7 July 2006
The Allegri Quartet with Peter Carter
Haydn Op 55 No. 2 "Razor"
Janacek Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata"
Mozart D major Quintet
The concert opened with Haydn's "Razor" Quartet Op 55 No 2 in F minor, which is bright and jovial, full of examples of Haydn's inventive genius. The Allegri gave an exhilarating and virtuosic performance, an excellent opening to this second weekend to the Festival.
The "Kreutzer Sonata" Quartet No 1 by Janacek is a remarkable work, written apparently in a single week and inspired by Tolstoy's novel of the same name. This was a spine-tingling performance, which truly told the tragic story underpinning the music. The musicians gave full play to the emotions and ideas within the music, capturing the anguish and jealousy at the heart of the tale with quite chilling intensity. This is not, perhaps, an easy work to listen to, given the emotional core of the music, but when given in such a vibrant and impassioned performance, it is certainly worth the effort!
After the interval, we were delighted that Peter Carter rejoined the Allegri for the Mozart Quintet in D major, K593. He told us he had been listening to the quartets before the Interval, wondering how he'd ever managed to play all those notes, and commented wryly that while the part for the second viola did not have as many notes as the first violin part, they were all in the wrong clef! The five musicians gave a performance full of life and energy, the performers clearly revelling in the music, which as Christopher Symons said in the (excellent) programme notes is among Mozart's finest string writing.
Rachel Wright
Committee Member