Review: Doric String Quartet, Wiltshire Music Centre (From Wiltshire Times)

Review: Doric String Quartet, Wiltshire Music Centre

11:40am Sunday 26th April 2009

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With Haydn for starters, and Schubert to finish it was surprising that the filling in the sandwich, none other than Korngold – who, do I hear you asking – was for me the jewel in the Doric Crown.

Haydn’s String Quartet in E flat, the Sun, at Opus 20 a somewhat early work, was alright; and nothing more than that. It sometimes sounded tentative, cold, almost mechanical, as if an exercise, and, though technically beyond reproach, had a feeling of lacking in mental commitment.

And, to fill the second half, the transcendentally beautiful String Quintet in C, in which Schubert had Mozart in his head and which later inspired Brahms. There was some intimate playing, quite ethereal pianissimo sections, the additional cello adding a quite telling dimension.

But the Korngold String Quartet No 3 was quite exceptional. It had a mercurial pace and dynamism when needed yet its slow movement, much of it muted, was so well controlled, so delicate, so clean; almost cut glass but nowhere brittle.

A piece to hear again: Not because the Doric failed anywhere, but merely as a comparison; to appreciate how well they played it.

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