Top performance of rarely heard Sonata by Bartók

Ralph van Raat is by far the leading solo pianist in the contemporary repertoire in our country, while fellow pianist Maarten van Veen pursues an idiosyncratic course in ensemble playing in modern music. When the two musicians work together, they prove to complement each other perfectly. Under the umbrella of the Doelen Ensemble, they played together with percussionists Colin Currie and Benjamin Ramirez, for whom the same applies: Currie is the lauded soloist, while Ramirez, as timpanist of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in the United States, is mainly the (equally lauded) ensemble player.

Currie is this concert season artist in residence at the modern concert series Red Sofa in Rotterdam's Doelen, named after the bright red sofa used during the preliminary introductions. The double bill with the Doelen Ensemble's series led to a packed Jurriaanse Zaal on Wednesday night, while the music was by no means the simplest. Béla Bartók's Sonata for two pianos and percussion from 1937 followed a year after his revolutionary Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, one of the key works in modern classical music. It is also a key composition in terms of the development of percussion: from dull timpani and triangle playing on the shovel of an orchestra to a fully-fledged solo instrument before the orchestra. In the Sonata, Bartók elaborated on a number of ideas, including the timpani glissandi, which he used just as ingeniously as in Music. He also built on the intertwining of piano and percussion.

Despite the high complexity of the composition, this is a work to be enjoyed in an entirely classical manner, with great layering where the virtuosity required of the players remains secondary to the musical richness of ideas. That was with the Allegro Barbaro that Bartók fired at the unsuspecting listener in 1911 was different. This arrived like a sledgehammer blow, barely matched by Stravinsky's Sacre du Printemps, which caused an uproar barely two years later. That apparent race between these 'barbarian' composers remained undecided; however, Bartók did employ all his ingenuity to provide the world with a kind of music that sticks.

Using this sonata as a starting point - in an outstanding five-star performance by the four musicians - Gavin Bryars completely fell through as a lightweight composer. Where John Adams' Hallelujah Junction for 2 pianos was another crackling bouncer before the interval, the announced arrangement of the Sketch for Sub Rosa by Bryars immediately following the interval were cancelled. That Erik Ochsner's arrangement would not be good enough was one reason, but of the replacement My First Homage, hidden behind a whole string of Debussy clouds, there was no bread to be baked either. Despite the again excellent playing.

To Dave Maric (b. 1970) the honour of writing a new work within this line-up and playing framework. He succeeded with flying colours. In the six-part Trophic Cascades he makes an ecological statement that puts him in the company of composers such as Murray Schäfer and John Luther Adams (Canadian, not to be confused with the minimalist from the States). His advocacy for the restoration and preservation of the food chain took him through various places where it is threatened: from the Sahara via the North Atlantic and the Aleutans to Bamff (Scotland) and Yellowstone National Park. Again, much is demanded of the musicians - from a hilarious changer between the two pianists to a robust 'battle' between the percussionists, with marimbas and xylophones in a starring role.

It's a good thing that such a difficult-to-program and schedule concert happens more than once anyway. The foursome repeated it yesterday at the Muziekgebouw aan het IJ in Amsterdam, and will perform it in slightly altered form three more times in the United States afterwards. Rarely heard, but oh what a great concert. Weighted, balanced and virtuosic. Top notch.

Heard: 25 February, Jurriaanse Zaal de Doelen, Rotterdam: Doelenensemble - Maarten van Veen, Ralph van Raat-piano; Colin Currie, Benjamin Ramirez-percussion and timpani. Works by Bartók, Adams, Bryars and Maric.