Quartet in F Op 74 No 2 - Haydn
Quintet in G minor K516 - Mozart
Brahms's Sextet Op 36 is a bit of a rarity in concert programmes. So its forced omission from the concert at Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday evening, due to the illness of cellist Hanno Strydom, was unfortunate. However, initial disappointment was swept away by an outstanding performance of the piece which replaced it, Mozart's Quintet in G minor K516.
The RTE Vanbrugh String Quartet adjusted its playing well for the resonance of the building, especially in the Mozart. The reverberation's tendency to favour the viola and cello took the edge off a core feature of Haydn's Quartet in F, Op 74 No 2 - a florid discourse between all instruments in all registers. In other respects this was a rewarding performance, amply phrased and rhythmically lively.
Many commentators have referred to the dark qualities of Mozart's Quintet in G minor. Performances are often too smooth to convey this, and few capture this music's subtle complexity as well as this one did.
The knowing yet seemingly spontaneous approach of the Vanbrughs and Roisin Ni Dhuill (viola) was epitomised in the relationships between the outer movements (though there were at least as many delights in between).
The brooding tension of the fast first movement arose partly from carefully agitated rhythm, from striking contrasts of colour from idea to idea, and from impeccable timing within and between sections.
The slow introduction to the last movement picked up these qualities. When the finale proper started, its tempo was proportional to the introduction, and there was just so much agitation. This dispelled the darkness, not with the all-too-common frivolity, but with light.
