Violinist and Washington, DC native Benjamin Beilman (whom I interviewed) joined cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han to play Franz Schubert’s two piano trios on Saturday, October 4 at Takoma Park Seventh-Day Adventist Church, a performance in the Anna H. Wang Concert Series.
Their brilliant rendition of these two colossal works, composed in Schubert’s final year, was preceded by an excellent performance by 14-year-old cellist Amelia Baisden and pianist Dr. Bora Lee. Baisden is the youngest member and principal cellist of Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras’ Philharmonic. They offered us a poised and brilliant interpretation of the opening movement of Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 5 and the Chant du ménestrel, Op. 71 by Alexander Glazunov; Baisden played the latter from memory with a sumptuous lyricism, and her Beethoven was both sophisticated and robust.
Listening to — and watching — Benjamin Beilman, David Finckel and Wu Han, it is evident how much these three virtuosi enjoy playing together and being together: you could hear the respect and the mutual enjoyment. I also felt very keenly that, although I know they have played these works many times, their enthusiasm, their joy, their reverence appear inexhaustible. I don’t think they will ever tire of this repertoire, and I expect any future performances they give of this music will remain vital, fresh and exciting.
I have listened many times with immense appreciation to the recording David Finckel and Wu Han made in 2008 on their ArtistLed label with violinist Philip Setzer of these two trios; one thing that struck me about their collaboration with Beilman was how different it was: more pointed, more insistent. But both seriousness and playfulness were abundant. They worked hard, and they played hard.
Schubert’s music can be captivating if one’s approach to performing it is ethereal, otherworldly — “dreamy,” if you will. This performance was wide awake, crackling with a feet-on-the-ground insistence. In our pre-concert conversation, Wu Han remarked that the slow movement of the E-flat Trio can be understood not only as a funeral march, but one the composer wrote for himself. I had never thought that way about that piece, one of the most famous and often-heard in the entire chamber music repertoire. If that’s true, this performance articulated the rage and anguish of a young man still very much alive, clinging to life in his suffering body, angry that he will have to leave this world with still so much unsaid.
The passion and energy of the performance never flagged; the finale of the E-flat Trio concluding an amazing evening with an utterance of indefatigable affirmation.
Prior to the concert, I had the opportunity to converse with David Finckel and Wu Han.
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