Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | String Quartet no. 7 in F major, "Razumovsky", Op.59 no.1

From the claustrophobic intensity of Britten and Shostakovich to the sunny balm of Beethoven, this was an excellent recital. 

An energetic Kodály and a convincing Bacewicz String Quartet no. 4 made for a satisfying first half, while the Quatuor Danel delivered a wonderful rendition of Beethoven’s Op.59 no. 1. 

Not painting by the numbers: with a trio, a pair of quartets, and an octet, the Seattle Chamber Music Society offers more than the sum of its parts.

In their sold-out all Beethoven concert at the Wigmore Hall, the two violinists of the Artemis Quartet switched places during the interval. Gregor Sigl played first violin in the op.18-4 and op. 135 quartets, and after the interval Natalia Prishepenko led in the popular Razumovsky No. 1 quartet.

This was a remarkable concert, and not merely because of the redecorated and refurbished interior of St George’s Hanover Square, nor just for the stunningly dramatic cleaned and renovated painting of The Last Supper by William Kent that loomed over us from behind the performers, but primarily for as good a performance of Haydn Op.

Das Kelemen-Quartett überzeugte mit leichter Artikulation, einem weichen Ton und ausgezeichneter, sprechender Agogik und Dynamik, perfekter Koordination. Es agierte aus einem Geist, mit einer Seele.

Technische Könnerschaft sondergleichen: perfekt abgestimmt in Dynamik und Artikulation. Intonation und Koordination waren durchweg unfehlbar, die klangliche Balance allererste Liga, und dennoch hatte man nie den Eindruck aalglatter, maschineller Perfektion.

Ce soir, en nous communiquant la transe qui était la sienne, le Quatuor Danel nous emporta, au-delà de toute raison, au cœur du son, et ne manqua pas d’en souligner la démence.