Viktoria Mullova and Katia Labèque seem to be all the culture industry desires: young, attractive, incredibly talented, and, as their press release states, as comfortable with Baroque repertoire as they are with 'creative contemporary music'.
Their programme at Dublin's National Concert Hall, however, did little to demonstrate this broad comfort zone, with three out of the four works presented firmly rooted in one historical period, that of the early twentieth century. It did, however, highlight why they are amongst the most sought after musicians in the industry.
The two appeared on stage dressed casually, in stark contrast to the stifling atmosphere of the National Concert Hall, and launched straight into Stravinsky's six-movement Suite Italienne, a piano and violin arrangement (made by the composer himself) of the ballet Pulcinella, the genesis of Stravinsky's neo-classical style. There could be few complaints about the performance of this work, with both Mullova and Labèque maintaining complete control of the text, particularly with regard to dynamics and articulation. Throughout the course of the work there was a great sense of interplay and energy between the two and one got the feeling that they were really at home with this music, in particular the first and fourth movements, which really highlighted their awareness of each other in their execution of contrapuntal passages.
Bartók's Hungarian Folk Tunes followed, and offered another glimpse at the early twentieth-century through the looking glass of music. This piece was also a transcription made from a previous work, selections from the piano collection For Children. Yet again, one could find very little wrong with this performance, Mullova brilliantly executing harmonics, and different bowing techniques, whilst Labèque maintained the tempo throughout through a series of ostinato patterns. Both conveyed beautifully the folk nature of this work, either through the lamentation-like melodies or the more jovial dance passages. However, like the Stravinsky Suite, this piece finished with a gallop, leaving the audience little room for contemplation.
Returning from the interval, I was given quite the surprise, taking the shape of Schubert's Fantasy in C major, the only work not to hail from the twentieth-century. Whilst I am not particularly interested in music of this period, I found this piece to be the most modern-sounding and engaging of the concert, a point in fact of the architecture of the programme. Once more, the execution of this piece was faultless, with Labèque maintaining the perfect dynamic during the opening ostinato figure and tremolandi, at times reminding me of certain minimalist composers. As the form of the composition developed, both performers were given their place in the sun, especially in the variations section where both displayed the virtuosity clearly required by Schubert. As might be expected, this work finished with the now mandatory fireworks.
Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Piano concluded the programme and was a return to the familiar terrain of the first quarter of the twentieth-century. It did however differ slightly in the fact that it was not a transcription of a previous work. Having heard this work earlier this year, sandwiched in between a programme consisting of exclusively contemporary music, I must admit that it benefited from a more complementary programme here. The first movement demonstrated brilliantly the incompatibility of violin and piano, with both performers asserting their independence (as required by Ravel) and maintaining the strict polyphonic nature of the work. The second movement, one of Ravel's more blues-orientated creations, gave both performers a platform to display their contentment with jazz and blues-like rhythms (both performers are accomplished jazz musicians) and at times it felt as if the audience could break out in a barrage of foot tapping. The final movement, a perpetual motion, employs semiquavers almost exclusively and demonstrated the virtuosity for which Mullova and Labèque are famed, a fitting conclusion to the composition but not necessarily to the programme. The duo returned for an encore after lengthy applause, performing Clara Schumann's Romanze for Violin and Piano, Op. 22, No 1, a beautiful little piece that was warmly welcomed.
Although the performers in this concert were largely faultless, I do believe the programming begs serious questioning. Whilst twentieth-century and contemporary music should be heard more in our concert halls, this programme presented a sterile snapshot of the early-twentieth century, much like the recreation of historic towns that can be found throughout the world, and offered little engagement with the audience. Secondly, with two performers who are clearly at home with a wide-ranging repertoire, why could they not display more diversity? My major concern, however, was that this programme was almost an exact replica of their 2006 CD Recital (with the exception of the Bartók piece), and it seemed that this concert was to a large extent a two-hour advertisement for this product.
By Seán Clancy