The last day of Midis-Minimes' string quartet week was one to cherish. How could it be otherwise with one of Beethoven's last great opuses on the programme? But there was more. The generous Quatuor Tchalik added the moving Quartettsatz at the end. Schubert, whom we had indeed not yet encountered during this five-day festival…
Yet the week ended as it had begun: in a family setting. The Tchalik siblings, between 19 (!) and 29 years old, belong in the ranks of Europe's most promising quartets. Since 2016, the French-Russian ensemble has been studying with Günter Pichler – former leader and founder of the renowned Alban Berg Quartett – at the Madrid Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía. At the end of last year, the quartet took up a residency with ProQuartet, a promotion and training institute for chamber music in Paris where other emerging talent such as Quatuor Van Kuijk and Quatuor Arod are also based. But the first real highlight in their still young career took place half a year ago, when Quatuor Tchalik won both the first prize and the jury prize at the thirteenth edition of the Mozart Wettbewerb in Salzburg. In doing so, it convinced a jury chaired by the leader of the Hagen Quartet, and which also included Jonathan Brown (Cuarteto Casals) and Mark Steinberg (Brentano Quartet), among others. A group to keep an eye on, and certainly to listen to.
Fitting apotheosis
With its choice of the first of Beethoven's late string quartets, Quatuor Tchalik provided a fitting apotheosis to conclude a week such as this. For this is the pinnacle of the genre. It doesn't get more challenging than this, neither for the listeners nor certainly for the musicians. Completed in early 1825, the brilliant opus 127 aroused mixed feelings in the years following its creation. In a review published in the very first volume (1827/1828) of the Allgemeine Musikzeitung, it is made clear that not everyone warmed to this music of the future: "Die Urtheile über die letzten Werke dieses Meisters sind überhaupt sehr verschieden, ja nicht selden sich selbst wiedersprechend. Die Einen sage, man könne nichts Schöneres un Herrlicheres finden, als namentlich dieses hier genannte Quartett […]; die Anderen hingegen sagen: Nein, es ist hier Alles undeutlich, Alles Wirrwarr; […] So Etwas darf man den Unkundigen nicht vorlegen, sie wissen ja nicht, was sie daraus machen sollen." Quatuor Tchalik clearly knew how to handle the material. Throughout the opening movement (Maestoso – Allegro), a few sturdy sforzandos made an urgent statement three times over. In between, the young musicians charmed the audience with beautifully articulated lyricism and abundant festivity. In the subsequent variation series, which composer Vincent d'Indy called "une des pages les plus représentatives de la grande variation beethovénienne", the quartet demonstrated its keen eye for dynamics and a subtly balanced tone. The result was an Adagio ma non troppo e molto cantabile that navigated between intensity and relaxation. Particularly noteworthy was the third variation, played with utmost control: one of many signs of hope in this outright brilliant movement. Here were four kindred spirits at work. In the Scherzando vivace, a single rhythmic cell moved hastily from instrument to instrument, followed by crisp attacca passages that heightened the question-and-answer interplay (Allegro). Delightful. The short trio had a superb drive that gave the music great mobility. For the high-spirited finale – curiously without a tempo marking – the quartet eased up slightly. But it didn't rest on its laurels. A sweetly crafted opening theme gave way to a briskly accented second idea and a lucid development. The coda, brilliantly coloured, crowned the work. Bravo!
After this solid Beethoven, Quatuor Tchalik showed itself in a generous mood. It added Schubert's moving Quartettsatz (1820), "a joy and tenderness that refuses to be captured by the grief and apprehension that enclose it", says British philosopher Roger Scruton. A week of the string quartet without a line of Schubert: a music lover need not imagine such a thing…
- WHAT: Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827), String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat (opus 127)
- WHO: Quatuor Tchalik [Gabriel & Louise Tchalik (violin), Sarah Tchalik (viola), Marc Tchalik (cello)]
- WHERE: Koninklijk Conservatorium, Brussel (as part of the Midis-Minimes festival)
- WHEN: Friday 3 August 2018
- PHOTO: © Julien Daniel
