Midday Masterpieces (1/9/19)

Juilliard Students and Faculty Members

String Quintet No. 6 in E-Flat major, K. 614 – One movement – W.A. Mozart
String Quartet in G major, Op. 76, No. 1 – F.J. Haydn
String Quintet in C major, D. 956 – One movement – F. Schubert

Wednesday’s concert was the first Midday Masterpieces of the new year. With twelve students playing in three separate ensembles and two faculty members added to two of the groups in order to make them quintets, names will not be listed.

Mozart’s string quintet was scored for two violins, viola, and cello (standard string quartet), with an added viola. In this case, the added violist was one of the faculty members. The work consists of four movements, of which only one was performed. It started out delicate and dance-like and included some bursts of added volume. For the most part, it was bouncy and bright. After a false ending, there was a little more drama and a little too much repetition for my taste. Still, it was a nice opening for the concert.

The Abeo quartet (all students, who formed this quartet only recently and will continue to play together for this school season, at least) played Haydn’s quartet straight through, including all four movements. An interesting note is that the first violinist has, on loan, a 1710 Stradivarius violin that he used for this performance. The first movement was fairly jolly, if in a sedate way. There were dramatic sections as well. The second movement was much calmer and truly sedate, warm, and enveloping. Haydn wrote very, very soft passages that then grew in volume—sometimes gradually and sometimes explosively. The movement had a lovely ending. The third was brisk and playful and had a really clever ending. The final movement had sort of a dramatic opening, with a mix of really rapid playing paired with some that was a little bit slower. There were a lot of playful sounds too, plus a bit of what seemed like teasing toward the very end. This entire work was fun to listen to.

Once again, I’m not exactly certain which of the four movements we heard from the Schubert quintet. In this instance, the Arte quartet (all students) was joined by a different faculty member playing cello. So the quintet was two violins, viola, cello, and cello. The movement had a sweet opening, but also had a certain depth and a certain amount of drama. A contrasting lyrical section was accompanied by pizzicato playing from the extra cello. The movement also had a nice range and interplay of volume. A few times, the dramatic aspects of the piece had a slight harshness, though it was still very moving. As was the entire afternoon.

As often happens with these concerts, I end up doing some online exploring after the fact, since there is no printed program. As it turns out, the Mozart was his last major chamber work, the Haydn was from (what I would call) his middle/late period—written when he was 65, and he lived to be 77 years old, and the Schubert was his final chamber work (in fact, completed in 1828, not played in public until 1850, and not published until 1853). Everybody please say, “Thank you,” to the internet.

The next MM is February 6, and I’ve already made my reservation. Thank you too to WQXR, for providing this wonderful opportunity.

ConcertMeister