20th Century French Chamber Music. We headed to the final installment of the Crown Princes on Stage concert series at the Academy of Sciences, which showcased Hungary’s new generation of classical talents.
An evening of French chamber music is not something Budapest audiences will encounter every day, so Monday’s concert at the Academy of Sciences had great promise. We were not disappointed. The first half belonged to Ravel. Kristóf Baráti and István Várdai began proceedings with the C major sonata and they were joined by Balázs Fülei for the piano trio. The second half was given over to a performance of Olivier Messien’s Quartet for the End of Time, for which they were joined by clarinetist István Kohán.
The sonata for violin and cello dates from the early ’20s. On the face of it, the key signature – C major – might point to something sunny and cheerful, but much of the music is angular and abrasive. Audiences who are unfamiliar with Ravel’s chamber music and expecting tuneful Iberian melodies were certainly in for something of a surprise. The earlier Piano Trio is an altogether more lyrical affair, although the slow movement does have a brooding and dark quality. Both works reveal Ravel’s close attention to detail, his perfectionism and – especially in the later work – the amount of time he would spend in order to achieve the required level (the sonata was two years in the writing). In the orchestral works, the sheer volume of sound and the many layers might mask his extraordinary technique but, in chamber works, it is laid bare for all to hear. These are remarkable works which demand and, on this occasion, received accomplished and polished performances.
There was a near full house for the first half but the audience noticeably thinned out for the second. Whether some were taken aback by this less familiar aspect of Ravel or they were daunted by the prospect of what was to come is impossible to tell, but they missed something rather remarkable. It is the case that, if one is minded to dig, Messien comes with a lot of baggage – intense religious conviction, Eastern mysticism, the fascination with birdsong – but that does not mean that one cannot simply take the music at face value, accept it for what it is and enjoy it. Performances of the Quartet for the End of Time are, alas, rare and this was an opportunity not to be missed. The unusual instrumentation – violin, cello, clarinet and piano – was imposed on the composer during a period spent as a prisoner of war when these were the only resources available to him, but the result is a masterpiece, both in terms of the depth of feeling and the mastery of execution.
All four soloists acquitted themselves with great aplomb in a program which is very demanding, both in terms of technical ability and sensitivity to the material. They were beautifully matched and it seems churlish to single out any one player but the fourth section of the Messien – an incredibly taxing extended solo for solo clarinet – will stay in the memory for a long time.