Schubertiade in the Turku Concert Hall, the 4th of October, 2020

It may be a bit crazy to sit two hours back and forth in a bus to see a concert that lasts for an hour, but when you are awarded by Tuomas Katajala singing Franz Schubert it is definitely worth it. When the Turku Music Festival had to cancel their Franco Fagioli concert, they organized a smaller Schubertiade concert for the same date as a consolation. As the name of the concert states, the theme of the concert was Franz Schubert. Not all the pieces were composed by him, but there was also one piece that was inspired by him.  

The concert began with Schubert’s “Sonata in A major for Arpeggione and Piano”. I have to admit that arpeggione as an instrument was totally unknown to me, but now I got a chance to google it. It is a crossover of a guitar and a cello and also sometimes called a guitar violoncello. Usually this sonata is played by a cello (like in Turku), but every now and then you can hear also a performance that is done by an arpeggione. The sonata is lovely and the different sections were woven together beautifully. I admired Marko Ylönen’s ability to reflect different emotions by his cello and also the versatility of the instrument. I would really love to hear this piece played by an arpeggione.

The second piece was John Harrison’s ”November 19, 1828 – Hallucination in Four Episodes”, which describes the moment of death of Schubert and his unfinished music. This piece did not touch me quite as much as the first piece, probably because I am not the greatest specialist on Schubert’s music. At some points the music was engaging and at some points I lost the cue and could not understand what it was and what was the connection to Schubert.

To me the real jewel of the evening was the trio of songs by Schubert at the end of the performance  (An den Mond, An Sylvia, An die Musik) sung by Tuomas Katajala. All three songs were in their own way emotional and beautiful. Katajala’s iron hard technical mastery guaranteed a beautiful sound and his ability to relay emotions made them glow. When Katajala sang in “An die Musik”, ”Du holde Kunst, in wieviel grauen Stunden, wo mich des Lebens wilder Kreis umstrickt, hast du mein Herz zu warmer Lieb entzunden, hast mich in eine bessre Welt entrückt!”, you could not but think of this unusual Covid-year with numerous cancellations and postponements of operas and concerts. I am convinced that it has made all us music lovers sign the message of the song – music warms the heart at the darkest moments.