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St. Andrew's Cathedral
February 18, 2023
This evening's performance traced the development of the string quartet from its humble beginnings to a masterpiece from the middle of the nineteenth century. It was performed on violins set up in the style of the classical period and using transitional bows, that is, bows mid-way between baroque and modern bows. The use of such instruments and bows was a bit anachronistic for the earliest piece on the programme but ideal for the later ones.
The earliest piece was Mozart's String Quartet in G Major No. 3, KV156, composed when he was about sixteen. The opening presto was performed with a light, deft touch. The ensuing adagio was taken quite slowly and had a yearning character. The sigh-like motif in the first violin part, expertly rendered by Agata Daraškaite, gripped at my heart. Bonhomie returned with the tastefully-rendered third and final movement, tempo di menuetto. Here, and for the rest of the programme, the violins and viola performed without vibrato. Throughout the programme the cellist employed some — not an excessive amount — vibrato.
The next work on the programme, Haydn's String Quartet in E flat, Op.33, No.2 ("The Joke") is an order of magnitude more sophisticated than Mozart's early quartet. The first movement is built on a single theme, but it is developed in passages with strikingly different characters, sometimes agitated, sometimes suave. The musicians were constantly attentive to the shifting moods. The playful scherzo was charmingly-executed. The sliding ornaments in the first violin part, in particular, gave the movement a whimsical character. The largo was taken slowly and the dynamics were cleverly varied. The finale: presto was perfectly executed and the quartet did a great job of selling the joke. Some of the audience were taken in, even though they had been warned in advance that the joke was coming.
Joseph Boulogne Chevalier de Saint-George (1745-99) is undergoing something of a revival, in part because of his compelling personal history as the son of a French nobleman and an African slave, his reputation as one of the finest swordsmen in Europe and his exploits as a soldier. This is the third time in recent years that the Early Music Society of the Islands has presented some of his music. This evening we heard his String Quartet in G minor, Op.1, No.3, a short piece in two movements. The first movement (allegro assai) has an unsettled character, shifting back and forth between major and minor. The subsequent rondeau is more unambiguously cheerful and dance-like and was given a bright performance.
The Consone Quartet saved the best for last. Without question, the highlight of the evening was Fanny Mendelssohn's String Quartet in E flat. From its opening notes, it was immediately apparent that we had left classicism behind and entered a completely different sound world: the swirling, impulsive world of romanticism.
The quartet's approach changed with the music and their playing became as impetuous as the opening movement, adagio ma non troppo. The allegretto is agitated and stormy. The warm tone of the cello and the cellist's effortless integration of pizzicato stood out as particularly remarkable. The romanze is highly dramatic and was dramatically performed. The intense, charged and yet completely-assured performance of the allegro molto vivace was spine-tingling and literally had me on the edge of my seat. The entire performance of the Mendelssohn was riveting and it is a wonder that this quartet is not heard more often.
The evening seemed to fly by. There was never a moment when the music, or the musicians' commitment to it, seemed to flag. I could have sat through the entire well-constructed programme again, then and there. As the cellist, George Ross, noted in some remarks to the audience, the acoustics of St. Andrew's were ideal for this performance.
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