It is unusual for a mother, Jenny Stern, and son, Emmanuel Bach, to form a musical duo and it offers the possibility of exceptional shared understanding and intimacy in the interpretation of the music.
Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata is a powerful work of turbulent emotions. An introductory Adagio is followed by an intense Presto with the instruments striving for dominance. Emmanuel and Jenny played it with precision and polish. Similarly the closing Presto was played with a constrained elegance.
Kreisler’s La Gitana, vibrant with gypsy ostentation was equally elegant but lacked the gusto one might have expected.
Peter Fribbins’ Sonata for Solo Violin was the discovery of the evening. It was dedicated to his Faroese wife and uses a folk tune from the islands in the very evocative opening Fantasie.
Edvard Grieg wrote his second violin sonata on his honeymoon. It begins, perhaps inappropriately, with a Lento Dolorosa, slowly and sadly, and then leaps into life with an Allegro Vivace based on the Springar, a very lively Norwegian folk dance. Emmanuel and Jenny observed the rhythms strictly but again they played the movement with a formality rather than with the vivacity one might have expected. In the lovely Allegretto tranquillo they offered precision rather than delight and delicacy, and the final movement perhaps needed more earthy energy and vigour.
Ysaye’s Caprice is a piece that revels in its own virtuosity, with double stopping and intoxicating arpeggios. With his strong technique Emmanuel played it perfectly, but might have made it a little more showy. To me it seemed to lack some of the impishness the music needed.
However, in the encore, Emmanuel’s own arrangement of a very sensuous piece by Piazzolla,and freed from the shackles of playing from the music, the violinist revealed his expressive power.
It was a very attractive Keswick Music Society concert presented by two highly accomplished musicians who played with a close, mutual understanding. But it was just a pity they didn’t permit themselves to express the full emotional potential of the programme.
Steve Matthews