During their recent visit to Malta, the renowned Leipzig String Quartet gave two recitals at which they performed six of Beethoven’s 16 string quartets.
During the second of their recitals under review here, they performed a quartet from each of the three conveniently-named early, middle and late periods of his creative life. Thus they covered the whole span of the composer’s development in the genre.
The performance during the second of the recitals reconfirmed, if ever any proof were needed, the marvellous impression and supreme taste registered at their first recital two days earlier.
The four musicians: Stefan Arzberger and Tilman Büning (violins), Ivo Bauer (viola) and Matthias Moosdorfer (cello) showed their mighty prowess in a superb way, beginning with the Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, first of the set of six from the early period.
Still redolent of a few Haydnesque touches, this early work sparkled in the opening movement and had a touch of nobility in an adagio which lived up to its indication as affettuoso ed appassionato.
The performance reconfirmed the marvellous impression and supreme taste registered at their first recital
The charming and almost mischievous Scherzo gave way to an all too brief concluding Allegro.
Then tapping upon one of the middle-period quartets, the quartet launched into the Quartet in F minor, Op.95, by then the 11th of Beethoven’s works in this genre, and separated from the Op.18 set by about 10 years.
Nicknamed Serioso, this work stands on its own and carried on where the Op. 59 Rasumovsky set of three and the Op.74 quartets left off. The latter is highly individual indeed, bearing the master’s stamp to the hilt. It is also his most concentrated and concise, and these master musicians projected its multi-faceted character in expert fashion, performing with a supreme unity of purpose.
Agitation in the opening movement flowed almost seamlessly into the second movement, which was marked with balancing its sombre and rather reflective nature with a fine fugato in mid-section. There was a finely maintained balance between the quite ebullient and serious sections of the third movement.
Following a tranquil introduction to the last movement there were some final agitated, passionate and almost angry moments which burst, until they were overcome in a purely triumphant allegro, which put every previous stress behind.
With Beethoven, wonders never ceased. His very deafness and consequent predicament presented a challenge which he overcame in an awe-inspiring manner. This is evident in his last five quartets, from which the Leipzig Quartet chose the one in B flat Major, Op. 130. This is his only quartet in six movements and in which the contrasts are more amazing than ever.
The opening adagio, Ma non troppo, was very taut and intense in feeling, later developing into a very urgent allegro section. A rather brief and refreshing presto was followed by the great man’s sense of fun in the andante con moto ma non troppo, where accents were decisively and incisively stressed without rendering the going a heavy one.
Still more contrasts were in store when, after the relatively short and rather carefree Alla Sanza Tedesca: Allegro Assai, came the infinitely profound and glorious cavatina. It sounded so right and great, with the final allegro coming as the crowning glory of the work and the evening.
Maltese audiences will be able to hear this splendid formation again as I am informed that next season they will return for another two recitals, and again in the 2015-2016 season to complete the cycle.