SITKOVETSKY TRIO / Review

SITKOVETSKY TRIO 

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory 

Orchestral Hall

Tuesday (5 March 2024)

Some of the best things in the world are free. Tickets to Taylor Swift gigs are not among them, but a front row seat to witness the Sitkovetsky Trio performing certainly was. The small audience at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of not more than fifty music-lovers was treated to some of the most exquisite chamber music this side of Wigmore Hall.

The Sitkovetsky Trio has to be the most cosmopolitan piano trio thought possible. Based in the UK, it is formed by Moscow-born Russian violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky, German-Korean cellist Isang Enders and Shanghai-born Chinese pianist Wu Qian. When people say that music is a universal language, this trio is its perfect embodiment.

The trio's varied but interesting programme opened with The Freak Show by the young Irish composer Sam Perkin (born 1995). It comprised seven very brief movements inspired by a rat circus in some World War One prisoner-of-war camp. It's odd assortment of techniques employed by the instruments amply mimicked or suggested the grotesqueries to be found in the movements, each with an equally unusual title.

For example, the third movement Living Skeleton makes use of spiccato (bow bouncing off strings) on violin and cello to create a dry and desiccated sound effect.  Angel of Death, a portrait of Joseph Mengele, is a slow grating legato of grim countenance. The longest movement was Pandora's Basket, filled with music box sound effects simulated by pizzicatos and plinking staccatos on the piano. The final movement, Armless Fiddler, employs no bows, with only pizzicatos, foot stomping and a final shout to close a fascinating musical cabinet of curiosities.

The balance of the programme was more traditional, with Ravel's Piano Trio (1914), one of the twentieth century's greatest piano trios, to complete the first half. The Frenchman uses a common theme to unite its four movements, the work being so well-crafted that one does not really notice this. The syncopated first movement (Modere) was taken at a moderate pace which sounded slower than usual, but well enough to sustain its narrative. The balance struck between all three players was close to perfect, bringing out its exquisite harmonies coherently and with much clarity.  

The second movement's Pantoum was modelled on the form of a Malay poem (pantun). Although there is nothing Malay about this music, its exoticism comes from using the pentatonic scale. Its scherzo-like spirit was well-captured, and if there were anything Oriental in feel, that would be in the solemn slow procession of the third movement's Passacaille. I cannot imagine this movement done better than this. The light and breezy Finale (Anime), also a variant of the opening main theme, was transported to a feverish climax at its close, which was greeted with very vociferous acclaim.

The second half's offering of Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No.2 in C minor (Op.66) is a relative rarity compared with its frankly overplayed predecessor in D minor. The opening movement was possessed with a Beethovenian sturm und drang, contrasted with a more lyrical second subject in E flat major. The mind boggles why this totally engaging work is not played or heard enough, especially with the sumptuous song without words at the heart of the slow movement.  

The contrasts provided by this and the glittering flitting of the short-winded G minor Scherzo were beautifully brought out. There was no let-up in the Trio section which continued in its mercurial busyness. Has anyone noticed that the dance-like finale has almost the identical theme as the Scherzo from Brahms' Third Piano Sonata? That did not occur to me until this evening's performance, which provided an uncanny sense of déjà vu. Surely Brahms could not have plagiarised Mendelssohn.

There was another surprise in the finale, with the quotation of The Old Hundredth, also All People That On Earth Do Dwell, or commonly the Doxology (Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow) in Methodist churches in Singapore. The grand apotheosis at its end was an affirmation of true faith that good music abides, delivered with authority and aplomb by the Sitkovetskies. 

Loud and prolonged applause was rewarded with another rare gem, the slow movement from Cecile Chaminade's Piano Trio No.2. A truly gorgeous piece with a prayer-like countenance rising to an impassioned high. The question arises again: why don't we get to hear this more often? Thanks to the Sitkovetsky Trio for helping us make new friends.  

ALEXANDER SITKOVETSKY AND WU QIAN / Violin and Piano Recital / Review

VIOLIN & PIANO RECITAL

ALEXANDER SITKOVETSKY, Violin

with WU QIAN, Piano

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall

Friday (21 September 2012)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 24 September 2012 with the title "Watch and learn from up-and-comers".

Ones To Watch is an annual series at the Conservatory that showcases young artists who are rising stars in the universal musical firmament. This year’s offering was the London-based duo of Russian violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky and Chinese pianist Wu Qian, who performed a demanding programme of sonatas, one that would not look out of place in Wigmore Hall.

If the name Sitkovetsky sounds familiar, that is because Alexander is the nephew of violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky and grand-nephew of pianist Bella Davidovich, Russian virtuosos well-known from their many recordings. Much of the pedigree has rubbed on, evident in the blistering performance of Prokofiev’s First Violin Sonata in F minor. From its morose opening through to the rants and raves of the ironic finale, he displayed an astonishing range of colours and emotions. 

Allying faultless intonation with a voluminous tone, his control was one to admire, not least in the mysterious third movement, where the fine balance of both instruments playing pianissimo was kept on a knife-edge. Despite the undisguised dissonance and barbed aggression of much in the music, Prokofiev was not one to resist a good tune, and when these arose, the duo responded with grateful lyricism.

The 50-minute long first half began with the romantic ardour of Schumann’s First Violin Sonata in A minor. The psychological upheavals in the German’s music were well realised, contrasting plaintive singing in the slow movement with the furious perpetual motion of its frenzied finale.

The shorter second half was subject to less storm and stress. Mozart’s congenial A major Sonata (K.305) still had its fair share of highs, the limpid and sensitive pianism of Wu now taking the lead. The theme and variations, based on a graceful minuet, provided the work’s main focus and delight.

The recital proper closed with Grieg’s popular Third Violin Sonata, opening with a Beethovenian emphatic statement of intent in C minor. The force of personality both performers kept up the tension throughout, before the most heartrending of melodies defined the slow movement. A vigorous Norwegian dance dominated the last movement which provided a cheery and folksy end.

The applause-happy audience, which could not resist clapping inappropriately in between movements for much of the evening, was rewarded with two encores. Elgar’s Salut d’amour was given that most alluring of lilts, and Vittorio Monti’s gypsy Csardas saw Sitkovetsky applying some individual flourishes of his own, a touch of caprice to a most satisfying evening of great chamber music.