Violin and harp tunes echo in İstanbul halls

Accompanied on the piano by Mimar Sinan State Conservatory faculty member İris Şentürker, Horvath-Kisromay showed his flexible stylistic sensibilities in the program’s first half, in Mozart’s Rondo in C Major and Beethoven’s “Spring” Sonata with many sublimely floated phrases with almost no vibrato, as well as effulgent sweeps through the more intense archeology of these two classics’ duo interplay. Though his solo personality is clearly evident, he’s also a real partner that gives and takes with acute sensory antennae. The two musicians carefully carved out the light and dark contrasts, especially in the sonata’s frequent shift of mood. An instrumental sonata with piano is truly a duet with equally weighted voices, as opposed to a solo with background accompaniment, so it’s more like a conversation between two people. Horvath-Kisromay and Şentürker, with very little rehearsal time together, made it sound as if they had prepared this repertoire over many years -- a tribute to their musical maturity even at their young ages.

The second half of the program offered some of the most entertaining “pot boilers” for a solo violinist: Saint-Saëns’ “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso,” Kreisler’s “Tambourin Chinois” and Bartók’s “Rumanian Folk Dances.” The first of these is one of the most technically challenging compositions ever written, full of speed and brilliance and requiring the utmost control from the player. Horvath-Kisromay handled it all with consummate finesse. Kreisler’s colorful and evocative description of a Chinese tambourine dance contains plenty of schwung and sizzle, which the artist dispatched with ease and burnished beauty. Bartók’s six dances based on folk themes from Transylvania were originally written for piano in 1915, but later transcribed for violin and piano. They are part of every violinist’s concert repertoire and their charisma, rustic energy, and exotic flavors show off many moods and effects, largely through Bartók’s creative use of lesser-known scales and modes.

Horvath-Kisromay’s tone in the lower range of the instrument was especially warm and emotional, but this special facet was a combination of not only his own artistry but the instrument itself. This concert marked the İstanbul debut of a recently made violin by Hans Pluhar, who was in the audience that night. I asked Horvath-Kisromay what concerto would be his personal choice to perform, and which would most fit his personality. “The Brahms concerto, most definitely,” he answered, referring to the passionate virtuoso classic. Perfect fit for both artist and the beautiful new instrument.

The harp’s heritage

On Dec. 7, one of Britain’s prominent early music scholars and performers, Andrew Lawrence-King, brought his Renaissance harps and his Baroque triple harp to Notre Dame de Sion to perform the grand finale to the week-long International İstanbul Harp Encounter held under the auspices of 2010 European Capital of Culture. Organized by Şirin Pancaroğlu and Nur Hanife Orak of the Association for the Art of the Harp, the concert schedule featured players from around the world in a wide variety of styles of music as well as many styles of harps.

Lawrence-King’s program, titled “His Majesty’s Harper,” included Spanish, Italian, Irish and English music from the 16th and 17th centuries that was more or less dedicated to reigning monarchs or the activities of monarchs. Lawrence-King gave us fascinating facts throughout. “The [vertical triangular frame] harp was invented in Spain in the Middle Ages, but it traveled to Italy, which was under Spanish rule at the time. Most of the music wasn’t written down then, so we have to rely on oral tradition, which were songs of the period,” he explained. His rendition of an aria that was interpolated by Oratio Mihi, a harpist in Rome in 1600, illustrated the capriciously narrative character of the music.

As he spoke about the great Carlo Gesualdo (1560-1613), who was famous for his madrigals, Lawrence-King said, “His music is full of totally unorthodox things, like wild trills and slides, and bizarre chromatic movement -- it’s almost as if he was drunk,” as he demonstrated those novelties, adding visual aspects like sudden head turns amid slaps on the harp.

In the second half of his program he introduced his harps: two that sit on the lap, and a large one that sits on the floor and is called the “triple” because of its three rows of strings. This construction was unique to the Baroque period. The modern concert harp has one row of strings and has substituted foot pedals to activate the notes that were previously assigned to the third row. With all this variety of style, sound, and tradition that changed from region to region, Lawrence-King gave us a kaleidoscope of plucked stringed possibilities that took the listener back in time. This artist has done extensive research in his field, from the 13th century to the present, which includes working with a Finnish composer in a new composition, “World Passion,” for the 2011 European City of Culture in Turku, Finland.

From the first Harp Encounter program on Dec. 2, featuring the Arianna Savall Quintet, to Lawrence-King’s Baroque harp finale, our musical world was widened considerably by this fascinating and specific corner of historical harps and how they are currently used in a creative fusion of styles and settings. Şirin Pancaroğlu will bring more of this fusion in her “Cafe Tango,” where she’ll perform a spectrum of waltzes, tangos, milongas and candombes with an Argentine-Turkish ensemble and two dancers on Dec. 25 at Iş Sanat.