Glorious Quartet Playing!
by
Lyn Bronson
In the 1940s, RCA Victor
conceived the concept of bringing together three famous soloists, violinist
Jasha Heifetz, cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and pianist Artur Rubinstein to record
a series of piano trios. These three superstars squabbled endlessly in recording
sessions, and Heifetz constantly complained that Rubinstein always played too
loudly, especially when his part was secondary. Resourceful recording engineers
repositioned the individual microphones and in the mixing process adjusted the
balance to achieve results that managed to please all three. During one of the
playback sessions in the studio Rubinstein turned to Heifetz and said smugly,
“See, Jasha, even in the climaxes no matter how loud I play, we can still hear
you perfectly.”
Chamber Music Monterey Bay
brought back the Fine Arts Quartet for a return engagement this week, and as we
read through the bios of each of the musicians, violinists Ralph Evans and Efim
Boico, violist Yuri Gandelsman and cellist Wolfgang Laufer, we could see that
each one of them has had a most distinguished solo career and is an
extraordinary artist in his own right.
Do they sound like a quartet of
prima donnas, each struggling for ascendancy? No, they do not, for what we heard
was some really satisfying ensemble with a flexible give and take that
consistently achieved artistic results.
In the delightful Quartet No. 1
in D minor by Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga, one of the first things we noticed was
the superb balance between the musicians with supporting textures never covering
up that which was important at the moment. Another aspect that was quite
impressive was the musicians’ really fine intonation and rhythmic precision.
Often I found myself listening
to cellist Wolfgang Laufer, who perhaps not intending to make such a powerful
impression, did so with the solidity of his playing so that you were always
aware of how significant his contribution was. Violinists Evans and Boico often
played with wonderful flair and abandon, and violist Gandelsman played with a
rich and fluid tone that was quite impressive.
The highpoint of the evening
was the moving performance of “Echoes for String Quartet (1965) by Bernard
Herrmann. Herrmann is well known to movie buffs for his enormous contribution to
the art of film scoring, and although we may have detected moments in “Echoes”
that reminded us of certain films, the work stands on its own as a powerful
blend of nostalgia and dark emotions. Although some contemporary composers are
not trained instrumentalists and often do not write idiomatically for musicians
who perform their works, this is certainly not the case with Herrmann. That he
was an accomplished string player himself was quite obvious from the skilful
writing for the quartet genre. This was a piece that worked on every level you
could imagine.
The concert ended with
Mendelssohn’s Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 12, an early work, but unmistakably
from the same hand that gave us “Fingal’s Cave” and “Overture to a Midsummer
Night’s Dream.” Throughout this work we heard a high level of craftsmanship and
elegantly structured musical ideas. Although the “Canzonetta” movement
made an especially powerful impression, it was the final movement, Molto
allegro e vivace that took us over the top with brilliant individual playing
and amazingly dramatic climaxes. This was quartet playing at its best.
After a resounding ovation from
the audience, we heard two encores, the final movement from Shostakovich’s
Quartet No. 1 and the delightful “perpetual motion” finale from Haydn’s “Lark
Quartet.”
