Sunday 21 February, 1999 SPH Auditorium, Young Musicians' Society	MOTIFS IN MURALS A Love Triangle: Robert-Clara-Johannes
	Fritz KREISLER Liebesfreud Robert SCHUMANN Violin Sonata No.1 in A minor, Op.105 DIETRICH/SCHUMANN/BRAHMS FAE Sonata Johannes BRAHMS Violin Sonata No.3 in D minor Op.108 Fritz KREISLER Liebesleid CHAN Yoong Han violin LOW Shao Suan piano

The programme for tonight was a rather mixed one, and yet one that was rather similar. The vein of the love triangle of Schumann/Clara Wieck/Brahms was the common link of the programme, yet I found that link rather tenuous, in a more musical rather than human sense. My view is that in non-programmatic music, no matter how obvious the evidence may seem to be from letters, it is hard to attach a very definite "message" to the music. But I must say it was an interesting attempt. A quick look at the programme tells it all -- it starts with Freud (joy) and ends with Leid (sorrow).

After the fluent discussion about the three by Tan T'su Ping, his MC role which I've come to expect now in this series of concerts, the duo started the programme with a rather tentative account of the piece that most of us have come to take as an encore. The Schumann Violin Sonata that followed was very well played: the first movement was on the whole well-shaped, except for a spot of rushing in the coda which rather undermined it. The third movement, with its nervy Bacchian theme was the least secure of the three movements, and it could have been more "feverish". Tempi on the whole were on the fast side, and some nuances of expression were overlooked. However as a whole I think the duo did a splendid reading of the sonata, as they paced it well even though it was fast, and it had a unified quality as a complete work. Shao Suan provided admirable accompaniment, though she slipped here and there in the recital. Only once did I think the piano too loud in relation with the violin.

The Frei-aber-Einsam ("FAE"), or "free but lonely" sonata was written for Clara Schumann (right) by her three admirers - Schumann, Dietrich and Brahms. The first three of the four movements were played here. The three composers have very disparate musical styles, though they were of the same Romantic musical persuasion. The movement that seems to me musically the strongest was by Brahms, though the Schumann portion is remarkably concise and also shows his ability at intermezzos well. The Dietrich movement, in sonata form, seems a trifle prolix next to the next two concise movements by his contemporaries. Unfortunately not all the movements were well-read, or even well-played.

The playing in Allegro was a little tentative, but the fastish tempo tended to shorten the lengthiness of this long movement, which is a good thing. The offering by Dietrich seems a strange birthday gift -- though optimistic at times the movement is fraught with anxiety and uncertaincy, which Yoong-Han and Shao Suan brought out rather well.

The second movement was well-played, and well-read, Schumann's intermezzo leaving its unmistakable mark. It seems to me that Yoong-Han is good at playing Schumann, and understands his message well.

Yoong-Han wasn't always in the middle of the note throughout the sonata but even forgetting that the third movement was rather shaky. His treatment of the lyrical theme was robust rather than a contrast to the first, already robust theme. Phrasing here was I thought not always flexible enough, and his dangerously fast tempo caused a big slip in the "trio" section, where the bow flew out of control. In sum the Schumann was the best done of the three movements, the Dietrich second.

For after the interval the concert returned with Brahms's Violin Sonata 3 in D minor. It seems to me a problematic work, which has little of Brahms's characteristic lyricism and much of his obtuseness. In other words I don't really get it. Violin-and-piano writing is uncharitable, and often unrewarding, I think, and the difficult ensemble especially in the bits with strange syncopation proved a little unwieldy. I don't have a strong impression of this sonata, and thus I can't really speak too much about it. Yet I must say that Yoong-Han didn't present a strong case for it at all, and it seemed the least secure of the whole programme, which had seemed rather promising the first half. There were instances of apparently arbitrariness in phrasing and tone for example, and he didn't seem familiar with the work, which certainly demands much in the way of technique, and needless to say interpretation.

Shao Suan was dutiful in her accompaniment, though not inspiring, but this didn't manage to save what was a bad performance, presenting a dubious case for this late sonata. This rendering of the piece left me more than a little dismayed.

Liebesleid was played in a manner of 'heavy utterance', but was totally successful for it. Kreisler didn't record it this way, with so much liberal rubato, but it was an interesting change, if not something that would wear well on repeated hearing. Apparently it must have seemed fit to play it this way in the programme. But I wonder what Kreisler would have said!

Overall the concert was quite successful, I think, but I still thought that had the Brahms violin sonata had been changed to something else there would have been even more to enjoy.

Derek Lim is eating strawberry cake with REAL STRAWBERRIES right now. And good cheese in the cake, too.

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