Lammermuir Festival: Antje Weithaas with Mahan Esfahani

Prestongrange Church - 10/09/23 

Charismatic duo, German violinist Antje Weithaas and Iranian harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, brought a programme of J.S. and C.P.E. Bach and Walter Piston to Prestongrange Church in Prestonpans on the late afternoon of Sunday 10th September.  Mahan augmented the programme notes with genial and informative introductions.  Antje communicated as much and more entirely through her instrument, with a captivating, engaging performing style that was never showy. 

Two J.S. Bach works were sandwiched between two sonatas by his son Carl Philip Emanuel, these latter opening the two halves of the concert. The Bach (senior) works, characterised by his usual gravitas, were a very early Fugue in G minor and a 4-movement Sonata in F minor dating from his very productive time at the Anhalt-Köthen court about 1720. There is very little in the early Fugue that could be termed ‘emergent’ – this is Bach with his full contrapuntal skillset, complete with two cadenza-like stretti, though of course he was to outdo himself many times over in the subsequent years.  Bach the technical master of the organ has eclipsed the fact that he was a fair violinist – his works for solo violin certainly show a thorough knowledge of the technicalities of the instrument – and even the early work exemplifies this too.  The sonata is no different.  A sorrowful Largo, stoic yet warm-hearted provided a very lovely extended introduction, both harmony and counterpoint satisfyingly complex.  A typical Bach Allegro with quavers chugging away in the harpsichord and sequences in the violin part, as well as a few chromatic moments, followed.  The Adagio, ingenious (though perhaps not thrilling) featured a double-stopping repeated note violin line concealing a slow melody, over ornate arpeggiation in the harpsichord.  The triple-time Vivace, equally ingenious, featured a rising chromatic melodic sequence on violin over more chugging quavers, with some imitation between the parts.  Overall, I found the sonata academically (if not emotionally) satisfying. It received the utmost advocacy from the players, though, with sensitive dynamics and phrasing and, as always, violin tone to die for from Antje. 

What’s not to like about C.P.E. Bach?  Fully armed with a honed Baroque skillset, totally committed to Rococo elegance and expressiveness, yet teasingly anticipating the engaging conversationalism of Haydn and even, at times, Mozart – I’ve never heard a piece by him I didn’t like. The B-minor and C-minor 3-movement sonatas which opened the concert and the second half respectively fully exemplified this. The B-minor sonata’s first movement, with expressive Rococo melodies but Baroque sequences was followed by a sweet major key Poco andante, with interplay between the parts that was quite Haydnesque. The concluding triple-time Allegretto Siciliano, like a souped-up minuet, had a yearning melody with some adventurous chords and dramatic pauses.  Scrumptious. The C-minor’s harpsichord part kept reminding me of Scarlatti’s minor-key melodies (which I adore), while the lyrical violin part anticipated Haydn’s first-violin quartet parts. The major key slow movement was delicious, with an arioso melody on the violin that was almost Mozartean. The Presto finale could easily have been a J.S. Bach gigue and was thrilling from start to finish.  All were played with sensitivity and grace. 

The programme closed with Walter Piston’s Sonatina. Piston was one of the “Baker’s Dozen” of American composers who had travelled to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger but, though his symphonies and quartets are well worth the candle, is remembered as an academic whose textbooks have developed the skills of many a later composer in America and beyond. The Sonatina was written for Alexander Schneider and Ralph Kirkpatrick.  Mahan suggested that the elegiac slow movement may have been intended as an expression of condolence for Schneider on hearing that his Jewish parents had perished in a Nazi concentration camp. The two outer movements have a rhythmic syncopated vigour influenced by jazz.  A thrilling piece given a committed, sensitive and persuasive outing concluded a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. 

Cover photo: Giorgia Bertazzi