I recently attended a chamber recital in the Pierre Boulez Saal. This time, it featured a program consisting of two pieces by Johannes Brahms, as well as a world premiere of a piece by Benjamin Attahir for horn, violin, and piano. I was drawn to this concert by two aspects: of course there was the world premiere of a contemporary piece, and I was hoping it would align with my general preferences. Also, the horn player was none other than Ben Goldscheider, who I previously saw perform a few months ago, in the same venue. That contemporary recital was fantastic, and I was hoping I would see a similar performance. Alas, this concert was slightly different than what I expected.
I suppose I was warned by my AI bot. My bot recommended me to attend this concert, but with certain caveats. And unfortunately, those caveats turned out to be larger than what I thought I could tolerate. The first piece was Johannes Brahms' Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major, Op. 100. Often called the "Thun" or "Meistersinger" sonata, this is apparently Brahms at his most lyrical and relaxed. It features three movements where the violin and piano engage in a dense, song-like dialogue. The music is characterized by warm, soaring melodies and a rhythmic fluidity that avoids the "sturm und drang" of his earlier works. The performance was fantastic, and the soloists were definitely masters of their art, but I have a lukewarm relationship with this general musical period, so I didn't find this piece very engaging.
The second piece was the world premiere of Benjamin Attahir's Mon image se reflète encore sur l'eau immobile, which was a piece commissioned actually by the Pierre Boulez Saal. I thought it would be a contemporary piece similar to the ones I generally enjoy, but I felt like it was lacking the grit and visceral aspects that I favour. It is scored for horn, violin, and piano. It sounded more late-Romantic or post-Romantic, but not really contemporary. I thought I heard Debussy's pentatonic scales, for example. And I thought that Stravinsky was more daring than this one. So as much as I thought that this was a contemporary piece, it didn't sound like one, and so was rather disappointed.
After the intermission, they played Johannes Brahms' Trio for Horn, Violin, and Piano in E-flat major, Op. 40. Again, it is a cornerstone of the chamber repertoire. Brahms wrote this for the "natural horn" (without valves), which gives the piece a somber, rustic, and slightly outdoor quality. It is structurally rigorous, particularly in its elegiac Adagio mesto and the galloping, hunt-inspired finale. Surprisingly enough, this piece was the one that I enjoyed the most. I know, this isn't contemporary, but relatively speaking, this piece was for me the most engaging.
So, did I enjoy the concert? From a content perspective, I would not be too enthusiastic. But at the same time, I think I could disentangle the content from the performance, and from this perspective, I do like the fact that this was a concert featuring Ben Goldscheider. I later on looked him up, and was amazed at how young he is, yet he has full command of his instrument. I seem to form habits where I follow certain performers, and who knows, he might be one I would put on my radar, in order to see what other concerts and recitals he might perform in.
