An interesting and cleverly planned recital, mixing the known,
and old, with the unknown, and new. Ravel’s famous Quartet
receives a solid performance from the Brodsky – one which must
have grown from many live performances over the years. The trouble
is that it feels a bit too safe. True, there are moments where
the players let go and create some excitement and momentum,
but apart from the climax to the first movement and parts of
the finale, it feels somewhat leaden-footed. Compared to the
brilliant performance recorded by the Sacconi
Quartet (and coupled with Turina’s Bullfighter’s Prayer
and Lalo’s Quartet) this fails to get off the ground,
which is a shame for there is some fine playing on offer.
Gershwin’s Lullaby is just right, a performance of beautifully
hushed calm and serenity. After it, Maria Lavista’s Reflejos
de la noche will come as a shock. The note in the booklet
tells us of “…the exhausted lullaby singing parent finally escaping
to the porch with a drink in the heat of the night as this work
begins.” The whole work is written for the strings to play nothing
but harmonics and the note praises the composer for “…invoking
images of insects and sounds of the night, [it] is all the more
extraordinary given this self–imposed limitation.” Unfortunately,
this “self–imposed limitation” is also self-defeating for the
continued sound of harmonics quickly wears on the ears and the
mind loses interest and concentration lapses.
Alvarez’s Metro Chabacano is the prize of this collection.
It’s a colourful and rhythmic piece, full of action and tunes.
In recent years, Osvaldo Golijov has been touted around as one
of the great white hopes of the future of contemporary music.
I have never seen the reason for this, for I have found his
music bland and without interest. Tenebrae doesn’t raise
my blood pressure either with excitement or admiration. It’s
a lament, which, according to the composer, “[lifts] some of
the haunting melismas from Couperin’s Troisième Leçon de
Tenebrae.” There’s also a hint of John Adams in the mix
and it’s all served up in a rather dour, and somewhat unappetising,
mélange.
Whilst I can understand the Brodsky Quartet wishing to bring
new works to our attention, it’s difficult to know exactly how
to programme them. I am not sure that this is the right programme.
The Lavista and Golijov pieces sit uncomfortably by the side
of Ravel and Gershwin, some would say that this is proof of
the failure of the composers to communicate and I am tempted
to agree – the Alvarez piece is good enough to stand next to
any quartet. The simple things which make music worthwhile –
good scoring, satisfactory working out of material, a good plan
of where the music is going to go – seem to be missing from
these Lavista and Golijov works. Another problem, for me, is
the notes, which try too hard on behalf of these two composers,
to let us know just how clever they are in the creation of their
works.
A good attempt to mix old and new, but I cannot imagine that
there are many who would want, or indeed welcome, the Ravel
and Gershwin in this coupling. The recording is first class
and the notes, notwithstanding what I have written, are very
good.
Bob Briggs
Brodsky Quartet (Daniel Rowland, Ian Belton (violins), Paul Cassidy
(viola), Jacqueline Thomas (cello)) 
