Alas, poor cello: Vienna Mozart Trio at the Wigmore
Mozart Piano Trio K 502 and Beethoven Piano Trio op.1 no.3
Vienna Mozart Trio
Wigmore Hall
Balcony B16, complimentary under-35s
22 September 2017
Wigmore page
Bit of an odd one, this: a concert hosted by the Austrian Embassy to celebrate John Gilhooly's receiving the Austrian Cross of Honour 'and' the tercentenary of Empress Maria Theresia (suuuuure), to which members of the Wigmore's under-35s scheme were invited to accept complimentary tickets along with Wigmore and Austrian bigwigs. After the hour-long concert there were segregated drinks, bigwigs in one bar, under-35s in the other.
Still, should I look a gift-horse in the mouth? Who ever complained about Mozart and Beethoven? Well, me, a little bit: though the Mozart has much lovely music for the piano and the odd charming exchanges between piano and violin, the poor old cello is left out in the cold with one of the most boring parts ever. Poor cello. Pianist Irina Auner gamely pretended that she wasn't the star of the show while fluidly pouring forth reams of notes; violinist Daniel Auner sang very beautifully when given the opportunity and cellist Diethard Auner tried as much as possible to pretend he wasn't there.
So the Beethoven wins! Not that it's a competition, but this is a much more interesting piece for everyone involved. Diethard didn't sell it as much as he should have, presumably still locked in the Mozart mindset, but otherwise this was a lively and efficient, if not entirely inspiring, performance from the Auners.
I'm a bit ashamed to admit this but it's probably the truth: the main thing I took away from the concert was delight in the discovery that the acoustic in the Wigmore balcony is just as good as if not better than it is in the stalls. What a wonderful place!
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