The music is a transitory and capricious art, like no other it depends on atmosphere, state of mind, feelings, focus and the weather as well. The long-awaited equinox comes with usual phenomena: the atmospheric pressure is unsteady, temperature changes rapidly, meteoropathics have hard time. Summer is in the light and winter in the shade as Dickens put it. The weekend was warm, and the following Monday (22nd March 2010) was colder, but there was no rain. There were much complains of the sleepless night that dominated small talks during the afternoon. We may assume, then, that not only Warsaw citizens (the audience crowding the Royal Castle – Grand Hall included) suffered from the March weather phenomena. The same was probably experienced by the two great and well-established artists, who appeared on the concert inaugurating the chamber music chapter of 14th Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival. Those musicians were the cellist Ivan Monighetti and pianist Pavel Gililov.
The programme of the concert was very interestingly conceived. In the first half Fryderyk Chopin’s music was offered, namely Introduction and Polonaise in C major Op. 3, a work by young composer, and a masterpiece from late period – Cello Sonata in G minor Op. 65. Even during Chopin’s Year it would be rare opportunity to listen to both works during the same evening, therefore this part of recital was particularly of interest. The Polonaise, according to composer’s own words, is nothing more than “trinkets for ladies”, as it was composed for a particular purpose in the welcoming home of Radziwiłł family in Antonin. The Sonata, on the other hand, was composed in the span of two years, quite unusual for Chopin, and today is regarded as an exemplary work for composer’s late period. Its message was not received for a long time. It was cursed by Friedrich Niecks who stated that the Sonata is little more than “immense wilderness with only here and there a small flower”. A foul play from the great monographer, we tried hard to forget this line but we did not quite succeed. Something was lacking in the performance of the Sonata by Monighetti and Gililov. Their playing was overwhelmed by a struggle with difficulties of this beautiful music. The musicians failed to convincingly create one organism out of cello’s cantilena and refined piano part. The flowers Niecks had referred to were rare, in the central section of Scherzo, just a few more in Largo. There were none that Gililov and Monighetti were able to find and show to us neither in Allegro moderato nor in the Allegro finale. Their performance of those movements was lacking control. Something was about to come out, we were hoping for some fresh petals, and then the musical threads were broken in an unexplainable way. Atmospheric pressure influence maybe? We tend to think so as we can hardly believe that so renowned artists failed to understand the work that they have missed crocuses and snowdrops reaching for the warmth of spring sun. Alas, the same goes for the performance of the Introduction and Polonaise Op. 3. Even if last bars of the Introduction were beautiful and noble in Monighetti’s and Gililov’s performance, the “trinkets for ladies” were troublesome for them.
The second part of the afternoon consisted of rather unusual version of famous Sonata in A major Op. 47 “Kreutzer” by Beethoven that was transcribed for piano and cello by Carl Czerny. If all of the work was performed as well as the Presto finale, we would admit that cello version of the Sonata deserved a warm applause. Well, the music is a transitory and capricious art, like no other it depends on atmospheric pressure...

Marcin Majchrowski (Polskie Radio)