RTE Vanbrugh String Quartet

{TABLE} Quartet in G. op 18, No 2 ............................... Beethoven Quartet in E flat, Op 74, The Harp ...................... Beethoven Quartet in C sharp minor, Op 131 ........................ Beethoven {/TABLE} BEETHOVEN'S Op. 18 No 2, is one of his most ingratiating quartets and the Vanbrugh String Quartet performed it in a manner that was both refined and relaxed, the music opening like a flower in water.

The second work in Sunday's recital in the NCH, the Harp quartet from Beethoven's middle period, has much of the grace of Op. 18, but its formal elaboration and rich textures make it closer in spirit to the late quartets. Here again the performance had a refreshing openness and clarity which allowed the moments of melancholy to influence the contexts in which they appeared without spreading too far.

It is hard to imagine that Beethoven's late quartets were once considered incomprehensible and unplayable nevertheless, a programme such as the above demands concentrated listening as well as playing, and to follow Op. 74 with Op. 131 requires a perceptible increase in intensity. The first four notes of the fugue which starts the work are critical how strong does one make the sforzando on the fourth note? how steep does one make the crescendo on the first three notes? It seemed to me that the Vanbrugh Quartet made the sforzando a shade too strong, thereby lessening the introspective quality

That is not to say that there was not some playing of great intensity, particularly in the slow movement, and the final movement stretched the limits of the quartet medium in truly Beethovenian fashion.