Kuerti explores common ground of piano, strings

Distinguished pianist provides memorable rethinking of Dvorak

by David Gordon Duke

ANTON KUERTI
with the Jacques Thibaud String Trio
in recital for Friends of Chamber Music
Vancouver Playhouse, Nov. 30

For the second time this season, Vancouver’s Friends of Chamber Music welcomed the combination of a Canadian pianist with an international string group: Toronto-based Anton Kuerti with the Jacques Thibaud String Trio, an ensemble founded 11 years ago at the Berlin School of the Arts.

Kuerti is immensely distinguished; he’s also known for the uncompromising honesty of his musical vision. Doubtless this animated the choice of Brahms’ discursive Opus 26 Piano Quartet as the evening’s major work— it’s as long as most symphonies, and not all that frequently programmed. The approach of the four players was measured and soundly classical in spirit. Taming the work’s apprentice stage infelicities, they emphasized the many glimpses of the mature Brahms.

Rewarding as the Quartet was, the real treats of the evening came in the first half. With new cellist Zing Zhao, the trio began with a flashy performance of the 1933 String Trio by then 22-year-old Jean Françaix. This work bristles with a heartless chic, including merciless parodies of the mittle-European romanticism practiced by the likes of Brahms and Dvořák. There’s a fragile intimacy to the central Andante that adds a fleeting note of seriousness and depth.

Dvořák’s second Piano Quartet established just how much interpretive common ground exists between pianist and strings. The Thibaud Trio’s tone is far from lush, and their approach decidedly not over-polished. Combined with Kuerti’s startling clarity and crisp articulations, this produced a memorable re-thinking of a marvellous work. As with the Brahms, the interpretation was marked by a restrained elegance, making the resulting performance all the more effective. The very skilful pacing and invention of the piece was infinitely more discernable without the usual lashings of overheated rubato and sentimentality, and all of Dvořák’s very considerable charm shone through.

Vancouver Sun
3 Dec. 2004

archives