Gautier Capuçon and Yuja Wang are two of the busiest performers on the circuit today, according to Bachtrack’s latest annual statistics. And as a pairing, this exhilarating duo was always likely to produce fireworks, although their programme of mature Chopin and Franck also showed much depth and reflection, something Capuçon and Wang were clearly keen to explore. Their flourishing musical collaboration bore considerable fruit in these works, both players mixing fiery passion with subtle nuance, far from mere surface-glitz, and demonstrating a heightened level of musicianship.
Their first offering was César Franck’s Violin Sonata in A major, one of the finest pieces in the repertoire, in Jules Delsart’s arrangement for cello and piano, a setting sanctioned by the composer. What struck me in this performance was not only how well Wang and Capuçon understood how to get the most out of the music, but also how well they understood each other. The calm restraint of the opening movement building gradually into expansive ground swells set the scene for the careful attention they gave to the overall architecture of the piece. Capuçon’s wonderfully rich tone and immaculate control across all registers was on fine display, while Wang’s vivacity and delicate touch combined sensitively, with a steely strength in her playing and really eking out the tensions in Franck’s more ethereal and mystical harmonies. The second movement was taken at rather a dangerous pace, fizzing through like there was no tomorrow, the anxiety of the piano overpowering the cello at times but still keeping wonderfully on the edge, while the passages of hushed tones in the first and third movements were elegant and hypnotic. The lyricism and rapture Capuçon and Wang gave to the fourth movement mirrored the first, giving a neat sense of closure.