Sonata in A, op 100 . . . Brahms
Sonata in G, op 96 . . . Beethoven
Sonata in A . . . Franck
These two young players from Norway first visited Ireland as a duo last year at the invitation of the LMA, and have naturally been invited again, for they have the gift of making each performance seem, if not unrepeatable, unlikely to be repeated. This is due to the tremendous concentration of energy that they bring to each work, an energy that forces the music to expand and yet holds it in check, so that their shared knowledge of the score is transformed into the enthusiastic discovery of new land.
They may not have brought us new Norwegian music, but they brought a new Brahms, Beethoven and Franck. The latter's Sonata in A can all too easily sound heavy-handed and overtly sentimental, but last Saturday in Blackhall Place it was its qualities of brightness and strength that were spotlit with playing of power and commitment. Kjekshus at the piano played with the freedom of a soloist, but Kraggerud's violin was a match for the larger instrument; the thunder of one was met by the lightning of the other.
Let it not be thought that delicacy was not at their command; one of the pleasures of their approach was the confident way they handled sudden contrasts of texture and tone.
Brahms's Sonata in A veered from playfulness to ill-suppressed turbulence and back, which gave the lie to whoever said the whole sonata was one caress; but the excitement of the performance made it seem the right way to do it while it lasted.
Beethoven's tenth and last sonata for violin and piano showed that the duo could excel in music of a lighter, more graceful type than the other two sonatas without any hint of preciosity and without compromising the strength of their playing.
