Alexander Sitkovetsky/Wu Qian @ CMS

Above: Wu Qian and Alexander Sitkovetsky

Author: Scoresby

Thursday May 11th, 2017 – I had the experience of going to Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s wonderfully intimate Rose Studio for a duo performance – from a married couple no less: violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky  and pianist Wu Qian. I am always a fan of performances in the Rose Studio as you feel enveloped in the music – there is no bad seat in a hall this small. I have only ever heard solo piano performance and all string chamber music in here, so it was interesting to see how the space is different with a mixed ensemble.

The program was well-balanced, with each half starting with one shorter piece followed by one full-length sonata. It commenced with Korchánski’s arrangement of Manuel De Falla’s Suite populaire espagñole for Violin and Piano. While I have heard the entirety of the piece once in performance, violinists tend to only play the jaunty last movement as an encore piece. It was a pleasure to hear it in full here.

Mr. Sitkovetsky’s playing was clean and clear. He seemed to use extra bow pressure to make the lines come out very smoothly, adding a sweeping vibrato in the more romantic lines. Mr. Sitkovetsky was at his best during the pulsing dance sections. As a whole, their take was slower than I am used to, which allowed Ms. Qian to do an excellent job bringing out the impressionistic elements of the piano part. Particularly noteworthy was her silky tone in the second movement and percussive pulses in the fourth movement, both reminding me of de Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain (which composed within a year of the Suite).

he first half of the program ended with Schumann’s Sonata in D minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 121. While I hadn’t heard it live before this program, I have never had much of an affinity for this piece. I typically find it too busy-sounding, with the first movement quite repetitive. Nonetheless, the duo did a fine job with the piece making many of the lines more clear than they typically are. They took a structured approach, allowing one to hear a coherent flow of ideas through the piece (which is not always the case). Mr. Sitkovetsky managed to get a more muscly sound than earlier, most noticeable in the last movement. Ms. Qian handled the technical demands and quirky off-beats well.

The second half of the program began with Alfred Schnittke’s Suite in the Old Style for Violin and Piano. Schnittke’s pieces typically have a conglomerate sound, mixing a modernist idiom with other styles. Here Schnittke composed the piece in a completely Baroque style (with the exception of one note). Mr. Sitkovetsky had a sweet and playful tone. He and Ms. Qian seemed in complete sync as they wove their way through the various movements. I loved the way they played the third movement, a minuet that sounds more like a lullaby. Here the dance pulse of the minuet was clear. They managed to conjure up a beautiful sense of yearning for another time: it was nostalgia in the best way possible.

This led straight into the difficult fugue which they played with a bouncy, light tone, and sheer virtuosity. They managed to highlight all of the voicing well, with great coordination between them – the violin almost felt like an extension of the piano. In the final movement “Pantomime“, they took a slow, methodical approach that emphasized the humor. This made the dissonant climax after the child-like introduction hysterical – a few audience members let out quiet chuckles. The piece ends with an amusing incomplete scale into silence.

The program concluded with Grieg’s Sonata No. 3 in C minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 45. This was once a favorite of the violin repertoire, but has decreased in popularity over the years. I’ve always been a fan and found this reading invigorating. The passionate and edgy melody of the first movement fit Mr. Sitkovetsky’s full sound well. Ms. Qian provided sparkling playing with Lisztian waterfall-like arpeggios mixed with dark coloring. The start of second movement is a sugary and sentimental, reminiscent of a Trenet song if the violin were a vocalist. It is a nice escapist melody. 

In the final movement, Mr. Sitkovetsky and Ms. Qian brought out all of the folksy dance-like rhythms. It is always a good sign when everyone in the audience seems to be tapping their feet or bobbing their head. The back and forth between the instruments was lovely, as was watching their shadows move on the back of the hall. They brought Grieg’s colors to life, making every phrase ring. To hear such lush music in a small space was a treat.

~ Scoresby