Andreas Haefliger – Howard Assembly Room, Leeds

Opera North’s programming for the Howard Assembly Room returned to the classical with this recital by Andreas Haefliger which was challenging, technically brilliant, short (just over an hour and a half including interval) and perhaps a little puzzling. Haefliger, a noted Beethoven interpreter, performs and records his sonatas in the company of interesting and different piano pieces – and on the evidence of the Howard Assembly Room recital it’s difficult to believe that this works totally.

The Beethoven in this case was the Piano Sonata, Beethoven’s final one and unusual in many ways, in particular, its form, two movements only, a maestoso and an arietta, bringing the work to an end with generally subdued variations on a theme, emotion recollected in tranquillity. The maestoso, on the other hand, with its fugal sections and passionate delivery of the material, is tempestuous, with a surprisingly quiet finish leading into the arietta.

Haefliger made the most of the quiet introspective passages, but was really at his best in the passionate sections. This could be the key to his choice of companion pieces which emphasise his dynamic range. Schumann’s Davidsbundlertanze (literally “Dances of the League of David”), a comparatively youthful work, specifically contrasts enlightened Romanticism with popular philistinism. A series of short dances (running to some 35 minutes) alternates the dreamy and the earthy, gradually building up the passion and the tempo. Different dances are marked “Florestan” or “Eusebius” to distinguish which side of the composer prevails and where they are coming from. It’s a strange work, but one that is worth more exposure and Haefliger gave it every inch of intensity.

Then, strangest of all, was the opener, Aaron Copland’s Variations on a Shaker Melody. This was not the homely delight of Appalachian Spring, but a fiercely percussive piece, quasi-improvisatory, disjointed in comparison with the version we all know. At the end of it Haefliger apologised for inserting such a heavy work at the start, but explained its importance to him. Subsequent detailed examination of the internet have found no trace of this piece, so maybe one should confine oneself to saying that Haefliger brought total commitment to his playing.

Haefliger played with passion and intensity throughout and the Davidsbundlertanze was a real revelation, but doubts remain as to the programming for a venue such as the Howard Assembly Room.

Reviewed on 11th October 2022.