Leonidas Kavakos and his “friends” presented two of the most beautiful quintets in musicology on February 14 at the Christos D. Lambrakis Hall. Together with Alexandros Sacarello (violin), Ilia-Iona Livierato (viola), Timoteo Gavrielidis-Petrin (cello) and Vassilis Varvaresso (piano), he performed the Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44 by Robert Schumann, and the Piano Quintet. in A minor, opus 34, by Johannes Brahms.

Schumann’s work was written in 1842. Although by that time similar quintets had already been written, it was this one, thanks to its success, that gave a big impetus to the genre and at the same time helped to standardize it, since it combined the piano with the usual composition of a string quartet. In earlier quintets, such as the Trout, for example, Schubert envisions violin, viola, cello and double bass next to the piano. Schumann compared the piano, which, thanks to changes in its design in the middle of the 19th century, now acquired a powerful and rich sound, with the most important formation of chamber musical instruments, the string quartet. Gradually, chamber music moved more and more from the private to the public sphere, combining its quiet confessional elements with elements of symphonic music. It is no coincidence that the premiere of this particular quintet took place in a large concert hall, the famous Gewandhaus in Leipzig.

A delightful performance by Greek musicians of two iconic pieces of chamber music.

In addition, the Brahms Quintet, written two decades after Schumann, began life as a string quintet for two violins, viola and two cellos. Before taking the final form of a piano quintet, Brahms rewrote it as a sonata for two pianos.

Leonidas Kavakos’ love for chamber music is well known. Many remember the related thematic cycles that he presented for about ten years in the Concert Hall of Athens, systematically introducing the Athenian public to a very wide range of repertoire. There is one fundamental difference in his recent performances: then most of the musicians whom he invited to collaborate with him were foreigners. Today, his “friends” are well-educated Greek musicians of the same generation. And, as can be seen from the quality of the interpretations, besides technique and craftsmanship, they seem to concern other characteristics that are reflected in style and aesthetics.

Thus, the performances of the two iconic 19th-century quintets they presented were exemplary and emphasized the qualities of each. The obvious was given, such as the lyricism of the second theme, which exposed the cello and viola in the first movement of Schumann, or the solemn atmosphere of the subsequent “mourning journey”. The quality of the treatment was even more evident in Brahms’ closing movement, with its constant mood swings, between the eerie atmosphere of the opening bars, the rushing continuation, the following elegant and sensual paragraphs, the tumultuous conclusion. Charming in every way.