CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27112, 7 August 1953, Page 3

CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT

AMAZING PLAYING Last evening the Griller String Quartet and Hephzibah Menuhin played to an audience which filled the Civic Theatre. Their hearers received something which they can think about for many a day, and which they will remember with gratitude. Many will have been following the concerts of these artists through the radio. Although those concerts have been splendid, they give but a faint idea of the powerful impact of such playing when heard in a theatre. While this is particularly so in the case of a stupendous work like the Bloch pianoforte quintet, nevertheless even the National Anthem seemed to have heightened significance when played with such restrained vibrancy of tone. There was an unaccustomed but unmistakeable air of excitement and expectancy in the auditorium before the artists appeared, and well there might be for their like is seldom encountered. Now that they are living in the neighbouring states of Victoria and California it is, perhaps, not too much to hope that their visits may be more frequent. Neither the Griller String Quartet nor Miss Menuhin were strangers to us. They have played here before, but not in combination. We thought that we knew what to expect and then got far more. Which is all very pleasant and exciting. The concert began with Beethoven’s Pianoforte Quartet in E flat, Op. 16. Throughout the work the four instruments played with technical and spiritual unanimity. The varieties of tone covered a wide range, always keeping within the bounds demanded by the style of the music and its period. From the dark tone of the introduction through to the sprightly dance and sparkle of the Rondo, and with much of sunlight and shadow on the way, the players unfolded expressive beauty with consummate ease. Haydn’s String Quartet in C major. Op. 33, No. 3, followed. The ordered dignity of the sound of a first-class string quartet, such as the Griller, is one of the most fully civilised things left in the world today. Their playing is a sheer joy. So much feeling was put into the whole work, right from the quiet and restrained opening, through the buoyant sway of -the scherzo, the lovely strains of that most melodious adagio and the bubbling merriment of the finale. It was seemingly perfect playing—so full of life and grace. After the interval the Bloch Quintet for Pianoforte and Strings was played. This is a most astounding composition and it is amazing, considering that Miss Menuhin and the Griller String Quartet are not always playing together day after day, how they should have gained such mastery over these Colossal technical difficulties. For although very great power is often called for in the pianoforte part against some faint chords or even single notes from one of the strings, there was never a note which failed to make its fitting contribution with perfect clarity. When Miss Menuhin was here with her brother she captivated her hearers with the charm and grace of her playing but that did not prepare them for the astonishing strength of her playing which was shown in the Bloch Quintet. It was magnificently powerful playing which kept beautiful tone even in the wildest percussive passages. The clarity, the toledoblade strength, the unfalteringly rhythmical quality, and the perfect cleanness of her playing is utterly amazing and it would be hard to imagine her superior in chamber music playing. In every way this Quintet tested the players. Its prodigious technical difficulties of balance troubled them not at all. The greatest difficulty of bringing its many facets of meaning j and emotion to hearers who, except I through many hearings by players of this calibre, must find much that would be obscure, was overcome with the greatest success. One would venture to suggest that there were few who heard this performance who would not eagerly welcome an opportunity to hear it repeated. Although there is nothing remotely suggestive of the ancient in the idiom of the work, nevertheless the meaning and the feeling of the first movement does suggest that its roots lie deep in the past. The second movement was a real puzzler at first but its message seemed to evolve in a very wonderful way as it proceeded. It is music of the highest aspiration. The last movement completely lifts and carries away the audience who mind not the many buffetings in the great exhilaration of the chase. There are passages in this work where the strings have an extraordinarily metallic sound, almost as of faint cymbals, there are harsh and horrible cacophonies which nevertheless sound exactly right and inevitable, and therd are many passages of appealing and deeply-moving beauty especially those which round off some of the sections. This was truly great playing both in conception and execution, and it was a stirring experience to have heard it.

The concert was arraflged by the Christchurch Chamber Music Society and was their finest success in the splendid series ot concerts which the society has given its subscribers and supporters. The society, with its kindred societies throughout the country, is doing invaluable work and by supporting it we will ensure future concerts of this standard. The society has arranged another concert by the Griller String Quartet for the evening of Saturday, August 15. • C.F.B.