Schubert at the East Neuk Festival

With three recitals devoted entirely to his chamber music and one work in the closing concert, Schubert was the composer most represented in this year’s East Neuk Festival.  Despite his tragically short life, his legendary facility for engaging and inventive melody, his astonishing ability to wring pathos from major and minor keys equally and his unrivalled mastery of the art-song genre, coupled with a phenomenally prolific output, mean his place in the repertoire remains assured. 

The three all-Schubert recitals were billed as Schubert Trios 1 & 2 and Schubert Octet.  This nomenclature, whilst delivering as promised, conceals the 4-hands piano works that not merely graced the Trio recitals, but introduced them, despite appearing second on those respective programmes.  Indeed, the Trio recitals, by virtue of featuring three particularly accomplished keyboard artists, might reasonably have been termed Pianistic Extravaganza 1 & 2. 

The 4-hands works were played by Samson Tsoy and Pavel Kolesnikov.  Crail Church was the venue for all piano music in the Festival, the stage at the altar supporting a fine Steinway instrument which was tuned regularly.   

First up, on 29th June at 4 pm, was the F-minor Fantasia D940.  From the achingly beautiful opening theme, the phrasing was excellent, with a natural flow and perfect unity of the two performers, yet a powerful dynamic range when it was called for.  This sense of flow continued in the fast waltz section.  After an optimally judged long pause, the return to the longing of the opening theme was dramatically pointed with lots of sensitive rubato, and a short section in the major key was infused with even more Schubertian pathos.  The fugato section was very controlled with subtle dynamics and minimal rubato.  A masterly performance of a very great work. 

The following day at the same time, the 4-hands work was the Allegro in A-minor D947; page-turning for the men was none other than Elisabeth Leonskaja herself!  I have to confess that I don’t consider this piece to be in the same league as the Fantasia.  After a declamatory start and despite some lovely moments, there is less to engage the listener or indeed, it seemed, the performers, as I felt they were less ‘together’.  Also, more than once in this work and in the following Trio (and therefore for three virtuoso pianists), I became aware of the instrument, with rapidly repeated notes played piano or pianissimo, failing to “speak” on occasional notes.  Strangely but thankfully, this issue did not recur in any of the later recitals. 

For the Trios, pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja was joined by violinist Liza Ferschtman and cellist Ivan Karizna.  It is a truism of the chamber music world that gathering three soloists does not necessarily make a trio.  But oh, these three so very definitely did, and Schubert’s music and our lives were so much the richer for it. 

From the bold opening of the B-flat Trio, the perfect choice of tempo and exquisite phrasing were immediate, while the second subject on solo cello seemed to breathe.  By leaning into Schubert’s key changes, their drama was heightened.  His cantabile writing for cello that starts and permeates the slow movement also shone.  The scherzo, a minuet/Ländler hybrid with a more leisurely trio section, again benefitted from a well-chosen tempo.  The delicious rondo finale, with its gypsy-like melody and barrel-organ imitations, seemed to dance, while the false endings led to playful episodes.  The presto coda rounded off a joyous celebration of Schubert’s genius. 

Delightful though the performance of the first Trio was, the second in E-flat was truly sublime.  The same musicality interpreting Schubert at the height of his melodic inventiveness delivered a truly memorable performance of the better-known piece.  The Andante Con Moto “slow” movement, where a stoic ballad-like air, initially on solo cello, enters over a strutting rhythm, is one of Schubert’s great tunes that has earned its inclusion in many a film score.  An emotional outburst in the middle dispels the stoicism and even though the movement ends with a soft coda, in a great performance such as we heard, the emotional intensity is sustained to the end.  It was shortly before the coda that the cellist’s C-string popped out of tune.  He compensated for this by carefully adapted fingering and continued playing until the end of the movement before retuning.  Now that’s virtuosity!  The scherzo, a witty canonical round, was delivered with an exquisitely light touch, while the more rumbunctious Ländler-like trio with its more wistful moments was equally delightful.  The finale, with its pavane-like opening and challenging scurrying runs, was very well handled, but the absolute highlight was the magical return of the theme of the slow movement, which the cellist played initially without vibrato, endowing it with a haunting ghostly quality.  This unforgettable performance must rank as a highlight of the Festival. 

The Bowhouse near St Monans was the venue for the Octet, on the evening of Friday 1st July at 8 pm.  This venue is a bit of a barn, with a surprisingly generous live acoustic.  The Elias Quartet were joined by clarinettist Robert Plane, horn player Alec Frank Gemmill, bassoonist Robin O’ Neill and Philip Nelson on the double bass.  The advance publicity had advertised Michael Collins as the clarinettist and I searched the programme in vain for explanation of the change of performer, but Robert Plane’s association with the Elias Quartet in exploration of clarinet quintet repertoire renders this search little more than a matter of idle curiosity before a performance of a work which was commissioned by a clarinettist and in which the instrument has great prominence. 

It is indeed a huge 6-movement work, just over an hour long, yet chock-full of some of Schubert’s most memorable melodies.  An adagio introduction leads to the confident allegro, whose teasing minor-key second subject is introduced by the clarinet.  I am pleased to record that, as without exception throughout the Festival, exposition repeats were observed.  The second movement’s adagio melody, on clarinet over pulsating strings, joined by first violin, was beautifully played.  The scherzo, a delightfully tripping Ländler, is one of Schubert’s brightest and happiest and was played for pure fun, its trio for string quartet joined harmonically by winds delivered with equal warmth.  The ensuing theme-and-variations andante has a ballad-like narrative style and was performed with expressive genial phrasing.  It was during this movement that the fans came on in the Bowhouse, which this audience member found intrusive.  The minuet-and-trio fifth movement had its melodic charm enhanced by subtly accentuating its Viennese chromaticism.  The melodrama of the tremolo and declamatory andante molto opening to the finale was very impressive, beautifully contrasting with the Haydnesque melody and classically Schubertian harmonies of the allegro.  A return to the scary introduction before the genial coda rounded off what was a very fine performance.