March 12, 2007
Some notes on the Delray Quartet
A few months ago, I wrote a blog entry about the Delray String Quartet and the work I thought they needed to do to become a stronger ensemble.
I dropped in on their Feb. 25 concert, and I was happy to hear that things had gotten better. The primary objection I had before was that the overall ensemble sound was rough and strident, and that the players needed more time to work together to get a more even sound.
They’re not quite there yet; there were plenty of moments during the concert in which the music was simply overplayed, driven home with a fearsome intensity not really justified by the music.
But the Delray has an unusual performance problem in that they play in the Colony Hotel, which has no air conditioning in the music room and windows that open onto Atlantic Avenue and a side street. So in a sense they are always playing against the traffic and a large amount of ambient noise, which could explain some of the fortissimos.
The program included the Lark Quartet of Haydn (No. 53 in D major) and the sublime C major String Quintet (D. 956) of Franz Schubert, with guest cellist Greg Sauer. Also on the program was one movement of the String Quartet No. 2 (Bergonzi) by Thomas Sleeper, well-known locally for his work at the University of Miami.
The original program indicated that the whole quartet would be played, and I was sorry to see that only one movement was offered, interesting though it was. This second movement, titled Sacre, was scored for three of the four quartet instruments; violist Richard Fleischman played a Tibetan prayer bowl instead (such as the one pictured above0, striking it to bring out a gentle, mournful sound.
Cellist Ian Maksin sounded quite good in the extended solo recitative that forms the most arresting part of this piece. One wishes to have heard the rest of the quartet to hear how it fit in; you can go to his Website for that. (One side note: Sleeper was in the audience for the performance, and it was his birthday; at the end of the concert, the entire room of more than 100 people sang Happy Birthday to him, accompanied by the quartet.)
The opening Haydn quartet showed off some of the better things — at times, all four players (the others are first violinist Mei Mei Luo and second violinist Laszlo Pap) came together quite well, with a warm, unified sound.
At other times, such as the beginning of the third movement, the proceedings were much rougher, too much so for what’s supposed to be a light, graceful minuet.
The finale, on the other hand, was taken at a thrillingly fast speed that was witty and joyous at once; it brought roars from the audience.
The last work on the program was the Schubert Quintet, celebrated for its unconventional use of two cellos and its unending lyricism. This is a very difficult work to bring off well partly because it demands so much attention from audience and players.
Much of the playing here was quite fine, particularly from the two celli in the first movement, and the finale had a growing intensity that was well-managed and ultimately exciting. But the third movement had a roughness that extended through the trio section, and the second movement, too, with its beautiful sense of stopped time, didn't relax enough until the second time through the opening material.
The audience loved the performance, and surely the fact that the Delray tackled this piece with integrity and aplomb is something of a milestone for this young group. And so before the quartet moves on to its next challenge, here's an unasked-for list of suggestions for a better ensemble:
1) First violinist Luo is a strong, talented player, but she’s going to have to dial back the intensity if the quartet is going to have a good blended sound. Luo tends to push too hard much of the time, and it distracts from the music.
2) The Delray needs to have another venue to play in now and again for concerts so we can hear them in a setting that might allow them to hear each other better. Perhaps Old School Square on Saturday afternoons, say, or some other such house with a more forgiving acoustic.
3) Even though they haven’t gelled as a group just yet, they’re getting there, and I think a recording project is in order. I’d suggest completely fresh repertoire such as the Sleeper quartet; something you can’t get anywhere else, in order to advance the cause of new music but also lay claim to a definitive performance.
4) Get someone to improve the information on the printed programs so that it’s in line with regular practice. Many a howler has appeared on the lists, and it’s time that the proofreading was done by a musician who’s familiar with the information a program should supply: i.e., full composer’s names, birth/death dates, correct opus numbers, correct tempo designations. Even that little bit of cleanup will take this deserving foursome to what the corporate world likes to call “the next level.”
The quartet plays again at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Colony Hotel. On the program is the last string quartet of Mozart (No. 23 in F, K. 590), an arrangement of the Sibelius salon trifle Valse triste, and the Third Quartet of Tchaikovsky (E-flat minor, Op. 30).
