Okay, that is understandable: for Austria's musical flagship, the Wiener Philharmoniker, BOZAR was packed the day before. The following day, for our concert by the equally outstanding Austrian Hagen Quartett, this unfortunately was not the case. String quartets appeal less than symphonies. We know that. Especially when they have to compete with a Dvořák New World Symphony. But this time there was no hint of the enthusiastic applause after every movement that there had been yesterday during that Dvořák. The subdued audience enjoyed, apart from the seasonal coughs of colds in between, in complete silence and admiration, two string quartets by Haydn and Schubert and Mozart's clarinet quintet.
It began with Haydn. Often called the inventor of the string quartet, and here with his Op. 55/3. And yes, you can grow tired of those string quartets (after all, he wrote dozens of them). Sometimes you may even find them dull. But when an ensemble like this brings out all the finesses, you still enjoy thoroughly that wealth of sound. And that is also the right frame of mind for listening to Schubert's early String Quartet D173. And certainly also to listen, in the Andantino, to a wonderful interplay between the first violin and a magnificent cello. Not the best-known Schubert, rather romantic and even cheerful.
But then came Mozart. The clarinet quintet, or Stadler Quintet, written for his friend and the renowned clarinettist of the time. And the Hagen Quartett surpassed itself. It seemed as if the arrival of clarinettist Daniel Ottensamer, principal clarinettist of the Wiener Philharmoniker, sharpened the playing of the members. In intensity and quality they shifted up yet another gear. And their interplay sounded even more subtle. The clarinettist sounded as soft as the strings. Not only in the Larghetto, with its famous sustained melody, was his breath control more than professional. His playing throughout was almost hair-raisingly beautiful. The first violin dueled delightfully with the clarinet. Perhaps I was paying special attention to first violinist Lukas Hagen. Why? During the interval I had bumped into violin maker Thomas Meuwissen. "I'll brag a little," he said. "I built a violin for him!" If you know that, you listen with a few extra ears to that instrument. Lukas Hagen told us about it: "Every violin sounds different. Above all, you have to feel good with your violin, and that I had from the very first moment with this violin: it sounds healthy, powerful, beautiful, and it is already my preference over the many others I have played. From the outset it had qualities that are hardly found in other newly built violins." What an honour for violin maker Thomas Meuwissen. How did those two come into contact? Thomas Meuwissen: "They have been coming to play in Brussels for years, and I have often attended their concerts. First I got to know his sister, the violist Veronika Hagen, and only later Lukas as well. Not long ago I showed him a violin and he was so impressed that he invited me to show my work to his students in Salzburg. They were looking for instruments, and he thought it important that they came into contact with good contemporary violin makers. He organised a test for them and a number of colleagues in the large hall of the Mozarteum. The day after, he already said he was so impressed that he was considering buying the instrument. And to my great surprise he did so the following day too!"
A Renowned Dynasty
The clarinet quintet is of course Mozart at his best, with that beloved instrument that fascinated him enormously: playful as he himself was, yet with a romantic depth that was equally his own. It may be all too popular and familiar, but performed by these musicians you hear it as if for the first time. Almost immediately you realise: I have never heard it like this before. Is that due to the splendid Viennese clarinettist Daniel Ottensamer? When you ask him, he answers in surprise: "Does it sound new? Not to me, I always play it like that. For me it was especially special to play with the colleagues of the Hagen Quartett this evening. It was the first time we performed the quintet, and that interplay with them was truly a special and beautiful experience for me. Perhaps that is why it sounded so good."
He comes, moreover, from a renowned dynasty of clarinet players. His father also played as principal soloist with the Wiener Philharmoniker, and his brother does so with the Berliner Philharmoniker. Then of course you must become an outstanding player too. Together they formed The Clarinotts until the death of their father, by the way. Daniel is in any case a top-class player. And after such a performance you are once again forever sold on, and attached to, that 'worn-out' masterpiece.
- WHAT: Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) - String Quartet Op. 55 No. 3 in B-flat (Hob.III:62) | Franz Schubert (1797-1828) – String Quartet No. 9 in G (D173) | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) - Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in A (K. 581)
- WHO: Hagen Quartett [Lukas Hagen and Rainer Schmidt (violin), Veronika Hagen (viola), Clemens Hagen (cello)] and Daniel Ottensamer (clarinet)
- WHERE: Henry Le Boeuf Hall, BOZAR, Brussels
- WHEN: Saturday 1 December 2018
- PHOTO: © myrios classics & Julia Stix