This story was originally published by ArtsATL.
The Vega Quartet took the stage at Emory University’s Schwartz Center for Performing Arts on March 30 for what was originally touted as the world premiere of composer Joel Thompson’s long-awaited new string quartet. But the concert, though enjoyable, did not include the long overdue composition.
“You can’t hurry inspiration,” quipped Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta Artistic Director William Ransom in his opening remarks. The audience reacted with gentle laughter and good cheer but March 30 marked the second missed premiere date as the work remains mired in development hell. The Vega Quartet — violinists Emily Daggett Smith and Jessica Shuang Wu, violist Joseph Skerik and cellist Guang Wang — soldiered on in spite of it all.
The resultant evening featured works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Bedřich Smetana and Felix Mendelssohn. While there was little criticism to be levied at the performance itself, there was, on the whole, a wearying sense of restraint as the troupe navigated the well-worn paths of familiar material.
The Vega Quartet’s reputation as a critically acclaimed and internationally renowned force in the modern classical world is fueled in large part by its passion for tackling new music, especially that which they have commissioned. Absent that spark, they feel more like colleagues whiling away the anticipatory hours.
Credit: Photo by Jordan Owen
Credit: Photo by Jordan Owen
The quartet kicked off with Mozart’s “The Hunt,” his string quartet in B-flat major. Mozart wrote the work as one of his tributes to Joseph Haydn, and, while the title was not one used by Mozart or his publisher, it is commonly referred to as such because its stylistic conceits are a nod to Hayden’s own love of sport hunting music in 6/8 time.
The thematic reference serves to explain the piece’s overall tone: jaunty, relaxed and sporting. It is a work that neither delves into the dark recesses nor soars to transcendental heights. In that light, it was an ideal piece for the Vega’s stopgap concert. The group played with their requisite fluidity but it nevertheless felt narrow and predictable.
Cellist Wang emerged as the piece’s notable presence during the second movement. His bowing and vibrato carried the ensemble and brought a strong dramatic undercurrent to what otherwise felt like one of Mozart’s less-focused works. Wang returned as soloist during the Smetana piece, where his smooth tone control and clear-as-a-bell pizzicato technique gave the work an immaculate warmth.
The ensemble as a whole shined during the adagio section of “The Hunt,” where they demonstrated the sense of internal cohesion that has always been at the heart of their enduring appeal. As Ransom pointed out in his opening remarks, a string quartet, though consisting of four contributors, is meant to be heard as a single instrument. The adagio, which steps outside of Mozart’s frequently lighthearted tone and into something more sentimental, afforded the Vega a deeply emotive opportunity to present as exactly that.
The evening shifted into darker and more dynamic pastures with Smetana’s “From My Life.” Written when the composer was dealing with severely declining health, the piece was meant to serve as an autobiography of sorts. A sense of heartache, yearning and regret permeated throughout, and it was here that the ensemble reached its emotional peak for the evening. The Vega Quartet is an ensemble at one with its material, and a keen awareness of the emotional underpinnings of each work has always defined their sound.
The Smetana piece’s waning bars featured a small amount of melody from violist Skerik, and they were among his few distinguishing moments of the night. Skerik replaced the outgoing Yinzi Kong this season — a shakeup that is sure to have ramifications for the insular world of the Vega Quartet. As such, it’s understandable that the quartet would relegate him to a supporting role for the time being, but his fleeting flashes in the spotlight show a youthful vigor that would be well-suited for works that prominently feature the viola.
The evening concluded with Mendelssohn’s string quartet in D major, op. 44, No.1, which gave violinist Daggett Smith an opportunity to shine. Mendelssohn was a composer who understood that writing a great solo means infusing the wider ensemble with echoes of that solo. Here the fluid cohesion of the Vega Quartet really stands out. As much as Daggett Smith’s prodigious chops were on display, it was the enthusiastic support from her cohorts that gave the solo its full power.
All in all, the concert was a pleasant experience. Normally passionate and bombastic, the quartet settled for an evening of the gentle and the carefree. In that light, the lack of range in the material served to showcase the ensemble’s inner connectivity, proving once again that they can pull together a solid evening no matter how long Thompson’s new work remains elusive.
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Jordan Owen began writing about music professionally at the age of 16 in Oxford, Mississippi. A 2006 graduate of the Berklee College of Music, he is a professional guitarist, bandleader and composer. He is currently the lead guitarist for the jazz group Other Strangers, the power metal band Axis of Empires and the melodic death/thrash metal band Century Spawn.
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
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