CONCERTS

Compelling storytelling from the

Jack Quartet

JACK QUARTET ROULETTE 15 MARCH 2024

Composer Natacha Diels has answered the prayers of anyone who has dreamt of seeing Jack Quartet cellist Jay Campbell sitting around a campfire and strumming a banjo. Among a flood of playful reveries – with Christopher Otto, Austin Wulliman and John Pickford Richards as collaborators – this episode seemed to embody the ‘cherished absurdity’ of Beautiful Trouble, Diels’s latest landscape.

In her evening-length piece, described as ‘an opera for string quartet’, Diels challenges the four players with requests for vocalising, percussion (for some reason, a small hotel bell lingered in the memory) and a set of slender reed tubes that evoked alphorns. The musicians’ usual stringed instruments were always in play, but set against a blizzard of choreographed head, neck and arm movements, with digital effects onscreen behind them.

With typical eagerness, aplomb and occasional deadpan wit, the Jack foursome plunged into the composer’s wide-ranging, intricately plotted melange of sound and images. Diels’s video proved a formidable presence in its own right, with flickering arrays of flamingos, ocean waves, animated characters and abstract digital patterns, throughout the 75-minute timespan.

Now and then I wondered what groups such as, say, the Guarneri or the Budapest quartets might have thought of this piece. But those notions soon gave way to contemplation of the string quartet universe in 2024, the technology available, and the way that composers and musicians grow from the latest developments and new tools; and there’s no question that the Jack Quartet is leading the way.

BRUCE HODGES

TAKÁCS QUARTET

92NY, THERESA L. KAUFMANN CONCERT HALL 13 MARCH 2024

From the effervescent opening of Haydn’s ‘Sunrise’ Quartet to the closing Presto of Beethoven’s op.59 no.2 – and with a New York City premiere in between – the Takács Quartet brought brilliant, inspired playing to the stage of the 92NY. The quality of Edward Dusinberre’s sound throughout the programme and especially in the Haydn was unforgettable; he led the quartet with elegance and sophistication.

JOE LAMBERTI

Zimbabwean composer Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s new work Flow followed the Haydn: a musical response to the cycles and patterns of the natural world, portrayed through glissandos, harmonics, tremolos, repeating rhythms, drones and patterns of unisons and then disparity as musical voices came together and then separated again. The Takács brought a playfulness to it but also a depth, and there were some fine individual solos in the final movement.

Beethoven’s Second ‘Rasumovsky’ Quartet closed the programme, given with flawless ensemble and gorgeous colours and textures, particularly in the development of the Allegro. Second violinist Harumi Rhodes’s melodic line in the Molto adagio offered a captivating warmth and generosity, and when paired with the heartbreaking drama of cellist András Fejér’s octaves made for a movement filled with intensity and deep beauty. The rustic earthiness and impressive dynamic contrasts of the Allegretto offered a welcome light-hearted contrast to the slow movement and there was plenty of imagination and vivacity in the finale.

LEAH HOLLINGSWORTH

Philadelphia

AIZURI QUARTET, KIM KASHKASHIAN (VIOLA) MARCY ROSEN (CELLO)

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 24 MARCH 2024

Whether intended or not, this well-conceived afternoon with the Aizuri Quartet made for a fine way to celebrate Women’s History Month, with striking bookends by Reena Esmail (b.1983) and Fanny Mendelssohn (1805–47). In between came two sextets, with violist Kim Kashkashian and cellist Marcy Rosen joining the foursome for a luxurious textural contrast, first in Shulamit Ran’s Lyre of Orpheus (2008), which requires one of the cellos to be tuned down a third, creating even greater lower resonance. A sensuous chestnut followed, the Sextet from Richard Strauss’s Capriccio.

Esmail’s ‘Fantasie (Bihag)’ from Ragamala (2013) was a gorgeous starter, its opening strains demonstrating the sheer tonal beauty of cellist Caleb van der Swaagh and violist Brian Hong – both of whom joined the ensemble last year – and fine complements to the sweetly sustained phrases by the Aizuri’s violinists, Emma Frucht and Miho Saegusa.

TITILAYO AYANGADE

In contrast, the exuberant Fanny Mendelssohn String Quartet in E flat major (1834) that closed the concert only reinforced the feeling that it deserves a more central place in the repertoire.

Additional works included the Capriccio from Felix Mendelssohn’s Quartet op.81, in a satisfyingly peppy reading, and ‘Die stille Lotosblume’ from Clara Schumann’s Sechs Lieder op.13. The latter made an especially verdant oasis, flowing like spring water from the group’s lithe hands and fingers.

BRUCE HODGES

TESLA QUARTET

THE BLACK SQUIRREL CLUB 30 MARCH 2024

Given that the word ‘chamber’ in chamber music implies options other than traditional concert halls an unusual venue is to be welcomed. In this case, the headliner was the Black Squirrel Club, a steam plant from the 1890s in Fishtown, one of Philadelphia’s grittier neighbourhoods. To inaugurate a series of three evenings in the space, conductor and vocalist Micah Gleason chose the intrepid Tesla Quartet.

The party began with a high-spirited take on Haydn’s String Quartet op.33 no.2, ‘The Joke’, given appropriate rusticity in the initial movement. In the final Presto, the foursome summoned up superb comic timing that coaxed a laugh out of many in the audience.

Stacy Garrop’s Fourth String Quartet, ‘Illuminations’ (2011), takes inspiration from the landmark medieval book The Hours of Catherine of Cleves. It’s a virtuosic set of five scenes from the book, ranging from the furious rhythms of ‘The Mouth of Hell’ to the intense love in the finale, ‘Trinity Enthroned’. The challenges it posed only proved the Tesla players to be unstoppable.

Last, Ravel’s String Quartet, which gained new insights from contrasts: the composer’s heightened colours blooming against the room’s towering brick walls and factory-style windows. For a rapt audience, seated on the club’s vintage church pews, the results were vividly projected – and as comforting as an embrace from an old friend.

BRUCE HODGES

The Aizuri Quartet at its sophisticated

A disconcertingly eclectic programme from Eberle and friends

London

MARMEN QUARTET

WIGMORE HALL 25 FEBRUARY 2024

The Marmen Quartet had a full house for its Sunday morning concert. The leader, Johannes Marmén, addressed the audience at the start, not to talk about the music but to thank Wigmore Hall for refurbishing the backstage bathroom! The players then gave a colourful performance of Haydn’s D major Quartet op.33 no.6, with many different characters in the first movement, the jaunty first subject neat and flowing, followed by passages of stillness and warmth. The Andante was a study in sustained lines; the musicians leant into the suspensions, and Marmén played his semiquaver passages with expressive freedom. The trio (though not called as such) of the Scherzo had touches of rubato and a wit that carried through to the finale, with colourful accents from the leader.

The first movement of Debussy’s String Quartet was brisk and purposeful, although Marmén, like so many, swallowed the triplet in the opening theme as if it were a throwaway ornament rather than the main motif of the whole work. The second movement tripped along happily, with cellist Sinéad O’Halloran physically expressive, smiling and looking as if she were the MC. The Andantino offered a spiritual meditation, with fine expressive playing from violist Bryony Gibson-Cornish and Marmén. O’Halloren was to the fore again in the finale, with her expressive solo leading to urgent conversations and a joyful ending.

TIM HOMFRAY

VERONIKA EBERLE (VIOLIN) ADRIEN LA MARCA (VIOLA) QUIRINE VIERSEN (CELLO)

WIGMORE HALL 6 MARCH 2024

There was something of a paradox to this concert by Veronika Eberle and friends – robust and reliable though their playing was. In the outer movements of Beethoven’s C minor String Trio op.9 no.3, the players worked too hard, leading to a hectic, breathless quality, even touching on the ferocious. Eberle’s own sound also tended towards a flatter, edgier core, exacerbating the effect.

Roussel’s String Trio (1937) was his last completed work, dedicated to the Trio Pasquier. It has a neo-Classical clarity but with less of the 20th-century flair exercised by Stravinsky, Poulenc and others. The busy counterpoint of the first two movements could have taken some relaxation but, by contrast, in the lighter texture of the finale, the players took the chance to shine.

With Mozart’s Divertimento in E flat major K563, came the relief of more tonal variety, not least the welcome warmth of the Adagio and a spirited accented tumbling theme in the Minuet and Trio. There was surely more charm to be squeezed from the theme in the variation-form Andante, though the finale came with some light-hearted buoyancy. Overall, however, it wasn’t clear the players were themselves altogether convinced by these pieces.

EDWARD BHESANIA

MUSIC OF THE ELEMENTS WITH PUPILS OF THE YEHUDI MENUHIN SCHOOL

KINGS PLACE 14 MARCH 2024

As music colleges have done for some years, the Yehudi Menuhin School (under music director Ashley Wass) also artistically curates programming across its concerts. This season’s theme has been ‘the elements’, which figured in this Leavers’ Concert. Seventeen students appeared in chamber groups or as soloists, and as many again formed the string orchestra for Max Richter’s Four Seasons Recomposed.

The players in Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s piano quintet The Whole Earth Dances drew out the contrast between episodes of sharp violence and unfurling tendrils (relating respectively to Ted Hughes’s poems Thistles and Ferns); and there was notably sophisticated co-ordination between violinist Slavina Teneva and violist Clara-Sophia Wernig. Takemitsu’s more abstract Between Tides is harder to bring off, but a different group of players conveyed its spare beauty.

After an atmospheric performance of three of Debussy’s piano Préludes, arranged for guitar and four string instruments by Menuhin guitar professor Richard Wright, four soloists took turns to front Richter’s Four Seasons Recomposed. Each of the soloists – Anna Zilberbord, Chloe Lui, Vadym Perig and Sasha Parker – played (and led) with great assurance. It was also heartening to hear four very distinctive musical personalities, as well as the energetic commitment of their fellow students in the string orchestra. The audience was naturally biased, but its enthusiastic applause was fully deserved.

EDWARD BHESANIA

JULIA FISCHER (VIOLIN) LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA/ EDWARD GARDNER

ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL 16 MARCH 2024

WIGMORE HALL TRUST 2024

Julia Fischer: powerful advocacy in Daniel Kidane’s new concerto

COURTESY LPO

As a one-time violinist with the Bruch and Mendelssohn concertos under his fingers, Daniel Kidane knows how to write for violin and orchestra from the inside. On the strength of this assured first performance, Aloud is that rare event among new violin concertos, staging an often violent and unpredictable battle between soloist and ensemble, in which neither side is cowed by the other.

The ostensible melodic premise is a Cossack folk song, reflecting Kidane’s Russian and Ukrainian heritage on his father’s side. A low-key, atmospheric opening, contracting and relaxing into violin recitatives, earns the right to the turmoil that occupies much of the opening movement. Along the way, Julia Fischer brought her trademark poise and even tone to a richly varied solo part, testing of technique, varied in dialogue with a large orchestra, and developing fragments of the folksong with a refreshing clarity of purpose.

A second movement initially promised soaring lyricism over a more subdued orchestral texture but delivered nervy, Bartókian tension, and left Fischer alone for a substantial cadenza. With the slightest hint of an up-beat, the music vanished, leaving behind an imaginary finale, like the Cheshire Cat’s smile or the ghost of a hollow laugh, and the welcome sense that a second listening would shed light on its satisfyingly elusive form.

PETER QUANTRILL

ESTHER YOO (VIOLIN), BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA/CLEMENS SCHULDT

BARBICAN HALL 20 MARCH 2024

Seven years in the making, Raymond Yiu’s Violin Concerto is a big piece in every sense. Themes of exile, loss and nostalgia place it in a lineage stretching back to Korngold and Bartók. For Yiu, born in Hong Kong, long resident in London, those themes take on new life and relevance through the turmoil of 20th-century Chinese history, and the life of the Chinese violinist Ma Sicong, as the soloist Esther Yoo outlined in a pre-premiere interview with The Strad (bit.ly/3TXJJg2).

Like the marital proverb, there is something old, something new, something borrowed and indeed something blue about the concerto’s gradual awakening, giving Yoo plenty to dig her bow into, though the funky orchestration of the following scherzo periodically drowned her with its echoes of Cantonese pop. Where she came into her own was the solo third movement, a decorated transcription of an anonymous solo for erhu which draws deep on violinistic reserves of romantic expression, presenting an alluring showcase for any top-class violinist.

Where Yiu decisively breaks from tradition is the finale’s journey – almost a concerto in itself – from Sibelian questing to a state of dissolved transcendence, via a fluid, often conflicting dialogue between both violin and orchestra and across European and Asian harmony. The BBCSO demonstrated their long expertise in taking on complex new scores, but Yiu’s concerto is – perhaps unfashionably – soloist-driven. Yoo seized its lyrical opportunities with assurance, and if more extrovert accounts of the solo part were conceivable, second and third outings for the piece would be more than welcome.

PETER QUANTRILL

PIATTI QUARTET

KINGS PLACE 20 MARCH 2024

This early-evening concert provided a rare chance to hear music by Ina Boyle, a composer who rarely left her home town in Ireland, despite having studied with Vaughan Williams and having the support of fellow composers such as Elizabeth Maconchy. Boyle’s E minor Quartet is a beautiful piece, certainly worthy of attention, although, as the Piatti Quartet’s leader Michael Trainor said, even these musicians have had few chances to perform it live. The first of its three movements, Allegro moderato, shows some affinity to Vaughan Williams, mournful and not quite pentatonic, with open textures. The long lines of its Adagio were wonderfully sustained and nicely shaped, natural, understated and affecting. The short final Allegro molto was dancing and energetic.

For Dvořák’s Second Piano Quintet they were joined by pianist Emmanuel Despax. After the winning beauty of cellist Jessie Ann Richardson in the opening theme, the group’s playing was full of drama and colour, which could turn on an instant into caressed, limpid lyricism. The musicians skilfully negotiated the great musical patchwork of the ‘Dumka’, from fervent expression to easy-going song. The Scherzo was light and effervescent, and the finale drove onwards, with some sparkling staccato. This was a multifaceted performance of lightness, profundity, power and charm.

TIM HOMFRAY