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MATS LIDSTRÖM CELLO & SIMON CRAWFORD-PHILLIPS PIANO Beethoven This was a revelatory recital for us, in an unusual sense. First, to say that it was a brilliantly conceived programme, tailor-made for a CD which should ensue. Both pairs of late sonatas, all favourites of mine, gained from being heard together. Little more than an hour of music, plus interval, it was an intense, demanding and commensurately rewarding event, just the right length for a Sunday morning recital. Both players proved themselves highly accomplished and (rhythmically) at one. Inevitably, even though both are experienced, wide-ranging chamber music musicians, Lidstrom had the Fauré in his bones, but Crawford-Phillips will have had few opportunities to play those sonatas. This became evident in the G minor, the pianist showing signs of tiring and fallability, understandable with such an unstoppable torrent of notes to read in the fast movements. The revelation for us was about balance, and about how music reaches one pair of ears in a concert hall. The link between the two halves of the recital is that all the music was composed when its composers were deaf. Even given that Beethoven's works were published as "Sonatas for Piano and Cello", I began to wonder, from our usual seats at the back, whether Simon Crawford-Phillips was deaf too, or just inconsiderate - or was the problem Beethoven's fault? The balance was so awry that only with the eyes was it possible to keep track of the cello part. No problem if it had been a recording; a 20% adjustment with the microphones would put it right. I had a similar, memorable experience as a privileged guest in the BBC's Maida Vale Studio No 2, when Britten's piano 'accompaniment' to Die Schöne Müllerin completely dominated Peter Pears; the broadcast was perfect. Readers may be familiar too with Gerald Moore's hilarious account of a cellist impossible to satisfy in his Am I too loud? (1962). For the second half we moved to the front, on the cello side. Without music stand and audience intervening, the direct sound from the cello was rich and full, and the piano only rarely a little louder than ideal. So, when you read a surprising review of a concert at which you were present, remember that the critic can only write about what he heard from where he sat! MATS LIDSTRÖM is Artistic Director of From-Sweden.com, a Festival with "the cream of Swedish and British musicians playing Swedish and British music in around 30 concerts over 14 months".
This opened on the same night as his Blackheath recital, 04/04/04, with a recital by Anne Sofie von Otter at Wigmore Hall. |
