January 4, 2025
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Fort Worth, TX – USA
Gary Levinson, violin; Iakov Zats, viola; Robert deMaine, cello; Anton Nel, piano.
Wolfang Amadéus MOZART: “Kegelstatt” Piano Trio in E flat, KV 498
Bohuslav MARTINŮ: Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola, H. 313
Robert SCHUMANN: Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op.47
Gregory Sullivan Isaacs | 8 JAN 2025
There was some marvelous music-making taking place on Saturday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Knowing that the superb pianist Anton Nel was one of the featured artists was your first hint. Nel stands out as an exceptional artist who plays with subtly and remarkable insight in our current era of flashily displayed nimble fingers and exaggerated tempi and dynamics.
The other artists in this Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth program are equally lauded. The violinist was Gary Levinson, Artistic Director of the Society and the Senior Principal Associate Concertmaster Emeritus of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The violist was Iakov Zats, a chamber music specialist and the pride of the Moscow Conservatory of Music. The cellist was Robert deMaine, the Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Quite a line-up!
The program opened with Mozart’s “Kegelstatt” Piano Trio in E flat, KV 498. The German nickname Kegelstatt is roughly equivalent to duck pin bowling. At one time, Mozart mentioned that he once wrote a piece while playing this sport/game. However, this was not that work. “Kegelstatt” was added later by some misguided editor.
(Unfortunately, I missed most of the Mozart trio’s performance, sitting stopped in an unusually virulent traffic jam in a notoriously clogged portion of the highway between Dallas and Fort Worth. Thus, my comments here are more general in nature.)
Mozart’s trio is a unique work by way of its instrumentation. Instead of the expected violin, Mozart wrote the first part for the relatively recently introduced clarinet. As the years progressed, the instrument became more popular for chamber music, but Mozart was the first to use it in this trio. When the work was published, the clarinet part was transcribed, more traditionally, for violin (but it wasn’t done by Mozart). But in the edition, the clarinet part was politely provided as an alternative with this notation: “La parte del Violino si può eseguire anche con un Clarinetto.” (“The part of the violin can also be performed with a clarinet”).
Next on the program was another work with a baffling title, Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola by the prolific 20th-century Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959). The title is a surprising one for a duo for two string instruments. Instead, it is known for vocal works from the Italian Renaissance. Musicologists still argue about why the composer used it here.
No matter what it is named, this exceptionally demanding work requires two accomplished virtuosic players. As a violinist himself, this piece falls into the category of music that composers write to display the technical abilities of the instrument. Levinson and Zats gave it a fiery performance.
Robert Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 47 occupied the second half of the concert. It is a remarkable piece, although it is usually relegated to second place to his very popular Piano Quintet (Op. 44). There is much to say about the excellence of this performance, such as deMaine’s splendid playing in the second movement, but the astonishing thing about it is more elemental.
Every other time I have heard this quartet performed, it came off as a piano concerto with a very tiny string orchestra. That is not surprising because Schumann was a pianist, and, as mentioned earlier, composers tend to write challenging music for their own instrument. But not here. With Anton Nel at the keyboard, the gifted concertmaster Levinson in the lead chair, and joined by two equally gifted artists, the usual “concerto” effect was nullified; instead, we heard a real “piano quartet,” with all four parts equal in rank melding into a unified whole. We may have heard the same notes, but in this performance, it came off as it was intended.
It was quite a revelation! ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth: cmsfw.org
- Gary Levinson: glevinson.com
- Iakov Zats: paulhuangviolin.com
- Paul Neubauer: amusicnet.org/artisti_zats_en.html
- Robert deMaine: robertdemaine.com
- Anton Nel: antonnel.com
Read more by Gregory Sullivan Isaacs.
