London
concert debuts rarely fulfill expectations;
regular visitors to the Wigmore Hall or St
John´s Smith Square can tell you a thing or
two about that. Fortunately, this fact does
not count for the short, annual St Ceciliatide
International Festival of Music, an exquisite
event in the breathtaking surroundings of
the Stationers´ Hall in the City of London
and Dr.Penelope Rapson, the Festival´s artistic
director, knows perfectly well, how to translate
`small is beautiful´ into reality.
This
year marks the 600th anniversary of the formation
of the Stationers´ Company. As early as 1683,
a group of composers, performers and music
enthusiasts, called "Gentlemen Lovers
of Musick" devised the idea of commissioning
an ode for the feast of St Cecilia, patron
saint of music, to be performed in the Stationers´
Hall; in 1692 it was the turn of Henry Purcell
with "Hail! Bright Cecilia". In
recognition of the anniversary this year’s
festival repertoire tried to cover almost
600 years, of which the Viennese classical
period is the climax of absolute music. Nearly
200 `lovers of musick´ filled the hall to
capacity to witness the London Debut of the
Merel Quartet, which had been given the honour
to represent this specific period.
Despite
being based in Zürich this young and
exciting quartet, founded in 2001, but already
outshining many other string quartets, has
a strong English connection. It is the brainchild
of the violist Louise Williams, one of the
most experienced and versatile English chamber
musicians. In 2001 she taught at the International
Musicians´ Seminar at Prussia Cove in Cornwall,
where she met the young Swiss cellist Rafael
Rosenfeld. An instant rapport with him led
to the formation of the Merel Quartet together
with his wife Mary Ellen Woodside, an American
violinist and former student of Yfrah Neaman,
who is now a principal in the Tonhalle Orchestra,
and the young Swiss violinist Esther Hoppe,
winner of last years´ 8th International Mozart
Competition in Salzburg, as its primus inter
pares. These four musicians are all deeply
rooted in the European tradition of the late
Sándor Végh, the eminent Hungarian
violinist, conductor and teacher, who founded
the seminar at Prussia Cove, a paradise for
young musicians now under the artistic direction
of Steven Isserlis.
Louise
Williams, a founder member of the Endellion
Quartet, and a regular partner
of both the Chilingirian and Lindsay Quartets,
as well as the Nash Ensemble, commented
on her new quartet: "Hopefully, my
previous experience of quartets can
be an asset, though I very much want to
start again from the beginning, re-examining
all the pieces, being part of the learning
process, which must be slow and thorough."
With
the first piece, Joseph Haydn´s rarely heard
last - and unfinished - string quartet, the
D-minor op.103, I realised the players instinctive
feeling for the classics, but also
their approach for clarity and excitement
without ever playing in a virtuoso manner;
not only were they true to the text, but each
player was allowed his or her own individuality.
It is interesting that Haydn, the father
of the string quartet, started out
with the middle movements, an Andante
grazioso with variations and a Minuet
and Trio. But looking at all
his late quartets it shows that the texture
of the middle movements builds the
basis for the whole quartet. Sadly, he never
finished this particular Quartet,
which shows him at the height of his art
as a quintessential 18th century composer.
Ludwig
van Beethoven´s Quartet in F-major, op.18
No.1 followed, a work full of contrasts
and unexpected accents. Here, it was the
second movement Adagio affettuoso ed
appasionata, which received the most
magical interpretation. Beethoven never had
any sense for opera or for the stage –
even his Fidelio is, as a whole, weak
and disappointing - but nearly each
movement in his entire quartet output possesses
drama and theatricality. Beethoven
himself saw in this movement Romeos final
farewell to Juliet. The Merel Quartet
did this vision proud in a way I cannot recall
in any of the many interpretations
I have heard.
The
final work, Franz Schubert´s Quartet in
D minor "Death and the Maiden"
is sadly overexposed and, therefore, has lost
a lot of its impact and romantic fierceness.
The Merel Quartet came up with a dauntless
solution. They must have studied
it completely from scratch thereby trying
to forget everything they had ever heard or
played. The outcome was a revelation of freshness,
explosive directness and energy. They took
the tempi, even in the slow movement, much
faster than usual, which allowed the dark
urgency to develop. The constantly changing
dynamics went under the skin. As the Stationers´
Hall is slightly over-resonant, I felt confronted
with a kind of very clear organ sound, a musical
storm, but without the slightest overlapping;
it was dangerous, but also deeply emotional,
and simultaneously refreshing and disturbing.
If ever Schubert’s monumental string quartet
has received an interpretation so made for
our troubled times - but without loosing the
essence of Schubert´s genius - it happened
this evening.
Welcome,
Merel Quartet, and please, be forever a constant
reminder that all music can, and should, sound
as fresh and overwhelming as though one is
experiencing it anew.
Hans-Theodor Wohlfahrt
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