26 April 2009

CARDUCCI QUARTET

The Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury


For the first of their three concerts for the Shropshire Music Trust, the Carducci Quartet played works by Mozart, Bartok and Ravel. This young group-violinists Matthew Denton and Michelle Fleming, viola player Eoin Schmidt-Martin and cellist Emma Denton - has forged a collective identity which means they play with an admirable sensitivity to each other.

Mozart’s B flat , “The Hunt”, showed Mozart at his most inventive; lively, witty, tuneful and brisk. In the exquisite Adagio, the playing of the first violin and cello were sublime, but overall this piece didn’t quite shine with the luminous textures of a classic Mozart performance.

There were no caveats about the Carducci’s approach to the contrasting works by Bartok and Ravel. Each work included substantial passages of pizzicato playing, demanding great energy and accuracy from the musicians. Bartok’s music has a savagery, an energy which still sounds modern eighty years after its composition. The  influence of  folk music and bird song were apparent in the music. Matthew Denton’s introduction to this music was valuable, explaining the creative process leading to its composition and the relationship between the movements. In the third movement, marked non troppo lento,  Emma Denton’s cello playing was superb, her tone rich in the whole range of her instrument.

Ravel’s only quartet is a contrast to the Bartok. It has a delicacy, a refinement with much in common with the impressionist movement in painting. This delicacy co-exists with a passionate ingredient, especially in the opening Allegro which brought out the very best qualities of this fine quartet.
I look forward to the next two concerts in this series in which they will play two more of Bartok’s quartets.

Andrew Petch

Last Updated : 11/05/2009