to prefigure Schumann’s incarceration (though some idiot let forth the most enormous sneeze on the final chord…..). About the Bach I was less sure; it’s a lovely piece but sometimes the playing felt a little awkward in the production of some of the trills and clusters of notes -also not enough was made of the Baroque echo music, varying the repetitions, and I missed the distinctiveness, the varying,. of phrasing which Vikingur Olafsson provides in Bach piano arrangements. The Prokofiev is not a piece it’s easy to like – a lot of the music sounds quite arid, to my ear. But Ms Brauss stormed through it, and the third movement with its jazzy spikey syncopated rhythms is quite fun, while the edgy distracted slow movement also had me listening carefully. At the end of it I still had no idea of the work’s connection to the ‘farewell’ theme of the programme.
Ms Brauss’ encore was a return to the melancholy 19th century – possibly Brahms, possibly Schumann again….This was quite a short concert – barely more than 70 minutes of music, but, committed as I was to getting that Eurostar train the following morning, this didn’t bother me, and meant a needed early night…..
John's musical journey 