Nordic elegance for cello and piano showcased

Truls Mørk Wigmore Hall

There cannot be many Norwegian cellists who pass up the opportunity to play their compatriot Edvard Grieg’s Cello Sonata, but in his Wigmore Hall recital, Truls Mørk took his patriotic duty further and both opened and closed his programme with Grieg. The composer’s early Intermezzo in A minor, with a mournful lyricism that makes it more than high-class salon music, proved an ideal introduction to the evening, especially in a powerful performance that showcased Mørk’s warm, woody tone.

Grieg’s big Cello Sonata, written more than 15 years later yet still clinging to the key of A minor, is on a different level altogether. It found Mørk and pianist (and fellow Norwegian) Håvard Gimse at their most relaxed, which is just what this expansive music requires. The duo’s traversal of the finale was masterly: its colours were all brought out, not least in the cello’s gently plucked pizzicatos.

The rest of the programme, up to and including an encore (Rachmaninov’s Vocalise), focused on music written on either side of the turn of the 20th century. The Nordic thread was extended in Sibelius’s Four Pieces, and these musicians revealed the eloquent depth in particular of the third piece.

Frank Bridge’s Cello Sonata in D minor is a complex and sometimes sprawling work, demanding of the pianist, yet it attained wonderful coherence here.

Janáček’s Fairy Tale, reflecting his love of Russian literature, is a much more compact distillation. Whimsical, fiery and bittersweet, it was an ideal vehicle for demonstrating the rapport of these players.