The well-established Fine Arts Quartet came to the Flagler Museum for the penultimate concert of the museum’s 2015 music series on Feb. 17.
Originally founded in Chicago in 1946, the two violinists, Ralph Evans and Efim Boico, have been its mainstay for the past 31 years. Juan-Miguel Hernandez is the violist and Robert Cohen, the cellist. Known as one of the “gold-plated” names in chamber music, they chose a work by Mozart and a rarely heard quartet by Tchaikovsky.
The String Quartet No. 18 (in A, K. 464) by Mozart was written in 1785, a busy year for Mozart, who had taken two composition pupils from England, Thomas Atwood and Stephen Storace, to help with the rent. Nancy, Stephen’s sister, a soprano, was to be Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, written in the same year as this quartet, one of six that Mozart dedicated to Joseph Haydn.
On receiving the quartets, Haydn famously said to Mozart’s father, Leopold, “Before God and as an honest man, I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by reputation. He has taste, and what is more, the most profound knowledge of composition.’’ This quartet is the fifth of the Haydn Quartets and shows how Mozart stretches the techniques of this art form farther than any composer had done before him.
The first Allegro opens in sonata form with a long main theme of 16 measures, played once again with simple harmonic accompaniment. The main ideas are discussed and developed with extraordinary richness of imagination. It took a little time for the Fine Arts Quartet to bring this refined sound together. Their playing was somewhat ragged at first and the lead violin was not performing at his peak.
The second-movement Minuet is treated as an interlude by Mozart. Its rhythmic vitality is passed around each instrument and a few dramatic pauses are introduced, which I found quite effective. In its higher register it reflects an inner anxiety (the composer was particularly worried about debt in the year 1785). At the end, the opening theme makes a pleasant return, again going the rounds on each instrument.
The Andante third movement is said to be one of Mozart’s greatest theme-and-variations movements. The first violin opens this lengthy theme, but his notes were not cleanly pitched; rather, he tended to swoop up to them, operatic style. There was also an imbalance in that the cello was too dominant in parts. So many musical ideas are introduced, one could not possibly count them. Toward the end a drumbeat on the cello is heard; here the cellist was nicely efficient as the music is somewhat martial in quality.
The Finale begins with a sweet little melody, and in this movement, the Fine Arts played with more verve. In the scales that open segments of the Rondo, the lead violin’s playing was lackluster, his fingering suspect; there was no crispness to his playing. Mild applause, from a knowledgeable audience, greeted the quartet’s half-hearted Mozart attempt.
The next piece, the String Quartet No. 2 (in F, Op. 22) of Tchaikovsky, found a greatly improved Fine Arts Quartet at its service, digging deep to make this a memorable performance.
The quartet begins with some very difficult chromatic scales tackled brilliantly by everyone. It also has a mysterious, almost ghostly quality. Densely textured, it has all the passion of the composer’s famous Serenade for Strings. At times the music can sound angry, and the layers are thick an deep. Having not heard this quartet before, it was a revelation; one wishes he’d devoted more time to this art form, so magnificent is the tonality of it all.
Tchaikovsky puts the Scherzo in the second movement, marked Allegro giusto. Taking much of its character from the alternation of duple and triple rhythms, it has a fascinating lilt to it. More lovely music from the master of the romantic, the syncopation keeps the listener attentive and the technical playing by the Fine Arts was exceptional here.
The third movement, Andante ma non tanto, is very emotional. The playing of all four strings was warm and sensitive. The lead violin played his solo here so well one fele he was really singing, and indeed, the melody looks forward to the “Letter Aria” from the composer’s opera Eugene Onegin. The cello sounded superb in anchoring the fugue; the skill of the writing is overwhelming. Tchaikovsky seems reluctant to bring this movement to an end, but end it he does with a lovely tune from the first violin and three plucked chords from his colleagues.
Terrific harmonic runs from all four players opened the last movement, Allegro con moto. Almost jig-like in its makeup, it flows along and builds to enormity as the opening theme enters cheekily again. Tchaikovsky keeps the listener on edge as the music moves to a delightful intense fugue with skillful playing all round. Unable to resist a good tune, Tchaikovsky spells out another with the two violins and viola as they arrive at a meaningful rallentando followed by a burst of fantastic music.
“Bravos” rang out from everywhere. It was a good performance. The Fine Arts had saved their best for last. An encore came with the final movement of Haydn’s Lark Quartet (No. 53 in D, Hob: III, 63): perpetual motion in action to the end.
The Flagler Museum series closes March 3 with an appearance by the Auryn Quartet. The program includes music by Haydn (Quartet No. 48), Beethoven (Quartet No. 5) and Dvořák (Quartet No. 10). The concert begins at 7:30 p.m.; tickets are $70, which includes free champagne and refreshments and a meeting with the musicians after the concert. Call 655-2833 or visit www.fourarts.org.