Published on March 06, 2005
Trisdee na Patalung rides the ‘Horseman’ at a breathtaking gait with Austria’s Haydn Quartet
The third annual Mozart and More Mini-Festival opened on Tuesday with a performance of chamber music of a calibre rarely heard in any of the world’s top classical-music cities. The Haydn Quartet of Austria was in town, generously donating its time so that revenue from ticket sales could be donated to tsunami relief efforts.
One of Thailand’s most remarkable prodigies, Trisdee na Patalung, joined them for a performance of a quality that made the 18-year-old at least an equal in insight to the world-leading interpreters with whom he shared the platform.
The concert, in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani, opened with Haydn’s “Horseman” in G minor”. The playing was at once light and dramatic, a great sense of ensemble built from the seemingly effortless participation and enjoyment of the music by the players.
First violin Fritz Kircher’s low-calorie approach produced warmth unclouded by vibrato, and made of the music a celebration of singing without words.
While Kircher very much took the lead, all members of the quartet were outstanding, ideas passing between them with naturalness and grace.
The second movement of the “Horseman” was taken at a slow pace, but was performed with an extraordinary sense of togetherness that shaped it rapturously.
Following bright, precise playing in the third movement, the final movement was a pure delight: it danced along joyously, the players projecting myriad bursts of musical energy with clarity and grace.
Beethoven’s “C minor Quartet Opus 18 No 4” was given equally outstanding treatment. The greatest testament to the performance was that the audience experienced the purest type of sound, one which seemed to exist of itself rather than be created by the motion of bows on strings of gut.
The final movement, Allegro, saw both incredible virtuosity and a sense of serene legato. A good deal of sharing and daring sent out sounds of great purity, creating an ultimate experience of music, the strange art form that really cannot be captured with words.
Trisdee na Patalung is just the right person to be playing Mozart. Bold in a youthful way, his music making is poetic, showing a maturity beyond his age.
During Trisdee’s performance of the Mozart G minor Piano Quartet with members of the Haydn Quartet, the depth of his artistry came through not only during passages where pathos is expected, but in the nuanced and natural execution of details in music of great brilliance and life.
Trisdee opened the Andante in a very gentle, exploratory way, but soared to gripping virtuosity for the finale. The hold of his playing was not of a raw variety, however, but based on disclosing the inner meaning of the music in a cerebral as well as emotional way.
The string playing by the quartet was magnificent, with colourful but lean sounds focusing on the essence of the music. The to and fro between piano and strings was a wonder, the question and answering session bringing out the beauty and enigma of Mozart.
Trisdee will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 27 with the Siam Philharmonic, conducted by Somtow Sucharitkul, at the Thailand Cultural Centre tomorrow night, in a programme that also includes Thai music composed during the same period, to be performed by the Prasidh Thaworn Ensemble.
Very highly recommended.
Jonathan Richmond
Special to The Nation |