A doleful, discordant, almost tuneless opening – surely Purcell’s Chacony in G Minor is no appetiser – eventually and mercifully gave way to what in the end turned out to be an interesting evening.
Non-musical buffs might have had some difficulty knowing when Karen Tanaka’s At the Grave of Beethoven gave way to Beethoven’s String Quartet No 11 in F minor, but certainly the final two movements were played as if vintage Beethoven – despite the fact that, according to Charles Wiffen’s excellent programme notes, the composer said it was never to be performed in public.
It was played with fine feeling, bravado almost, and took away any bad taste left in the mouth from the Purcell.
The stand-out work was undoubtedly Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in F minor, the last major piece he completed before his death in 1847.
There was an infectious quality about the Brodsky’s playing; as if they were feeling the sombre moods for which Beethoven was striving.
The adagio, at a more sprightly tempo than many, was significantly expressive with a gentle, telling fragrance. There was a caressing, languid air about it – highly contrasted by the finale taken at a robust pace and played with the outrage against death that Mendelssohn surely intended.
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