Recital
Flute quartet
St James Cavalier
On the local, very busy classical music scene one finds ensembles of musicians who bring to the public a wealth of enjoyable music making.
One such event was a flute quartet recital presented at the Music Room, St James’ Cavalier, by a quartet of seasoned but mainly young performers. Robert Calleja (flute), Nemanja Ljubinkovic (violin), Sarah Spiteri (viola) and Lucie Kucharova (cello) presented works by Karl Stamitz, Josef Haydn and W.A. Mozart.
As Ms Spiteri explained in her general introduction, the programme was meant to highlight differences in style and development of this particular form of music. The quartet’s homogeneity of tone and texture was established right from the start. The delicacy of the scoring and balanced delivery made the sound akin to an intricate tracery one associates with the rococo. It came across as very courtly in style, with a tender romance sandwiched between the faster outer movements. On the other hand, there was more vigour in the opening vivace of Haydn’s Quartet in G, Op.5, N.4. This was a comparatively brief affair, very compact and concise leading to a beautifully executed andante moderato.
The equally brief minuet was very elegant with a contrasting and very vigorous trio section which reminds one of its origins in the peasant landler. This rather strange, even hybrid, work ended in a Fantasia with variations. Not only does one expect such a movement to feature earlier in such a work but after a set of variations it ended up in a kind of suspended, indeterminate manner. It was nonetheless pleasant to the ear with the violin quite prominent in the variations. The latter were shared by various combinations of instruments which made them all the more interesting.
The recital ended with Mozart’s best known flute quartet, the one in D, K. 285. There was no mistaking Mozart’s stamp right from the start with the bouncy opening allegro setting the pace for this piece of light but very well-crafted musical entertainment. The flute’s crystalline tone came out at its best in the central and very exposed adagio being as it is to just pizzicato accompaniment. It is a beautiful song which leads almost immediately to the boisterous and joyful concluding Rondo: allegro.