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The composer lineup looked conservative at the Dover Quartet’s New York City concert on Saturday night. Mozart, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky – a tried and true menu, and dare we say unchallenging to the ear? Maybe so, but these eminent musicians cranked out an exciting evening of music with a recipe of warmth, easy virtuosity, and communitarian spirit.
People’s Symphony Concerts presented this concert at the large auditorium of the High School of Fashion Industries, between the WPA murals. The crowd was predominantly older people. But the Dover Quartet delivered musical thrills and infused the space with fresh energy.
Mozart and the Dover Quartet
A generation or two separated the three works on the program, string quartets that illuminated three distinct conceptions of what great composers of the past could do with that classic form. A late work by Mozart, the String Quartet No. 21 in D Major, K. 575, revealed the sublime composer at his sweetest and most inventive. The auditorium’s acoustics are somewhat muted, at least in comparison with some of the venues where an eminent ensemble like the Dover Quartet might often play. That might be why they took the musicians a couple of minutes to feel out how best to project dynamic clarity – or was just my ear adjusting? In any case, the room’s acoustics made me think of the warm sound of a vinyl LP rather than a crisp CD.
Quickly the individuated tones of each instrument emerged, rhythmic synchrony was established, and the musicians began showing what makes this ensemble so highly regarded. Skillful dynamic transitions from piano to forte and back stood out in the first movement. The performance of the second uncloaked the music’s almost painful fragility, wielding a perfectly balanced sound to convey Mozart’s gently suave harmonies.
They expressed both the delight and the drama in the contours of the Menuetto‘s contrasting sections. The counterpoint and distinct cello passages in the Allegro finale then tied the knot on Mozart’s unique genius in fully matured form as expressed in this 1789 string quartet, the first of Mozart’s final set of the genre, known as the Prussian Quartets.
New Generations: Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky
Jump ahead to the 1830s, and the tremendous influence of Beethoven is in the air, not least in Mendelssohn’s Op. 44 string quartets. But debts aside, the Dover Quartet found in the No. 2 in E minor a language all Mendelssohn’s own. The first movement calls for plenty of technique all around, and the musicians dug confidently into the profound harmonies and captivating rhythmic changes, building excitement right through to the haunting end.
The dexterity and assurance they applied to the speedy Scherzo carried forward into the Andante, an unusually active slow movement. The latter felt very special, bathed in a constant flow of beckoning rhythm and melody performed sensually and soufully. Finally, the musicians approached the Presto agitato finale pluckily and with anxious agility.
Mendelssohn’s endless inventiveness came across brilliantly throughout the four movements. But if I say it was the highlight of the concert, that shouldn’t take away from the Tchaikovsky, which had richness, fire, and, especially in the folk-music elements of the third and fourth movements, charm. That final movement, with its syncopations, off-beat stresses, and sixteenth-note runs called forth the full measure of the ensemble’s virtuosity. Behind the palpable excitement too was a singing quality. The Allegro vivace last section, an example of Tchaikovsky’s manifold skills at pleasing crowds, stood as a final affirmation of this foursome as among our finest interpreters of the string quartet literature.
The Dover Quartet has a series of U.S. concerts scheduled for the coming months. For upcoming Peoples’ Symphony Concerts events (with affordable tickets!) visit the PSCNY website.
And here is a concert video taken from the People’s Symphony concert:
