Borealis String Quartet & Pianist Robert Silverman
by
Lyn Bronson
Patricia Shih, Yuel Yawney, Shih-Lin Chen & Nikita Pogrebnoy
Last night at All Saints Church in Carmel, the
Mozart Society of California continued its fine season with a performance by the
Borealis String Quartet. This Canadian quartet consists of violinists Patricia
Shih and Yuel Yawney, violist Nikita Pogrebnoy and cellist Shih-Lin Chen. I
guess it is a sign that I am getting older when the musicians on stage look
younger and younger, but, in fact, these musicians are very young, as is their
ensemble, which was only founded in 2000.
Since this group was performing for the Mozart
Society of California, it came as no surprise that one of the works on the
program was a Mozart string quartet, the Quartet in F Major, K. 590, and what a
profound work it is. Borealis gave us an intense performance full of drama and
color. In some composers’ string quartets, the second violin truly plays “second
fiddle,” but in this particular quartet, all the parts are challenging and
interesting. Especially moving in this performance was the lovely Allegretto
movement in which each of the players managed to convey understated but intense
emotions. In the other movements of this string quartet we heard a lot of
Sturm und Drang, and a surprising amount of virtuoso playing. The acoustics
at All Saints Church are well nigh perfect for small ensembles, and because of
this the Borealis Quartet produced at climatic moments an astonishing volume of
sound.
Guest artist in this concert was pianist Robert
Silverman, another Canadian, who joined the ensemble to perform two of the great
masterpieces of the piano quintet literature, the Brahms Quintet, Op. 34, and
the Dvořák Quintet, Op. 81. Both of these works contain all the drama and
excitement of the piano concerto genre, yet are written for a smaller ensemble.
To hear one of these works performed is a treat, while to hear both on the same
program is an embarrassment of riches.
Unfortunately, the contrast between the quality
of playing in the Mozart quartet and the playing in the piano quintets was quite
telling. The string players sounded polished and controlled in the Mozart, but
considerably less so in the Brahms and Dvořák. Since the musicians we heard in
this concert are distinguished players with admirable track records, this is
very likely a programming problem. In the concert we heard last night, the first
half of the program was 75 minutes and the second half about 40. Since this was
such a long program, it must have been difficult for the string players to
maintain their concentration in such intense music throughout the 75-minute-long
first half. Incidentally, it was observed that 25-30 people, reacting to this
length, didn’t return after intermission.
Another possible problem the musicians were
facing was that of adequate rehearsal time. The Borealis String Quartet plays a
lot of concerts in a season, but probably a lesser number with artists like Mr.
Silverman. Probably for this reason, the Mozart quartet sounded refined and
controlled, while the two piano quintets sounded under rehearsed. The quintets
sounded like readings with the string players over playing their parts and Mr.
Silverman under playing his.
Throughout most of his performance Mr.
Silverman’s playing was tentative when it needed to be assertive. Nevertheless,
he came through occasionally and demonstrated that he can be a powerful and
sensitive performer. I had the feeling that if these players had had another few
rehearsals, we would have heard a great performance last night.
