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Beethoven: Ebène Quartet, Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, Benaroya Hall, Seattle, 18.3.2009 (BJ)


The latest concert in the Seattle Symphony’s series featuring ensembles from around the world in performances of all Beethoven’s string quartets brought the Ebène Quartet to the platform. Presumably a French group (though neither the program biography nor the quartet’s own web site was willing to divulge anything about its origins), the Ebène is enthusiastically spoken of by a number of good judges.

Certainly its playing, in a program of two F-major quartets, Op. 18 No. 1 and Op. 59 No. 1, and the wonderful late E-flat-major work, Op. 127, demonstrated considerable artistry. The first violinist, Pierre Colombet, floated a lovely singing line, especially in the upper register, and he was at once well matched and effectively contrasted by second violinist Gabriel Le Magadure and violist Mathieu Herzog. If my enthusiasm sounds a trifle muted, that is because the contribution of cellist Raphaël Merlin came nowhere near providing a firm foundation for the overall sound. There was nothing like the rock-like tone with which, to offer just one among many possible examples, Bernard Gregor-Smith used to underpin the playing of his colleagues in the Lindsay Quartet, sadly now retired.

There were indeed times when Merlin might almost just as well not have been there for all the impact he made. Occasional momentary bursts of strength and eloquence showed that he is certainly capable of effective playing, so I am forced to conclude, either that the quartet had failed to adjust to the (usually unproblematic) acoustics of the Nordstrom hall, or that a serious difference of opinion about Beethoven interpretation exists within its ranks. Either way, Beethoven suffered, particularly where the cello-focused texture of the Opus 59 work was concerned, though the transcendent beauty of Opus 127 still managed, if a trifle wanly, to shine through.

Bernard Jacobson


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