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American Rachel Barton Pine imported a pair of rarities (along with a pair of semi-standards) into Pollack Hall on Sunday for inspection by the redoubtably conservative Ladies? Morning Musical Club.
Photograph by: Andrew Eccles , Courtesy of Rachel Barton Pine
MONTREAL ? Rachel Barton Pine deserves the thanks of all of us for letting a little fresh air into the dank cloisters of the violin repertory. On Sunday, the mid-career American imported a pair of rarities (along with a pair of semi-standards) into Pollack Hall for inspection by the redoubtably conservative Ladies? Morning Musical Club.
Not that William Grant Still (1895-1978) was by any measure a radical. The outer movements of his African-American-flavoured Suite for Violin and Piano of 1943 did not rise much above the level of folksy charm. The middle movement, however, inspired by a lithograph titled Mother and Child, brought together a soulful violin line and supple accompaniment with memorable finesse.
Pine and pianist Matthew Hagle were nicely matched in this and other slow movements, including the lengthy opening Adagio of Heitor Villa-Lobos?s Sonata No. 3 of 1920. This Brazilian was no master architect, but he did have a quota of melodic inspiration, on which Pine was prepared to capitalize. There was plenty of rhythmic gusto and spiky pizzicato in the middle scherzando movement; the finale elicited a big cheer from the Ladies? Morning Musical Club subscribers, every one of whom was hearing this music (as Pine established by asking for a show of hands) for the first time.
Beethoven?s relatively neglected Sonata Op. 12 No. 3 started the program. Hunch-shouldered and shy while taking a bow, Hagle was anything but at the keyboard, pretty much blowing Pine of the stage in the first movement and maintaining a competitive edge in the finale. However, he was a sensitive partner in the Adagio. Pine spun out the main tune beautifully. Perhaps the double-stopped offbeats of the opening needed a little lift. Would vibrato be illegal here?
The other registered masterwork ? though like the Beethoven, not overplayed ? was Richard Strauss?s Violin Sonata. Once again, the summit seemed to be the slow movement, although Pine was capable of tugging affectionately at the tunes of the outer movements as well. As she explained to the crowd, she was finally presenting the piece in its entirety in Montreal, having played the finale decades ago as a contestant (then named Rachel Barton, as I recall) in the Montreal International Music Competition.
There were other good-natured comments from the stage, including some words about the provenance of her Guarnerius del Ges? instrument. The first encore was Antonio Bazzini?s Dance of the Goblins, a hearty, upfront virtuoso vehicle, played in kind.
akaptainis@sympatico.ca
? Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
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