Huntingdon Hall, Sunday 22 Februrary 2015
This very professional quartet treated us to a varied programme full of contrasts. Three of the composers featured wrote only five string quartets between them, whereas the fourth, Mozart, wrote 23, every one a masterpiece.
The thread running through the programme was the fact that all four composers wrote operas, and their quartets mirrored their operatic writing. Apart, of course, from Mozart, whose supreme versatility meant a string quartet was a string quartet, owing nothing to any other musical form.
Smetana, whose first quartet opened the programme, wrote nine operas, and this piece was given a spirited performance. It is subtitled 'My life' and represents various periods of his life. Each instrument was given important solos, reminiscent of operatic arias. Considering he was completely deaf when he wrote it, it is an amazing achievement.
Janacek, whose first quartet we heard, also wrote nine operas. This piece, based on Tolstoy's book 'The Kreutzer Sonata', made difficult listening, being dark and tragic with little to lift the spirit.
Mozart's 'Hunt' quartet was beautifully played. The quartet seemed to be at home with this masterpiece, created by a genius who was one of the finest writers of string quartets ever known. One could only marvel at the supreme craftsmanship and effortless writing of melodies.
The only quartet Verdi ever wrote which ended the long programme, was, I felt, less well presented. The many technical difficulties were skilfully overcome, but there were occasional lapses of intonation. Again, one noticed operatic treatment in the dramatic episodes, hardly surprising as Verdi wrote over 20 operas which represented most of his output.
A most interesting and imaginative concert, played with dedication and obvious pleasure.
John Gibson