BEETHOVEN 250 / TANG TEE KHOON & LUCA BURATTO / Review

BEETHOVEN 250

TANG TEE KHOON, Violin

LUCA BURATTO, Piano

Esplanade Recital Studio

Sunday (9 January 2022)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 12 January 2022 with the title "Historic take on Beethoven's 10 violin sonatas".

 

History was  when Singaporean violinist Tang Tee Khoon and Italian pianist Luca Buratto performed all ten of Beethoven’s violin sonatas in four concerts over two evenings. This was a belated commemoration of the German composer’s 250 birthday, deferred from 2020 by the global Covid pandemic. All previous cycles presented here involving local musicians were shared by multiple violinists and pianists.

 

The sonatas were played in chronological order, with Sunday’s two concerts showcasing the Sixth to Tenth Sonatas, representing Beethoven’s maturity. The Op.30 trilogy, vastly contrasted works from his “Middle Period”, were performed first. The chemistry developed by violinist and pianist over the years was apparent from the outset, and steadfastly upheld all through the five works.

 

Tang’s violin tone was a voluminous one, easily filling the hall, even challenging the primacy of the piano. At the time of composition, Beethoven’s sonatas had given both instruments more or less equal billing, by being less piano-centred than before. This worked to the advantage of the music, as stresses and tensions were shared by both performers. For his part, pianist Buratto was no less than a most sympathetic and equally virtuosic collaborator.

 

The A major Sonata (Op.30 No.1) which opened the evening was all congeniality, with lyrical beauty shining through the first two movements before the finale’s smiling set of variations. This was starkly contrasted with the C minor Sonata’s (Op.30 No.2) turbulent upheavals, even bordering on violence. Loud and rude piano chords alternated with uncharacteristic daintiness, which made this work unsettling as it dug deep under one’s skin.

 

The G major Sonata (Op.30 No.3) is perhaps the best known of the three. Its sunny and light-hearted disposition was a balm for frazzled nerves, before a crisply articulated finale in fast tarantella rhythm closed the set on a exciting high.    

 

The Ninth Sonata in A major (Op.47), popularly known as the Kreutzer Sonata, is also Beethoven’s longest. The Magnum Opus of the genre opened with an exposed violin solo, one which Tang handled with much alacrity before plunging headlong into the gripping Allegro main section. Time stood still for variations that formed the central movement’s longeurs, leading into another tarantella finale, trickier and more thrilling than the last.

 

After the Kreutzer’s exertions, the Tenth Sonata (Op.96) in G major from Beethoven’s “Late Period” seemed almost apologetic by comparison. Mellow and unassuming for most part, it found a reading that probed spiritual realms with its show of equanamity. Even the leisurely finale had its share of humour by toying with listeners about when it was going to end.     

 

End it did, eliciting the loudest of applause at the close of the cycle. As if the sonatas were not enough work, the duo pleasured the appreciative audience after each session with violin transcriptions of lieder, including those by Schubert (Gretchen am Spinnrade), Richard Strauss (Morgen!) and Brahms (Wie Melodien zieht es mir). It was the first concert of the year, but had one just witnessed the year’s best concert?

All photographs by Clarence Aw, courtesy of Chamber Music & Arts Singapore.