two string quartet concerts

I've been to two string quartet concerts at Herbst in the City this week. One was pretty good. The other was truly exceptional.

They had similar programs. One late Haydn, one epic-sized 19th century work, one mid-20C central European work by a composer more agreeable than Bartók.

The pretty good ensemble was the Pavel Haas, four Czechs (2 M, 2 F) who named their group after a Czech composer who died in the Holocaust. They didn't play his music, though. They played Martinů, his 7th, a bustling and energetic work written while the composer was recovering from a severe injury (he fell off an unrailed balcony in the dark - ouch!), but doesn't sound like the composer is suffering.

It sounds, instead, like it's bustling off in various directions at once, a good look for one of those quartet ensembles which sounds like four entirely distinct voices in conversation. It was a less good look on Schubert's G major, which though never boring or slack came out kind of ropy and overextended, as if it was just trying to speak plainly and not achieve the blissful harmonic realms of great Schubert. The Haydn (Op 76/1) was more successful at being matter-of-fact.

The exceptional ensemble was the Esmé. Four young Korean women (very tall, all of them), working in Germany where they all trained, who gave their group a French name.

Even in their opening Haydn (Op 77/1), it was apparent they had a distinct sound, extremely bright and airy, floating out and exposing Haydn's graceful construction. This worked less well with the lush harmonies of Korngold's 2nd, which while played well and incisively, gave off a wet and lurid sound as if what was being exposed here was living flesh.

None of that prepared us for what came with Dvořák's Op 106. This was awesome, a performance for the ages. Somehow the ensemble's airy sound was perfectly matched to Dvořák's balance and expression, while the piece flowed along with the ideal bounce and energy which makes for a winning visit to this composer. Everything felt as if it belonged there and was contributing to the whole. And to think I've heard performances of Op 106 that sounded dull or routine.

This was SF Performance's annual subscriber gift concert, for which they usually come up with something special. This group is apparently well-known in Europe, but this was, they modestly explained, their first-ever performance in North America. (Actually, they had a concert scheduled a couple days earlier in the Cal Tech chamber music series, but it was cancelled for some reason.) They're on tour for a couple more weeks, but they aren't playing the Dvořák again. That was ... truly amazing, and I'm sorry for anyone who missed it.