Arte Amanti is a major annual chamber music festival that has expanded from Flanders to also cover the Netherlands and Wallonia, with more than fifty concerts over four months in cities and villages throughout the country. Driving force Reinhilde Leyers has managed for sixteen consecutive seasons to attract big names, always in combination with young talent.
Captivating pianist Steven Kleeven
In the Sint-Catharinakerk in Wachtebeke this evening once again a big name: Israeli-American violinist Asi Matathias, together with pianist Victor Stanislavsky, also from Israel. Every Arte Amanti concert begins with young Flemish talent, often teenagers who get a chance on stage. Today that is pianist Steven Kleeven, just eighteen, but he has been involved in the Arte Amanti Festival for years. I heard him in 2019 as a young boy. He is now studying in Berlin with Björn Lehman, that is only granted to the best. At the last Gouden Labels Awards of our magazine (2018) he was one of the young talents.
The first partita by Bach BWV 825 is a daring choice. He could have impressed the audience with Liszt or Rachmaninov, but no, he chooses clear simplicity and baroque transparency. Music in which you immediately hear every impurity in tempo and phrasing. He brings it off brilliantly. A captivating performance. Steven Kleeven, a name to remember.
Disciple of Zukerman
Then the big guns take the stage. That is expressed somewhat pompously, but it is well-intentioned. Violinist Asi Matathias is a thirty-something, a world-renowned virtuoso, known for his powerful tone. At fourteen he debuted with the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. That means something. He is a protégé of the great Pinchas Zukerman, you can hear that. I have been following Zukerman for forty years, one of my idols as a violin student. He was a student of the legendary Hungarian violin pedagogue Ilona Feher in Tel-Aviv, who tells that of all her students he had the most beautiful tone. As Zukerman got older, that tone became thicker and the vibrato wider. You hear that in Matathias's playing too. From Zukerman, Matathias also inherited the boyish panache. Chutzpah! Daring and lack of modesty, the quality in which so many Flemish people excel.
In the well-known second violin sonata by Brahms there are many passages where he can display that powerful, big tone. With pianist Stanislavsky he has been forming a duo for years, they need only a fleeting glance at each other. Matathias plays grandly, Stanislavsky plays sublimely. Equally well-known is the violin sonata by César Franck. Later romanticism than Brahms, here Matathias can employ his expressive momentum even more. As a thirty-something he is still relatively young and full of Sturm und Drang. The intensity and penetration into the sound box of the violin, he has that from his teacher Zukerman. Many violinists play on the strings, he plays in the strings.
They conclude with the Zigeunerweisen by Pablo de Sarasate, also well-known in the virtuosic repertoire. Before they begin, Matathias looks into the audience with his impish gaze. "Now I'll show you something," you can see him thinking, "just wait a moment Wachtebeke." A touch of fantasy and a rhythmic flourish, Matathias gives us an original interpretation of this hypervirtuosic piece. No fingering passage, however fast and furious, is too difficult for him. Like a matador, Matathias tackles every obstacle. As an encore they play Liebesleid by Kreisler, that too was a tradition with Zukerman.
Vibrato
The whole time I see Jesus of Nazareth hanging behind both musicians. After the penultimate piece, a small woman in a headscarf jumps up in enthusiasm. She is too early with her standing ovation. An enthusiastic Muslim woman in the audience, Jewish musicians on stage, Christ on the cross in the background.
Can a violin tone be too big? Can a vibrato be too wide, I think afterward. Sometimes a violin sounds too creamy, too fatty to some ears. As if too much butter was used in the bread recipe. It is Friday evening, on the white tablecloth lies the Challah, the braided Sabbath bread. It tastes delicious, but tonight a bit too creamy for me. With the powerful tone, the wide vibrato sometimes sounds a bit wobbly.
Actually I prefer a different intensity. I prefer the thin, delicate sublime shimmering tone of Heifetz or Hirschhorn. But well, this evening we heard a great virtuoso, a phenomenon. Asi Matathias, disciple of Pinchas Zukerman, who in turn was a student of the famous pedagogue Ilona Feher. Feher means white in Hungarian. White, the color of hope. With that I conclude this review and reflection with a little light in the darkness. Peace on earth.
- WHAT & WHO: Recital by pianist Steven Kleeven, pianist Victor Stanislavsky and violist Asi Matathias at Arte Amanti
- WHERE & WHEN: Sint-Catharinakerk, Wachtebeke, March 22, 2024
- PHOTO: © WE/KC