FOUNTAINHALL at the CROSS CHURCH
Monday 19th February 2024
RESOL QUARTET:
Richard Montgomery First Violin
Annabel Kidd Second Violin
Raphael Chinn Viola
Alasdair Morton-Teng Cello
PROGRAMME:
Giacomo Puccini (1858 – 1924)
Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)
String Quartet No. 19 in C, K465 (Dissonance)
Henriette Bosmans (1895 – 1952)
String Quartet (1927)
Dimitri Shostakovich (1905 – 1975)
String Quartet No. 3 in F, Op. 73
REVIEW:
Two things came instantly to mind when thinking about Monday’s performance by the Resol String Quartet. The first, just looking at their programme, related to the amazing variety of string quartet styles they were raring to go and tackle. Tackle them they did and with resounding success. Can you imagine two musical styles more highly contrasted than Puccini’s Crisantemi and the Third Quartet by Shostakovich. Likewise, Mozart’s String Quartet No.19 could hardly be more different from Henriette Bosman’s wonderfully transparent impressionist String Quartet (1927).
The second thing that impressed me, especially listening to the Mozart, was the youthful freshness of the playing allied to a maturity of quartet technique regarding the instrumental balance of the playing which was of premium quality throughout the performance.
The programme began with Puccini’s Crisantemi. In Catholic countries, especially in Southern Europe but in parts of Germany and Austria too, chrysanthemums are never offered to the living. They are laid on the graves of dear departed relatives particularly on All Saints Day, the 1st November. I once got that disastrously wrong in France. You see in Scotland, we regularly have bunches of chrysanthemums on display in the house. So Puccini’s Quartet Crisantemi is not a musical picture of a bunch of flowers as even the internet has suggested. It is a musical elegy dedicated to the Duke of Aosta, a friend of the composer who had passed away. Monday’s performance by the Resol Quartet captured the emotional charge of the music to perfection. The harmonies of the opening section embodied tenderness and sad longing. The pizzicato cello supported lovely threads of melody from the other players. In her introduction, second violinist Annabel Kidd mentioned that Puccini’s brilliance as an opera composer shines through in the music and indeed the cello sang out like a fine baritone soloist with the first violin as a soaring soprano.
The word ‘dissonance’ which has been attached to Mozart’s String Quartet No. 19 really refers only to the opening Adagio. Over a pulsating C on the cello, the viola and two violins enter, the viola on A flat, moving to G and the two violins on E flat and A. In Mozart’s time that would have created a jarring effect but for us today, our ears have become accustomed to far more unsettling sounds. For me, the overall effect of the Adagio was just that it sounded surprisingly modern. On reaching the Allegro however, the spirit of Haydn was certainly there in music that was jaunty, busy and playful. I was glad that in this performance the cello played out strongly. He has delicate passages of repeated notes, ticklish runs and strong melodic passages. All four players gave us a marvellously joyful and expressive performance.
The second movement Andante cantabile had something of the depth of feeling we had heard in Puccini’s music. The word ‘cantabile’ means singing, and the quartet certainly brought that to their performance but there was also a freshness in their playing which avoided over-sentimentality. The minuet contrasted a delicate lightness with moments of sweeping strength. Perhaps this suggested the dancers swinging round on their feet. The trio section was faster and good fun even in the minor. The finale fairly sizzled along with dazzling playing from the first violin.
Henriette Bosman’s String Quartet opened with strong playing by the viola. I discovered comments by French critics, one of whom said that Bosmans had stolen directly from Debussy while another replied that this was not true, she had stolen from her teacher Willem Pijper. Well, I know Debussy but Pijper is new to me, so I don’t know. Both Debussy and Ravel were mentioned in the introductory words and this was certainly a piece that fitted that period and style. Many thanks are due to the Resol Quartet for introducing us to a composer whose music was very much worth hearing. Following the introduction by the viola, what stood out in this music was the way in which all of the four instruments in the quartet were made to stand out so cleanly and clearly. The first of the three movements was superbly transparent. The second movement was rich and warm with each instrument getting a solo spot. The final movement had pizzicato and slides. Towards the end the spirit of the dance was brought magically to life in Monday’s performance.
So far we had sadness, great fun with the spirit of Haydn and glowing transparent colours from Bosmans. Now it was time for the more serious stuff with the String Quartet No. 3 by Shostakovich. There are all sorts of ideas about what exactly Shostakovich meant by his music. We can probably never be sure, which is why he survived the Stalinist period when many other composers did not. Lets just take the music at face value. The opening movement was jolly, even playful with passages of delicacy, touches of threat perhaps, multiple changes of instrumental colour and ending in a dance. In the second movement the first violin and viola were joined by the second violin and cello and there were delicate touches of bows on strings that you rarely hear from any other composer in this way. The third movement was furiously intense with ferocious melodic playing by the first violin. That was glorious. There was exceptional variety of instrumental colour from the Resol Quartet in this movement. In the fourth movement, there was powerful emotional charge from all four instruments. Finally, moving into the fifth movement, the music seemed to brighten and turn to dance though the final moments faded into sadness and then silence. It is reported that Shostakovich said of the war which is portrayed in the music ‘what was the point of it all?. The Resol Quartet kept the audience from applauding until the feelings roused by these final moments had passed. They had taken us with them all the way through so many of the composers thoughts and feelings, so varied and with so many undercurrents that it is hardly possible to pin them down. Nevertheless we had experienced an unequalled emotional adventure in music. So, well done the Resol Quartet!
ALAN COOPER