No two New Year's concerts are alike. Instead of waltzes by Johann Strauss in the Koningin Elisabeth Music Chapel, there is a string sextet by a distinguished namesake. It proved to be the perfect prelude to two of the most iconic works in the genre, and an ideal occasion to discover the superlatives surrounding the Rolston String Quartet live.
“La version des Rolston est une réussite complète, tant dans les moments mélancoliques ou poétiques que dans les aspects brillants.” And the colleague at Crescendo was enthusiastic about the debut recording of this Canadian quartet! It was made in 2019 for the Belgian label Fuga Libera, in the concert hall of the Koningin Elisabeth Music Chapel, where the Rolston String Quartet was in residence last season. The young quartet received reinforcement from Masters in Residence Miguel da Silva and Gary Hoffman, so that alongside Tchaikovsky's popular First String Quartet (Op. 11), his String Sextet (Op. 70) also found a place on the CD. With the by now much-lauded result as a consequence…
For the New Year's concert of the Music Chapel, celebrating its birthday – a breeding ground for international young talent that is blowing out eighty candles this season – the authors of the album returned to the beautiful Studio Haas-Teichen. The prestigious programme was a feast for the ears, ideal for this festive occasion. Alongside Tchaikovsky's 'Souvenir de Florence', Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht also appeared on the music stands: a gloriously articulated love story that marked an early milestone in the composer's career. As a prelude to both iconic string sextets, a certain Richard Strauss appeared. This instrumentation is indeed well suited to a performance of the overture to the opera Capriccio, his masterful final exploit in the genre (1942).
'Konversationsstück für Musik'
As the subtitle of Capriccio makes immediately clear, Strauss's conversation piece is a remarkable exercise in self-reflection. What actually takes priority in opera: the music or the text? It is a question that gained currency in the later 18th century, and one with which the German composer, by his own account, wrestled his whole life. Yet even in his Op. 85 he refuses to take sides. The story ends on equal footing. With Verklärte Nacht, by contrast, Arnold Schoenberg does show his colours. The poem of the same name by Richard Dehmel (1863-1920) provides the guiding principle for both form and content of this late-Romantic pearl (1899). Poetry as inspiration for the composer: it sounds very familiar. The lieder of Schubert, Mahler and once again Strauss – to name just three – owe their worldwide fame to it. Yet at the end of the 19th century this kind of programmatic chamber music was a novelty. Indeed, Tchaikovsky's string sextet, for instance, also carries an extra-musical reference. But the Tuscan sun was in 1890 no more than a point of departure, shining through only in the first and second movements. It was ultimately above all Schoenberg's adventurous, and unfortunately also poorly understood, musical language that announced a modernist revolution at the time.
Of that musical seismic shift, very little is to be noticed in Strauss's enchanting Capriccio. The stylised instrumentation and lush harmonies of this tripartite overture are emblematic of our twentieth-century 'classic'. Before the interval, the young players performed the first viola and cello parts. The generation gap, incidentally, manifested itself amusingly during the concert through the score: tablets showing all the voices for the quartet, while the two older rats in the row had only their own sheets. But once playing began, the sextet was happily on the same wavelength. The balance was good from the outset, first violin Luri Lee phrased tastefully, and the whole soon bathed in a warm, lyrical glow. Equally transparent, yet at the same time considerably more intense, was the thrilling middle section. Hoffman provided the solid foundation on which the principal players exchanged deftly bowed solos and witty dialogues. The tender head motif reappears in various registers. Nostalgia defines the character of this work, until it too elegantly faded away.
"Simply irresistible"
For Tchaikovsky's 'Souvenir de Florence' expectations were naturally high. Could the ensemble live bring what they had evidently achieved on record with such brio? Confidence was in any case great. There was the festive mood characteristic of this type of concert. A full hall usually brings out the best in musicians. And the composer, who penned the original version of this four-movement spätwerk during a stay in Italy, seemed in a cheerful mood. Plenty of reasons, then, to go all out. Under the brisk yet powerful leadership of the first violin, the Allegro con spirito was performed with great empathy. From the passionate first theme to the breathtakingly fast ending, the playing was highly alert. Eye and ear were also attentive to the dynamic leaps the music prescribes. Anyone who has already visited Florence will concur: despite the many tourists, the capital of the Renaissance remains breathtaking. As does the second movement of this sextet. If the chorale-like, unison opening of the Adagio cantabile e con moto is already piercing, what then to feel at the mighty homophonic statement that repeatedly overwhelms the audience afterwards… Wonder? Awe, perhaps? Undoubtedly emotion. In short, what happens when the woman of your life suddenly appears. Or when, on an evening like this, you can listen to such harmonious and expressive playing together.
In the last two parts of his Florentine string sextet, Tchaikovsky's sometimes saccharine reminiscence takes on a strikingly different, much more folk-like character. The mysterious Allegretto moderato couples ominous timbres with a sometimes spicy rhythmic drive. The audience in the stalls knew how to handle it. The ensemble playing gradually became completely unleashed. The cabaret-like trio provided a cheerful and sharp contrast. The line with cheap effect-seeking becomes quite thin here, if you ask me. But the bouncy playing joy was certainly not any less for it, quite the contrary. Just like the infectious energy with which the original theme was picked up again, which drew an early round of applause from the listeners. The sextet had clearly dosed well, because in the good-natured finale they still added an extra gear. The Allegro vivace, at times sharply accented and then again gloriously spun out, was a bull's-eye. "To us, the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is simply irresistible […]", is how the Rolston String Quartet describes its fondness for the Russian. And that was conveyed to the audience this evening with great conviction.
Moonlight without the scent of roses
Love conquers all. That is the hopeful message that speaks from Verklärte Nacht. But it certainly does not come by itself. Some enlightened understanding is necessary … Especially when it turns out that the woman you got to know is pregnant by another man and is consumed by regret: Ich hab mich schwer an mir vergangen// ich glaubte nicht mehr an ein Glück// und hatte doch ein schwer Verlangen// nach Lebensfrucht, nach Mutterglück. In Dehmel's poem the moon is indeed prominently present, yet at first there is precious little scent of roses. The seriousness of the situation is very aptly evoked in the first half of Schönberg's turbulent composition. This is how someone sounds who pours out his heart. But equally, consolation and mildness are then also heard, when the man takes the floor. The leading roles are reserved for the first violin, viola and cellist. Assertiveness is an asset here. It was therefore a blessing that da Silva and Hoffman took on these roles, and thus stepped more emphatically into the foreground as sparring partners. Alongside delicately articulated duets, this arrangement also produced an exceptionally colourful sound picture. For half an hour the tension was skilfully sustained, notwithstanding the breaking points present in the work. The opening of the Sehr breit und langsam and the serene ending were thus moments of pure magic.
Zwei Menschen gehn durch hohe, helle Nacht. One would return home with a warm feeling for far less. All the stars on this magnificent evening in Waterloo were favourably aligned. The harbinger of a new year filled with many such musical memories? In any case: bonne année en musique!
- WHAT: New Year's concert as part of the 5th MuCH music season 2019-2020, with string sextets by Richard Strauss (1864-1949), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) and Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951) on the programme
- WHO: Rolston String Quartet [Luri Lee and Emily Kruspe (violin), Hezekiah Leung (viola) and Jonathan Lo (cello)], Miguel da Silva (viola), Gary Hoffman (cello)
- WHERE: Studio Haas-Teichen, Muziekkapel Koningin Elisabeth, Waterloo
- WHEN: Tuesday 14 January 2020
- PHOTOS: © Bo Huang Photography | François Sechet | William Beaucardet
- ORGANISATION: Muziekkapel Koningin Elisabeth
