10 July 2008
The Allegri String Quartet
Bwlch Y Cibau Church
Haydn Quartet op. 20 No 3 in G minor
Taylor: String Quartet ~ No 6 (Welsh premiere with introduction by the composer)
Brahms: Quartet in C minor No 1
A different venue this time, the Church at Bwlch y Cibau. This is smaller than the more familiar St Myllin's at Llanfyllin, producing a still more intimate effect, since it was packed to capacity for this evening's concert.
The Haydn Op 20 No3, glowing and melodic, dating from that period when as Haydn was immured at Esterhazy and, as he put it, "forced to become original", started the concert well.
The second piece, by Matthew Taylor, was introduced by the composer. As he said, sometimes a few landmarks make a new piece easier to follow! Certainly we were glad of that introduction, although the piece contained many familiar patterns and structures - indeed, the composer admitted that his thinking in this piece owed a debt to Haydn. This was a Welsh premiere, a real coup for the Festival! Whether or not the prominent presence of the composer made the performers more or less nervous, they were much too tactful to say, but Matthew Taylor did say that that the Allegris perform the work magnificently, and have been great champions of it.
In the second movement we were once again on familiar territory with Brahms, expansive as always, and rendered by the Quartet with their customary energetic intensity.
Perhaps this concert was more challenging than some we have held at the Festival, but in bracketing Matthew Taylor's work with Haydn and Brahms, we had the opportunity to discern some similarities between the familiar and the unfamiliar - food for the mind, as well as the soul!
Rachel Wright
Committee Member