ALL TOO RARE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26777, 21 May 1948, Page 6

ALL TOO RARE

STRING QUARTET DELIGHTS AUDIENCE Through the generosity of the late Mr Alfred Fels the University of Otago was able to present a 'programme by the Queensland State Quartet in the Concert Chamber last night. It is 12 years since a Dunedin audience had the privilege of hearing a string quartet, and judging by the spontaneous and prolonged applause, last night’s audience was of the opinion that such programmes are all too rare. The string quartet has been acclaimed by general consent as the most perfect medium of musical expression. The form is so transparent that it is an acid test for performers and composers alike. The second-rate composer seldom uses it, but the greatest have chosen it as a vehicle for the expression of their most serious thoughts. The success of a chamber music group depends on many factors, deficiency in any one of which can be seriously detrimental to the whole. The players must be temperamentally attuned 1 ; they must be equally matched in tone and technique; and they must play together until their work is no longer that of several soloists but a vintage blend of tone and interpretation. Last night’s performance by Ernest Llewellyn and Harold Taberner, violins, David Powell, viola, and Don Howley, ’cello, was two hours of sheer delight The tone was vital, the phrasing and general interpretation uniformly excellent, and the collaboration an achievement which places the quartet on a footing with those of international repute. The playing was refined, subdued, warm, gay or serene, as the music required, and directed attention to the qualities of the music rather than to the performers. This is the penalty, or rather the reward, of the greatest interpreters that they are channels through which understanding flows to others. There were moments when one noticed the vitality and flexibility of the leader’s playing, the witty repartee between first and second violin, the sombre beauty of the viola tone or the artistry of the ’cellist. These were of passing interest, but the ensemble effects were predominant. With such playing, and in the absence of sensational feats of virtuosity or dazzling colour effects, the critic must perforce turn to the music itself. It is doubtful whether the inexhaustible Haydn was ever more profound than in the slow movement of the “Rider” Quartet, or more dramatically resourceful than in the last movement of the same work. In the third movement of the Brahms item the troubled spirit of that serious composer found expression in a most satisfying way. The warmth of the viola melody which was exquisitely played was something to remember. In the Bax Quartet, which was new to most, the last movement had that special charm which is characteristic of English folk music. It was as English as “ Greensleeves ” or Falstaff “babbling of green fields.” A concert to be remembered. M. M.