The harmony of three instruments
The Takács-Szabó-Várjon trio gives a concert in Hungary this week
In connection with the concerts of the Takács-Szabó-Várjon piano trio the concert reviews in London give an account of warm and sensitive radiant musical personalities, with interpretations and outstandingly beautiful concerts and CD recordings.
Although the trio was formed only four years ago, they are already regular performers of Europe's most important musical centres. The ensemble gives a concert in Hungary this week. They performed in Szentes on Tuesday, they are giving a concert in Székesfehérvár today and they are playing in the Academy of Music on Sunday evening.
One of the members of the ensemble is the violinist Gábor Takács-Nagy who created the world famous Takács Quartet.
Q. Why did you decided after seventeen years of playing in a quartet that you would step on stage with another chamber ensemble too?
A. Eight years ago I had to leave the Takács Quartet owing to health problems. They kept my name and we maintain a very good relationship --I attend their concerts regularly. I started to play again in 1993, after a six month intermission, when the two leaders of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fisher and Zoltán Kocsis asked me to be their concertmaster. Ever since then I have worked with the orchestra regularly. I started to play with Dénes Várjon pianist and Péter Szabó cellist in 1996, for a Chopin recording. Probably due to our mutual professors, as all the three of us had studied with György Kurtág, Ferenc Rados and Sándor Végh. We soon realized how similar our conception of music was, so our trio stayed together after the CD and to our greatest joy, we receive a growing number of invitations to the most prominent concert halls in Europe.
Q. Did you have any difficulties changing from the quartet to a trio?
A. No, because after seventeen years it opened an interesting and new musical world for me. That is also why I enjoy my work as a concertmaster: one has to play in another manner in an orchestra and also, one gets to know an entirely different repertoire. With the Takács Quartet we were touring eight month a year and in order to keep the high level of performance, we spent many hours every day in rehearsal. The trio also requires intensive joint work, but the person receives more space here and one has time for other tasks too. For me, discovering how differently one has to play the violin in an ensemble with a piano and what special requirements one has to pay attention to in a trio are all fascinating experiences. Moreover, the repertoire is beautiful. From time to time, of course, I do give concerts with an occasional quartet We perform a Bartók Quartet at András Schiff's Ittingen Festival every spring. Additionally, I teach two quartet classes in Switzerland, where I live; I am the head of the chamber music department in the Conservatoire in Genf and I also give classes in Tibor Varga's school in Sion.
Q. To what extent can the art of playing chamber music be taught?
A. Some things can be transmitted. Students must learn the importance of the score and that they should perform the works of the composer with utmost humility. Besides that, they have to be able to understand the various styles and pieces. The manner of dealing with the bow and making the instruments sing are cardinal points. Students also have to learn how to maintain their own personality while also producing a unique character and typical manner of performance for the quartet. I really enjoy these classes and I, myself, learn a lot from the students.
Q. Your trio is getting more and more famous world-wide. Your success is also underlined by the fact that you give regular concerts in the most famous concert halls in London, the town which is often referred to as the Mecca of chamber music.
A. Indeed, the BBC even made a live record of one of our concerts in the Wigmore Hall. Our success might be explained with a mutual humility and respect towards the music and one another. We have developed a real harmony and this way the pieces sound homogeneous but also individually coloured and characterized. We try to share the sensation of excitement and the joy of discovery which we experience throughout the rehearsals with our audience too. Following the concert in Budapest, our trio gives a concert in Switzerland next spring and then again in the Wigmore Hall. Apart from that, we are in the process of making of a recording at Hungaroton: three trios with piano by Sándor Veress and an early piece of Honegger which will appear on the disc as world premiers.
Zsuzsanna Réfi
Translation by Susan Kapás
Népszava
2000
