Anton Kuerti in Recital
by
David Beech
True to form, the celebrated Vienna-born Canadian pianist
Anton Kuerti excelled in Beethoven in his recital on Sunday evening, November
18, 2007 at Le Petit Trianon, San Jose.
In these days when Beethoven sonatas seem to appear more
and more rarely in concert programs, it was good to be reminded of the quality
and vigor of the master’s musical thinking, already evident in the early F major
sonata, Op.10, No. 2. This is a relatively modest work – even its Op.10
bedfellows in C minor and D major are heard more often – yet Kuerti gave it real
substance, with full sonority and dynamic range, perfectly judged to push the
limits of classical proportion without exceeding them, and to balance clarity
and warmth. Particularly felicitous was the “reluctant melody” effect in the
development section of the first movement where the right hand lags behind the
left, played with a meltingly beautiful tone color. The Allegretto
movement was taken on the slow side, possibly to compensate for the absence of a
genuine slow movement, and to take note of the serioso part of the
marking for the opening F minor section, and also to make the most of more
delayed melody effects when that section returns. The D flat major trio in the
middle of the movement was lovable as ever, its lilting cantabile
disturbed from time to time by sforzando bass syncopations. Kuerti solved
the problem of the rather trite tunes in the finale by adopting a very brisk
Presto, reminiscent at times of Beethoven’s “Rage over a lost penny”, and
maintaining this flow without the least hesitation. The sudden switch into
A-flat major came off well, as did the hushed pianissimo before the
dramatic loud ending. One could have gone on listening to Kuerti play Beethoven
for the whole evening – he expresses both the intellectual and the emotional
content as to the manner born.
The program had begun with another humble three-movement F
major sonata, Haydn’s Hob.XVI/23, endowed with distinction by Kuerti as he sat
hunched at the piano with his wrists often below the level of the keyboard. The
first movement was an object lesson in how to respect classical style without
being mechanical – the tone was warm and sustained, and the subtle rubato
usually took the form of speeding up slightly at the start of a phrase and
relaxing after that. The fleeting modulation to A-flat major was delicately
done, as was the chromatic descent of arpeggios reminiscent of Bach; and the
long stretches of running thirty-seconds were beautifully even. The slow
movement exhibited a gentle piano, with lovely melodic trills, and the
finale was pleasing in its innocence.
In Schumann’s C major Fantasie, Op.17, Kuerti was at his
best in the quieter moments, and in the most demanding climaxes – for example
with excellent momentum at the end of the first movement. There were magical
moments when the music transcended the mere notes, but also times when Schumann
was made to sound heavy-handed, and muddy through over-pedaling. This was
perhaps how one might have more often heard romantic music played fifty years
ago, whereas in the classical repertoire Kuerti has all the virtues of the
“old-fashioned” school from that period, with its deep understanding of
tradition and seriousness of interpretation.
One of Kuerti’s specialties has been to rescue Carl
Czerny’s sonatas from oblivion, and here he gave us a tantalizing glimpse with
just the Scherzo from the A-flat Major Sonata, Op.7. This had a pianistic
richness far beyond that of Czerny’s numerous celebrated exercises, with the
agitated outer sections enclosing a singing trio.
The Chopin Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op.61, was another welcome
performance. After an opening of quiet harmonic fantasy, the polonaise breaks in
with moods alternately stirring and charming. Kuerti gave us a moving central
nocturne section in a solemn B major, dissolving via delicious triple trills
into the return of the opening fantasy, before launching into the headlong
closing pages.
Finally, we were treated to a barnstorming performance of
Chopin’s B flat minor Scherzo, Op.31 – a far cry from the empathy that Kuerti
had earlier shown with Beethoven.
[David Beech, a serious clarinetist, a significant
amateur pianist, and a music lover of uncommon taste and refinement, is a
frequent contributor as a guest reviewer in this column.]
