KRAUS-PIKLER RECITAL

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25248, 29 July 1947, Page 5

KRAUS-PIKLER RECITAL

BEETHOVEN SONATAS A further and fitting addition to the great wealth of music which has been heard in Christchurch over the last 1 few years is the three recitals by Lili Kraus and Robert Piklei It is usually only in the great cities of the world that one is privileged to dear this type of work, and wd are indeed fortunate in that we have had Maurice Clare to play the six unaccpmpanied Bach Sonatas and several by Mozart, and now we have Lili Kraus and Robert Pikler playing all 10 of Beeihoven. The first of the series was given in the Canterbury College Hall last evening, and they will be continued to-night and ended to-morrow night. Both Madame Kraus and Mr Pikler have entered fully into the spirit of this music, and their performance was completely satisfying and thoroughly enjoyed by the audience They have played these sonatas often together, but it must be no easy task for Mr Pikler to match the characteristic and inimitable phrasing of this magnificent pianist. She takes a long passage and, while keeping absolute clarity of all notes within it, so bends the phrase that it rises up to the ear not as single notes but as having a unity of its own. The singleness of purpose and exquisite balance of tone and colour between tht players made their performance chamber music playing of the highest order. / Last night they played the E flat Major. Op. 12, No. 3. the A Major. Op. 30. No. 1. and the C Minor Op. 30. No. 2. These are the third, sixth, and seventh in the series of Violin and Piano Sonatas. Three such works are a terrific task for any players demanding an output of technical concentration and emotional strain enough to daunt the stoutest hearts. However, the technical ease of their playing and the natural unfolding of the interpretations could conceal much of this from the audience. No lover of music can afford to-miss such opportunities as the next two recitals have to offer.

The Third Sonata in E flat major is of great technical difficulty. In the first movement the thematic material is essentially pianistic. and the violin part suffers in having to adapt itself to a medium not entirely its own. However, in the second movement Mr Pikler charmed all with the mellow richness of his tone. The material of the Rondo is more evenly suited to the requirements of both instruments, and it swept along with a happy buoyancy characteristic of the earlier works of Beethoven.

The Sixth Sonata, in A major, opens in more philosophical style. When one consioers how thin the scoring looks on paper, it is amazing how full and rich the harmony sounds. There is a much higher degree of poetic insight in the development section of the first movement than is shown in the Third Sonata. The second movement is a melody of caressing tenderness given out by the violin, supported with a serene intensity by the piano. These lovely sounds were most moving. The last movement is in variation form. The theme is typical of Beethoven. It moves almost entirely by step, the only leaps being the arpeggio of the common chord. The development of this simple theme through the six variations has the profundity that underlies the simplicity of greatness The Sonata number Seven in C minor is symphonic in conception. There is no repetition,of the exposition and the themes are so clear that there is no necessity for it. The second subject is martial and inexorable, and the development of both subjects is longer and more tremendous in this sonata than in the previous ones. It is a vast superstructure built upon clearly seen‘foundations, logical in its classical proportions. The whole is summed up in a fhost striking coda. The second movement departs from the cantilena type of melody and has a broad theme of severe dignity. There is a fiery and most happy scherzo and the final movement, is music of unbounded enthusiasm ending with tremendous majesty. This work was written 10 years before the great Seventh Symphony. One does not suggest that there is any mystical unity between the two sevens, but in its emotional effect upon the hearer there is much in this sonata that seems to foreshadow the immensity of the great A major Symohony. There will be four Sonatas played in Canterbury College Hall to-night, the Second, the Fifth (the lovely Spring Sonata), the Fourth, and the Tenth. The claying of both Madame Kraus and Mr Pikler is matched to the magnificence of the music. One can but offer thanks to them for what has been given and is to come. C.F.B.