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| Dror Semmel,Ron Trachtman (photo:Shirley Burdick) |
Under the direction of pianist Dror Semmel, the first of the Brahms series
titled “Four Symphonies for Two Pianos Four Hands and Four Quartets” took place
at the Eden-Tamir Music Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem on November 10th 2018.
The event opened with Johannes Brahms’ Piano Quartet No.2 in A-major Op.26,
performed by Dima Pocitari-violin, Gili Radian-Sade-viola, Hillel Zori-’cello
and Dror Semmel-piano. Completed in 1861, when Brahms was 29, the work, with
its natural, easeful linking of phrases and formal perspective, attests to the
composer’s profound study of Schubert’s chamber music in the late 1850s. It
also marks Brahms’ taking up residence in Vienna, the musical capital of German
music and the city of Beethoven and Schubert, a move encouraged by Clara
Schumann and Joseph Joachim. In the Op.26’s over fifty minutes of music,
Brahms’ longest work; the artists’ wonderfully fresh and sculpted playing,
however, drew the listeners at the Eden-Tamir Center into its extensive melodic
content with some splendid solo playing, the highlighting of motifs and Brahms’
subtly rewarding mix of textures. In the opening movement (Allegro non troppo),
the main theme, initiated by the piano alone, provides the two motives from
which the movement is largely constructed. Throughout the work, Semmel wove the
piano part in- and out of the limelight, soloing or amalgamating subtly with
the strings, as dictated by the text. In the nocturne-like second movement
(Poco adagio), with its arching melody, the sweeping, mysteriously ruminating
arpeggios on the piano and ‘cello comments came together in luxuriant, songful
tranquillity. As to the third movement, enigmatically labelled Scherzo
and furnished with a somewhat dramatic trio, it is followed by a vigorous
finale, coloured by references to gypsy- and folk dance music; the players gave
expression to its abundance of themes and moods and to its masterful structure.
The second work on the program was Brahms’ version of Symphony No.3 in
F-major Op.90 for two pianos. We heard it performed by Dror Semmel and Ron
Trachtman. Semmel spoke of the practice of writing the first draft of a
symphony for piano four hands as the basis for planning and orchestrating the
work. Brahms, however, having a sharp business sense, was also aware of the
remunerative sheet-music market, with works for four hands popular for domestic
use. Semmel also mentioned that Alexander Tamir and Bracha Eden had
played this work in concerts worldwide. On February 11, 1884, after hours of
playing through the work in its two-piano version, Clara Schumann wrote to
Brahms: “All the movements seem to be of one piece, one beat of the heart” and,
in her picturesque use of language, that “one is surrounded from beginning to
end by the secret magic of the life of the forest”. Indeed, Brahms's
Symphony No.3 is one of his most poetic, evocative works, with eloquently
defined themes and their subsequent transformations. The work opens with the
work’s rising F, A-flat, F motif in the top voice, Brahms’s monogram for “frei
aber froh” (free but joyful); the motif makes itself heard again and again in
the work. Semmel and Trachtman’s playing
reflected deep enquiry into the symphony's contrasting, transformative and
pensive narratives, with the first movement emerging bold, at times tragic, and
lyrical, its different melodies presented with a variety of pianistic textures.
Both the second and third movements are introspective, with long sections that
never rise above piano. In their “semplice” approach to the (underlying
sophistication of the) Andante movement, the artists accorded it songful,
personal expression. As to the beguiling Poco allegretto (third movement) with its
lush, sensuous melodies, if the listener is able to detach himself from Brahms’
silken orchestration of it, here is the quintessential Romantic piano, with the
artists’ rendition also reminding the audience of the artistic finesse
proffered by strategic timing.
A chamber music concert to appeal to Brahms- and chamber music aficionados.
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