The Singapore Festival of Arts 1998
Saturday |
Guarneri String Quartet |
|
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Quartet in E flat Major, Op.127 (1825) Quartet in C Major, Op.59 No.3 (1806)
ARNOLD STEINHARDT violin |
OVERALL NOISE RATING: 0 (Yet another chamber concert that has total silence from the audience, and I was actually
prepared for some inter-movement clapping from the audience.)
The Noise Rating Index is a partially-objective measurement of pager and handphone blasts, 9pm and 10pm watch beeps, coughing-during-the-pianissimo-bits, intra-audience conversation and other mind-bogglingly inept noises emitted in the concert hall during actual performance of music. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 5, in increasing annoyance.
Ong Yong Hui
This is the very first quartet performance that I have attended, and I am very glad that such
a famous Quartet is playing my favourite Beethoven quartet in the programme, the E-flat
of Op.127. With quartet performances few and far between in Singapore, it is certainly a treat
for me to experience one of Beethoven's greatest music "live". However, I was
very unfortunately late for the concert, and entered the concert hall only to hear the last few
notes of the first movement of that quartet.
The Quartet in E-flat major, Op.127 which starts off the concert is one of Beethoven's
most original works. The music blends together so beautifully in harmony, and yet the
different instruments actually act in an individualistic manner to bring polyphony to the music
all the while. The separate parts come together to form something of intangible delight. One
cannot really grasp all that musical ideas that is contributed by the various parts at any point,
but what comes from that is pure aesthetic joy that always make me smile in contentment.
The bright scherzando is played with fine pace and much gusto, the short staccato notes attacked with confidence in vivid style. The cohesiveness of the group is tested here as the the staccato phrases need to be done with accuracy and the frequent pauses in the movement can result in ill-timed entries, but the Quartet showed their long years of experience playing
together by executing them admirably.
I feel that First Violinist Arnold Steinhardt could perhaps play a more domineering role, for his voice is sometimes drowned out against the unison parts of the other members. The fourth movement also need some more of the first violin voice, otherwise the movement
is done with in a very spontaneous and suitable manner. Their playing style seems to be on creating a more balanced quartet sound then on the emphasis of certain parts to bring contrast, something which cannot be faulted though I would prefer the details to be brought out more.
The strange and silent opening of the third "Rasoumovsky" (or "Razumovsky") Quartet after the intermission
brought about an air of expectancy among the audience. After several notes far from the key of C and pregnant pauses, two episodes of crashing chords followed by a solo tune from the first violin lightens the mood. Here again, Arnold Steinhardt had chosen to play in a more cautious manner, as if wanting to making the music sound tentative and mysterious still.
Finally, the Allegro comes into light and the Guarneri Quartet seems glad about it, the ensemble giving an
exhilarating account of the spirited Beethoven music. This time round, there is nothing disguised in
it, the playing forthright and decisive, delightful to the ear.
What comes next is an antithesis to the exuberant first movement. The innovative Andante movement here has the cello playing pizzacato notes for accompaniment while the other instruments play short phrases of melodies. This thus exposes the cello's lonely pizzicato notes several times, and the constant pulse gives me the idea of someone walking alone in the street, reminiscent of a passage in T.S. Eliot's poem "Rhapsody on a windy night" -
The character walking alone in my imagination has fleeting thoughts running in his mind, sometimes he is temporary satisfied with happy thoughts, but all too often the awareness of his aloneness intrude that to bring forth dark visions. The random events in the mind is conveyed by the different tempos and dynamics of the variations, but the feeling of isolation pervades. The
violins and the viola comes into every episode softly and end it in silence, the group showing their imaginativeness in interpreting the movement to bring an impression of bleakness to it.
One last surprise to conclude the evening came straight after the third movement. The
viola enters in startling fashion to play a fast melody phrase that goes into a trail of
semiquavers, after which the second violin, the cello and then the first violin enter to play the
same thing to form a sort of fugue movement.
The Guarneri Quartet does the movement in a fiery
manner, the four instruments as though in a fierce competition with each other, yet all of them
play in total unison, showing their long playing experience as a quartet. The pace of their playing
is really at breakneck speed and the audience was certainly left breathless at the excitement that
they produced, sustained right till the end and closing the Quartet with a flurry of notes.
Truly, the reputation of the Guarneri Quartet is well-deserved. They did all they could
to the music, bringing out to the fullest what the composer had intended. For one thing, they
performed the pieces in the way I have imagined it would sound like "live", and maybe even did
more than that. The best I can do here is maybe to just add to the lengthy praises other critics
have already accorded them, but I have to say that they are an exceptional Quartet which
deserves first-class distinctions.
Here's to their continued collaboration together
to present great performances: Cheers!
As part of the programme for the Singapore Arts Festival 1998, the illustrious Guarneri
String Quartet came down to this island to play Haydn, Bartok and Debussy for Friday's concert
and a Beethoven programme for this night. Founded in 1964, this quartet group bears the
distinction of being "longest continuing artistic collaboration of any quartet in the world".
A film has been made about them and they were also the subject of a few books.
Despite rushing into the concert hall a few moments before, I did manage to enjoy the
Adagio that followed it. Starting the concert by listening to the lyrical cantabile movement
first gives me a lasting impression of how well the Guarneri Quartet expresses this piece of
tranquil music. The soft music flows along peacefully as though blissful dreams are given a form;
it is not melancholic in nature, but there is a touch of yearning sentimentality to it. The
variations that comes in to momentarily change the direction of the flowing music are played in a
noticeably faster tempo, but the Guarneri Quartet does a fine job in going back to the original
mood of the movement to end off well.
Along the reaches of the street
... the bass notes thus marking the passing of time and thoughts. David Soyer, the cellist of the group, plays his part firmly, and the resounding voice of the plucked notes gives an ominous mood to the music here. The Guarneri Quartet once again stands out for their intense and soulful interpretation of the Andante movement. It is a very melancholic atmosphere that they create here.
Held in a lunar synthesis,
Whispering lunar incantations
Dissolve the floors of memory
And all its clear relations,
Its divisions and precisions,
Every street lamp that I pass
Beats like a fatalistic drum
Yet again, Beethoven surprises us with the introduction of a Menuet after the
emotionally-charged Adagio. The Guarneri show here that they can play elegant music just as well,
bringing a touch of Mozart to the movement. The movement seems to be inspired by the classical
style of producing graceful minuets that is pastoral in nature - or is it that he is still
under his mentor Haydn's influence? Whatever it is, the performers have to adopt a different
style of playing then as before, and the Guarneri Quartet does it just right, with a light touch
to give the music a relaxed feel to it.
Ong Yong Hui is in extreme depression after missing his favourite quartet movement "live", but will be very happy if someone can sponsor the Emerson set of Beethoven Quartets for him to review...
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