The
ABQ has demonstrated its imaginative approach
to concert programming before – in January
2003 there was concert of Haydn, Schnittke
and Beethoven, for example. The combination
of classics with more challenging (in a modernist
sense) fare is a powerful one. Here the link
between Brahms’ concentrated language and
the Second Viennese School was made at one
remove. If Brahms and Schoenberg might have
seemed a more obvious choice, there is no
doubting that the tersely-wrought utterances
of Schoenberg’s pupil Anton von Webern seemed
close in spirit (if not in the immediate sound-world)
to those of Brahms at his most inspired.
If these
two composers represented peaks of Romanticism
and early modernism respectively, it was entirely
apt that the ABQ should begin with the ‘father
of the string quartet’, Haydn. Interesting
that their choice was the String Quartet in
D minor, Op. 76 No. 2 (‘Fifths’, 1797), a
masterpiece of Haydnesque angst. Indeed, it
was this fraught aspect the ABQ projected
the best. It is worth noting that the very
opening was perfectly together – it’s only
when one hears it like this that one realises
how often ensemble is just very slightly out.
The quartet’s warm sound intensified rather
than softened the experience. Here one could
here the voice of experience in the way that
the exposition repeat sounded inevitable.
The quartet revealed a veil of sadness in
the ‘Andante a piú tosto allegro’ second
movement, taking this from the first movement.
A pity the ABQ cannot really ‘do’ rustic (for
the Menuetto). The finale was projected as
a gypsy dance. Arguably a certain wit was
missing, but too much frivolity would have
conflicted with the ABQ’s overall conception.
The
qualities of clarity and concision are paramount
in the music of Haydn. So, too, are they in
the crystalline beauty of the works of Anton
von Webern. Interesting that they played three
separate opuses as a three-movement quartet
(Five Movements, Op. 5; Six Bagatelles, Op.
9; String Quartet, Op. 28), with applause
reserved for the end. It worked magnificently.
The ABQ’s foregrounding of the Romantic gesture
in this music brought to mind the early recordings
of Robert Craft in the music of this composer
(although Craft was far more approximate in
basics such as notes than the ABQ is!). This
is not to imply that edges were unnecessarily
ironed out – far from it. The very opening
of Op. 5 (the Five Movements of 1909) was
red raw and explosive, yet it also revealed
Webern’s crystalline harmonic thought. Expressionist
simultaneities were frequently nightmarish
while lines often moved across silences
(as indeed they should). Sometimes the music
spoke on the very threshold of hearing/consciousness,
a most disturbing effect akin to a waking
dream; sometimes the harmonies themselves
emerged as almost unspeakably beautiful. The
fact is that the ABQ seemed entirely at home
in this music – it spoke with an unforced
naturalness that enabled it to make its full
effect. Remarkable.
The
A minor Quartet, Op. 51 No. 2 by Brahms dates
from his mature period (1865-73) and exudes
warmth (in fact it positively glows) wedded
to formidable compositional security. The
ABQ almost presented it as the result of ‘easy
invention’, so natural did it sound – especially
a contrasting idea of the most throw-away
insouciance. The veiled statements of the
Andante moderato and the shadows of the Menuetto
were memorable, but possibly most impressive
was the imposing sense of breadth accorded
to the finale. This was a most moving performance
– the encore of more Haydn, bringing the recital
full-circle (the Adagio of Op. 76 No. 1) was
entirely apt.
Never
less than musically satisfying, when caught
on form (as on this occasion), the ABQ reveals
itself to be one of the world’s foremost string
quartets. Their programming of works, also,
is to be treasured. More, please.
Colin
Clarke
.
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