By Thanassis Vavlidas
14/12/2013, Kremer - Dirvanauskaite - Buniatishvili (Athens Concert Hall, known as Megaron Moussikis of Athens).
The concert of these three well-known and highly estimated music interpreters could be entitled “Fascinating music for piano with participation of strings”. By saying this, we by no means underestimate the contribution of strings (violin and cello). However, the role of the piano is more than essential in the pieces by Rachmaninoff and, to a similar degree, in the piece by Weinberg also.
Gidon Kremer (Riga, 1947- ) is famous for his technical brilliance and his commitment both to classical and modern compositions (violin). In 1997 he founded the “Kremerata Baltica” Orchestra and he organized many tours all over the world. Giedre Dirvanauskaite (founding member of the “Kremerata Baltica”) has recorded and performed many classical and new pieces in collaboration with G. Kremer and his Orchestra (cello). The youngest of the interpreters is K. Buniatishvili (Tiflis, 1987- ), a multi-awarded pianist, who is adding extra value to classical concerts (piano).
The concert program itself was fascinating. It included both “trio elegiaques” by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943) and the “piano trio opus 24” by Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919 – 1996) in between. The “trio elegiaque No.1” is written in the form of sonata and is completed in a single movement. Its first performance, with the composer himself in the piano, was a significant event for Rachmaninoff since it was the first time he performed out of the Conservatory. The intensity and clarity of the piano part is somehow undermining the sound balance with the strings throughout the piece. The pianist, with her rather tough touché, did not try to dull this impression but the strings succeeded in transmitting to the audience the composition’s fully emotional evolution.
The “trio elegiaque No. 2” was dedicated to the memory of Tchaikovsky whom the composer respected and admired. The structure of the piece is quite similar to the trio that Tchaikovsky wrote in memory of his friend, Nikolai Rubinstein. This piece received from the three interpreters a performance with an extraordinary range of expression. Their coordination led to a fine result that brought on the surface the dramatic phrases of the piano, the contrasts between the three instruments and a suppressed lamentation coming from the strings.
Mieczyslaw Weinberg is less known in Greece, although he is a great Russian composer of Polish-Jewish origins, known also as Moisei Samuilovich Vaynberg. Like many of his compositions, his “piano trio opus 24” is a programmatic piece, which succeeded in condensing different music styles from medieval ages to twentieth century in a way that they seem to be integrated in a form with solid structure and alternating expressions. As far as musical style is concerned, the final elegiac diminuendo connects this composition with Rachmaninoff’s trios. The interpreters took advantage of the composition’s multistylistic possibilities, thus creating a poetic atmosphere that was interrupted by loud exclamations. Sometimes we were reminded of Shostakovich, who had collaborated on many occasions with Weinberg, but the latter’s style is unique. We want to mention here the strings’ approach that created, during the lyrical parts, an emotional upgrade without extreme passion.
Having listened to these fine musicians and having appreciated their perfect collaboration, we need not wonder why modern composers dedicate to them, and entrust them with, their compositions...
Thanassis Vavlidas
Member of the “Union of drama and music Greek critics”
14/12/2013, Kremer - Dirvanauskaite - Buniatishvili (Athens Concert Hall, known as Megaron Moussikis of Athens).
The concert of these three well-known and highly estimated music interpreters could be entitled “Fascinating music for piano with participation of strings”. By saying this, we by no means underestimate the contribution of strings (violin and cello). However, the role of the piano is more than essential in the pieces by Rachmaninoff and, to a similar degree, in the piece by Weinberg also.
Gidon Kremer (Riga, 1947- ) is famous for his technical brilliance and his commitment both to classical and modern compositions (violin). In 1997 he founded the “Kremerata Baltica” Orchestra and he organized many tours all over the world. Giedre Dirvanauskaite (founding member of the “Kremerata Baltica”) has recorded and performed many classical and new pieces in collaboration with G. Kremer and his Orchestra (cello). The youngest of the interpreters is K. Buniatishvili (Tiflis, 1987- ), a multi-awarded pianist, who is adding extra value to classical concerts (piano).
The concert program itself was fascinating. It included both “trio elegiaques” by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943) and the “piano trio opus 24” by Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919 – 1996) in between. The “trio elegiaque No.1” is written in the form of sonata and is completed in a single movement. Its first performance, with the composer himself in the piano, was a significant event for Rachmaninoff since it was the first time he performed out of the Conservatory. The intensity and clarity of the piano part is somehow undermining the sound balance with the strings throughout the piece. The pianist, with her rather tough touché, did not try to dull this impression but the strings succeeded in transmitting to the audience the composition’s fully emotional evolution.
The “trio elegiaque No. 2” was dedicated to the memory of Tchaikovsky whom the composer respected and admired. The structure of the piece is quite similar to the trio that Tchaikovsky wrote in memory of his friend, Nikolai Rubinstein. This piece received from the three interpreters a performance with an extraordinary range of expression. Their coordination led to a fine result that brought on the surface the dramatic phrases of the piano, the contrasts between the three instruments and a suppressed lamentation coming from the strings.
Mieczyslaw Weinberg is less known in Greece, although he is a great Russian composer of Polish-Jewish origins, known also as Moisei Samuilovich Vaynberg. Like many of his compositions, his “piano trio opus 24” is a programmatic piece, which succeeded in condensing different music styles from medieval ages to twentieth century in a way that they seem to be integrated in a form with solid structure and alternating expressions. As far as musical style is concerned, the final elegiac diminuendo connects this composition with Rachmaninoff’s trios. The interpreters took advantage of the composition’s multistylistic possibilities, thus creating a poetic atmosphere that was interrupted by loud exclamations. Sometimes we were reminded of Shostakovich, who had collaborated on many occasions with Weinberg, but the latter’s style is unique. We want to mention here the strings’ approach that created, during the lyrical parts, an emotional upgrade without extreme passion.
Having listened to these fine musicians and having appreciated their perfect collaboration, we need not wonder why modern composers dedicate to them, and entrust them with, their compositions...
Thanassis Vavlidas
Member of the “Union of drama and music Greek critics”
