SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Haydn and Beethoven:  The Carducci  String Quartet, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, UK, 28.9.2007 (JL)

The Carducci  String Quartet; Matthew Denton(violin), Michelle Fleming (violin), Eoin Schmidt-Martin(viola), Emma Denton (cello).

Haydn:  String Quartet 'Frog' Op.50 No.6
Beethoven: String Quartet in E minor Op.59 No.2

I attended this lunch-time concert only because I happened to be in Manchester for the day. What a stroke of luck.  The concert kicked off a new season of midday events that represent excellent value at the Bridgewater Hall, the relatively new home of the Hallé Orchestra.  Although the venue was designed for large symphonic performance (complete with magnificent organ) I’m glad to say there was a good turn out on this occasion, taking up a fair amount of the ample stalls.Those present were treated  to a top class musical event.

The Carducci Quartet describes itself  “as one of Europe's top young string quartets” and although there are several other ensembles that claim  the same, this one has enough credentials to back the statement. In their four years together the players have gained many prizes, are gaining prestigious engagements and – a sign of the times – have already got their own “ Carducci Classics” recording label under way.

In this programme the quartet was tested by two magnificent chamber works and their playing  was, I thought, distinguished by a refreshing no-nonsense approach that eschewed exaggerated mannerisms, had integrity of purpose that was free of conceit and  clearly put the music first in performances that were clean, bright and energetic. Tempi were  on the fast side on the whole but   were executed with a consistency suggesting a well thought out and balanced approach. Having said that, there was one exception which I will come to later.

The Frog Quartet of Haydn, so called because of a funny noise the first violin makes in the last movement (which probably no one would notice nowadays)  is, like so many of Haydn quartets, a superb work underrated because of the reputations of  more famous quartets by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. Another factor  that I strongly believe operates against Haydn is his reputation for “wit” and musical jokes. This plays on the public subconscious in a way that suggests he cannot be taken quite as seriously as those others mentioned above. I have never understood how instrumental music can be funny; and anyhow, if Haydn’s jokes are funny they  don’t say much for Austrian humour.

This Quartet, with its endless melodic and rhythmic invention and subtle interplay between instruments shows how much Mozart and Co. owed to Haydn. The Carducci’s nimble and accurate playing seems particularly well suited to this music and since their first disc is Haydn's music,   I shall be looking out for it.

I have to confess to some distraction as I listened because I could not help but ponder the consequences of a quartet that consisted of two married couples – did the playing gain from marriage or vice versa? Both hopefully.

The Beethoven Quartet was the second of three commissioned by Count Rasumovsky in 1805.  Although belonging to Beethoven’s middle period, they all look ahead to the later style much more than other works written at the time. The music is often relaxed and in slow movements seriously contemplative, but often disturbed by worrying excursions that seem to knock the music off balance. Yet all is absorbed and contained in solid overall designs within which not a note is spare.

I have heard quartets overblow this music in different ways. The first movement can be made to sound grand and pompous with dramatic pauses, the slow movement too slow (and at worst sentimentalised with too much vibrato) and the last movement played fast enough as to provide  simplya vehicle for virtuoso display. The Carducci fell into none of these traps. The characteristic Beethovenian groping chops and changes at the start were handled with a sense of momentum sustained throughout the movement to provide a sense of unity often lost by  more indulgent playing.  The adagio proved that you do not have to lean on music like this to provide a moving experience for listeners,  because the Carducci obtained the necessary effect by letting the music breathe in its own way. Treating music with such respect is not as easy as it sounds but it is  integrity like this that produces results. The scherzo sounded faster than the marked allegretto to me but the syncopation was still sharp and pointed which is what matters.

The approach to the last movement came as a surprise. Starting with a fast folksy tune this movement is often described in terms of “fun”.  For example, in an admired handbook, “The Beethoven Quartet Companion” (University of California Press), analyst Michael Steinberg says it is music of “roistering good humour”  that has “something about it of country manners”. Well that is not how the Carducci played it.  The opening tune was given sharply spirited phrasing  by  first violin Matthew Denton with an aggressive edge to it   and when it came to the odd excursion, for example where the music moves to A minor from sunny C major then takes  a lurch flatwards, the  rendering became distinctly emotionally edgy. That I liked. But I had someone with me who did not know this work and said afterwards, in innocent objectivity,  that she found the whole last movement overly frenetic. I don’t think that’s what Beethoven meant but also I do not think Steinberg’s “good humour” is quite right either:  it fails to recognise the Beethoven trait of  offering  glimpses  of  emotional discomfort on the way. Carducci were very good at recognising such passages where others quartets often miss it. If  they played the main tune  in a more relaxed way, then  they might have a very powerful interpretation with  the requisite contrasts. That would suit me but I’m glad I heard it their way  because it made me think.

Finally, I feel I have to report a negative feature throughout which is that the cello sounded underpowered. I say “sounded” because I do not want to suggest it was anything to do with Emma Denton’s playing.  I was sitting bang in the middle near the front but found that the bottom of chords lacked foundation and that cello melodies were not able to sing through the textures as they should.  A glaring example was in the last movement where the violin has a downward rushing passage of quavers which passes on to the cello (marked ff) to complete the descent.  As Mathew Denton passed the baton on to his wife there was a distinct fall in volume which meant the run lost the seamless continuity clearly intended by the composer, even though the notes were rendered with immaculate staccato as marked.

The culprit I believe is the large hall and the fact that most of the audience was at a lower elevation than the players. The leader’s instrument had its “f” holes pointing straight at me but the sloping cello’s were pointing upwards and sideways:   much of the cello tone must have been disappearing into the considerable heights of the Bridgewater Hall like wasted heat up a chimney. The moral here is that string quartets should not be playing salon music in such places. This is not only an acoustical issue but also a conceptual one. Beethoven, writing a letter about his Op. 95 quartet of only four years later said it was “written for a small circle of connoisseurs and is never to be played in public”. That cannot be guaranteed nowadays of course but  is  worth bearing in mind.   A related moral is that modern concert halls should never be built without a second salon-type space for chamber music. The Sage Concert Hall at Newcastle upon Tyne has done that, providing an imaginatively designed octagonal space  ideal for chamber music.

Having got that off my chest, I admired the Carducci’s  playing  very much and hope to catch them at a more suitable venue in the future.

Back to Top                                                    Cumulative Index Page