10 May 2009

CARDUCCI QUARTET II

The Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury

For their second concert for Shrewsbury Music Trust, the Carducci Quartet played works by Haydn, Bartok and Schubert. From the opening of Haydn’s QuartetOp.33, 'The Joke', the musicians were in superb form. The music was rehearsed in detail yet it felt spontaneous, the hallmark of excellence in chamber music. It's called 'The Joke' because the audience isn't sure when it has finished! Violinist Matthew Denton played his concerto-like part elegantly.

Bartok's 1st Quartet is a challenging work, always energetic, often neurotic, at times lyrical, at others diamond-bright in texture. There is evidence of folk music in some of the dance rhythms and a tightness in its composition which needs the closest collaboration between the players. Cellist Emma Denton was superb, as was viola player Eoin Schmidt-Martin. Second violinist Michelle Fleming completed the quartet, playing with the same panache as her colleagues. There are some wonderful moments in this work, especially in the brilliant relationships between the musicians; they rose to the challenge with an admirable confidence.

Schubert's 'Death and the Maiden' completed the concert. Perhaps the best known work in the quartet repertoire, this is a masterpiece. Schubert had used the theme of the second movement in the song 'Death and the Maiden'; here he writes a set of variations on the simple, moving tune. Like the Bartok, Schubert's quartet is restless, sometimes violent in its relentless writing. The Carducci brought energy and subtlety to this as they did throughout this superb concert.

Andrew Petch

Last Updated : 11/05/2009