TRIO
TROTOVSEK, BIZJAK, CANYIGUERAL
Birmingham
Cathedral *****
Birmingham Cathedral’s regular series of free Friday
lunchtime concerts offers a worthy menu of performances, generally from its own
roster of organists and students from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. This
time, however, it served up a dish featuring three international stars to
enthral a small but appreciative audience of office-workers and fascinated
tourists.
The programme was an attractive one, opening with Slovenian
violinist Lana Trotovsek and Catalan pianist Maria Canyigueral giving an
enthralling account of Beethoven’s C minor Sonata. Actually the composer
designated this as a Sonata for Piano with Violin Accompaniment, but all the
balance issues were sensitively and brilliantly solved here, Trotovsek’s pure,
forward tone well matched by Canyigueral’s adroit pianism.
Phrasing was articulately, deftly shaped, the slow movement
breathed a lyrical glow, and the outer movements delivered plenty of
tightly-controlled drama.
Canyigueral was joined by Trotovsek’s partner, Slovenian
flautist Boris Bizjak, in Prokofiev’s delicious Flute Sonata, a work combining
fairy-tale narration with disturbing intrusions from the real world lurking
outside (Canyigueral magnificently percussive and driving in these episodes).
Pan-like, Bizjak was both sweet and skittish, adding a physical response to his
remarkable unfolding of this magical score.
In conclusion Trotovsek and Bizjak combined for Halvorsen’s
remarkable Passacaglia. this Norwegian composer’s work originally written for
viola and cello, but here in a brilliant arrangement for violin and flute by
Bizjak himself. We move from evocations of Bach’s great D minor Chaconne,
through Paganini’s 24th Caprice (this before Rachmaninov’s unforgettable
Variations), and onto a wonderfully-created finale. Our two performers here did
it proud.
Christopher Morley