Chamber Music NZ presents Phileo Quartet

Glenroy Auditorium — July 22

Review by Brenda Harwood

 

A large audience was treated to a superb display of musical precision and virtuosity during last week’s performance by the Phileo Quartet.

The concert was the first Chamber Music NZ tour to reach Dunedin this year, and it was well worth the wait.

Comprising Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra players Benjamin Morrison (violin), Holger Groh (violin), Robert Bauerstatter (viola), and Wolfgang Hartel (cello), the quartet brought true mastery to their performance of repertoire born of Vienna’s rich musical past.

The concert began with a sprightly performance of Hugo Wolf’s light-hearted one-movement Italian Serenade in G major, setting the scene for an absorbing evening of music.

Next up was Mozart’s String Quartet No.19, “Dissonance”, a piece dedicated to Haydn and filled with in-jokes and references to the great man’s composition style.

Throughout the four-movement piece, the Phileo Quartet maintained precise timing and sound balance, bringing its serene beauty to the fore.

After the break, the audience settled in with anticipation for Brahms’ romantic String Quartet No. 2, which traversed the full range of emotions from melancholy to high-spirited dance.

The Phileo Quartet gave a thrilling performance of this complex work, showing perfect understanding in allowing the emotions to come to the fore, and managing the tricky, off-kilter rhythms of the dance-like finale with aplomb.

The concert’s final work brought the music into the Vienna of the 1930s with Korngold’s intriguing String Quartet No. 2.

Created by a composer who would flee the Nazis to Hollywood and later win two Oscars for film music, Korngold’s four-movement quartet was filled with charm and a jaunty swagger.

Showing evident enjoyment of the piece, the Phileo Quartet handled every shift in tempo with total mastery, while bringing its playful mood to the fore.

Rewarded for its superb performance with thunderous applause, The Phileo Quartet returned with a brilliant encore — the scherzo from Schubert’s String Quartet in E-flat major.

All in all, it was a great joy to gather with other fans of chamber music and enjoy an inspiring performance from a world-class ensemble like the Phileo Quartet. Bravo!

brenda.harwood@thestar.co.nz