Duo are remarkable musical pairing

INTERMEZZO CHAMBER CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES, Vieve Gore Concert Hall, Westminster College, June 28

The Intermezzo Chamber Music Series opened its new season Monday with founders David Porter, violin, and Vedrana Subotic, piano, playing a recital of well chosen 19th century sonatas representative of the best of German romanticism.

This was the first joint recital the two have played on this series, and hopefully it won't be their last. This husband and wife duo are a remarkable musical pairing. They bring the same spirit, feeling and approach to their music making that made this performance stand out. Technically astute and musically sound, their collaboration was just about everything one could hope for.

They opened their program with Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Sonata in F major, a work that the composer didn't like and which was presumed lost until Yehudi Menuhin discovered it and edited it for publication. It's a glorious piece that is filled with vim and vigor and high spirits — not unlike so many of his other works.

Porter and Subotic made the most of it in their account. The opening movement was invigorating. They captured the vitality of the music while also bringing out its expressiveness. The same was also true for their reading of the final movement, which they played with a light touch and finely crafted nuances.

The adagio, on the other hand, was played with wonderful lyricism. It has a beautiful, soaring melody in the violin which Porter played luminously, and Subotic's accompaniment matched his playing in expressiveness.

Robert Schumann wrote two violin sonatas and the first, in A minor, op. 105, was on Monday's program. It's a fabulous piece that deserves to be played more often than it is. It's filled with passion and romantic fervor that Schumann never allows to be excessive. And that's how Porter and Subotic played it. They put feeling and a broad palette of expressions into their account, allowing them to bring out the work's rich textures and its intensity and drive. It was a radiant performance that did it full justice.

Closing out the evening was Ludwig van Beethoven's "Kreutzer" Sonata in A major, op. 47. A true warhorse of the repertoire, Porter and Subotic gave a riveting account of the work that captured the storminess of the opening movement and the exuberance of the finale, while bringing out the delightful lyricism of the middle movement.

e-mail: ereichel@desnews.com