A Petri Dish For Performance

On Wednesday, the Juilliard School turned Alice Tully Hall into a giant petri dish, running an experiment about how much a piece's degree of difficulty affects its performance. The set-up consisted of two chamber groups of roughly the same age and level of experience presenting works from the Classical period. The results were telling.

The program opened well with a rousing rendition of Haydn's String Quartet in F major, Op. 77, No. 2. The two violinists — Areta Zhulla and Sharon Chang — created an instantaneously arresting, blended sound, sweet, clear, vital. Ably supported by violist Jeremy Berry and cellist Gretchen Claassen, they forged ahead into a bright sonic world filled with optimism and sunny philosophy. All was right with this world and the group was able to sustain that infectious élan throughout the entire piece. There was a noticeable flagging of energy midway through the Andante, but otherwise this was very pleasing music making, especially considering the age of the practitioners.

Much had happened in the world of music when Beethoven returned to the piano trio form after a 10-year sabbatical. Since his initial set of three, the very foundations of the art of composition had been shaken. Beethoven was well aware of this sea change, since he was its driving force. Between the Opus 1 trios and the next set of two, opus 70, he had composed, among many other groundbreaking works, the 3rd, 5th, and 6th symphonies, the Rasumouvsky quartets, and the "Appassionata" sonata. No one would ever feel the same about music again.

So if the Haydn quartet is a seven on a scale of difficulty from one to 10, then the "Ghost" trio is a 12. Beginning with a volcanic eruption of sound ending on a very strange minor third, the piece announces its uniqueness from the get-go. In order to put forward this type of enunciation, a chamber ensemble must have a great heft to its elocution. At this level of experience, that gravitas is simply not to be found.

Which is what made this recital so interesting. A good example of the disparity in the performances was in the cellos. Ms. Claassen played with a great deal of accuracy, a certain sweetness, and a vibrant sense of brio. So did the cellist in the Beethoven, Sara Cortinas. In fact, their performances were remarkably similar — Ms. Cortinas, therefore, came off as much less impressive. Her statement of the main theme of the Allegro vivace seemed weak because it had little substance, no depth, no feeling of world-beating power. Also, she separated each and every note of this superb melody, meant by its composer to flow like a mighty river. This clipped style is not her doing, I am sure. Rather, it is the pernicious influence of a generation of coaches who are embarrassed by Romanticism.

Violinist Arthur Moeller had similar problems of emphasis. His performance was fine, but he too did not possess the gleaming tone necessary for meaty Beethovenian communication. Had he been inserted into the Haydn, he probably would have been fine.

The trio is called the "ghost" because Beethoven was at the time toying with the idea of writing an opera on the subject of "Macbeth." What is a bit confusing is that the spectral theme of the Largo assai ed espressivo and its corollary ectoplasmic effects were originally intended not for the scene with Banquo's ghost, but rather the opening tableau of the three witches. Ultimately it was left to Giuseppe Verdi to compose that spooky scene.

In any case, pianist Qing Jiang, who appeared to be the most proficient player of the day, did not quite have the sonic might to bend around this colorful essay. The interplay of timbre is so subtle in this trio, the chiaroscuro effects so breathtaking, that it takes a master's touch at the keyboard. Ms. Jiang made a fine effort, but she needs to be exposed to traditions not printed in the score. Although she performed the vaporous, trailing away notes of the ghost as written, a more experienced practitioner would know that they are much more poetic if intoned considerably softer, with a quicker diminuendo contrast suggesting their journey back to the other world. The good news is that she has exceptional talent for a woman of her age. On her own journey, one hopes, she will encounter a teacher who can introduce her to more than just sharps and flats.