New Zealand String Quartet

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“Quartet” November 2009

The latest CD by the New Zealand String Quartet is Volume 2 of their three volume recording of the compete Mendelssohn String Quartets, released by Naxos in September 2009. The Quartet’s readings of Mendelssohn on this disc quickly won praise from Gramophone Magazine, which referred to their “confidence as ensemble players”, their “strong sense of internal balance” and their focus on “expressive detail”. Volume 3 of what Gramophone reviewer Duncan Druce predicts will be an “outstanding set” will be released in May 2010.
For more information go to the Naxos website.

To listen to samples from the CD, visit the recordings page.

The New Zealand String Quartet was in Washington, DC in March for a ’sell-out’ concert in the legendary Library of Congress series. ‘Concerts from the Library of Congress’ is one of the world’s most historic and famous concert series. The invitation to perform there was a great “feather in their cap” according to Martha Woods of J Wentworth Associates, the Quartet’s North American agent. She describes it as “one of the most prestigious environments for any chamber ensemble on any continent”. The large audience gave the Quartet a standing ovation.

Dating from 1925, the Library’s Coolidge Auditorium and the concerts held there are under-pinned by the visionary arts patronage of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (1864-1953), one of the most notable patrons in the history of American music.  Designed according to her preference for “severe and chaste beauty”, the Coolidge Auditorium has become world-famous for its magnificent acoustics and for the calibre of the artists and ensembles that have played there.  Names like Leonard Bernstein, Leopold Stokowski, the Juilliard String Quartet, Stephen Sondheim, Joshua Bell, Leontyne Price and the Beaux Arts Trio have over the years given the venue its world-wide reputation.

The New Zealand String Quartet’s concert began with Mendelssohn’s String Quartet Opus 44 No 2 and ended with Schubert’s String Quartet in G Major, D. 887.  However, the Quartet’s programme included not only traditional chamber repertoire but a New Zealand work. Richard Nunns, performer on Maori instruments, joined the ensemble for Gillian Whitehead’s quintet Hineputehue.

The title translates literally as “the woman of the sound of the gourd”, who is the Maori goddess of peace. The work was written in 2001, at the time of President Bush’s State of the Union address shortly before the invasion of Afghanistan, and Whitehead says the work “suggests the fragility rather than the celebration of peace”.  Martha Woods notes that the programme staff at the Library of Congress are keen to extend concert programmes beyond standard repertoire and were fascinated by Whitehead’s music.

While in Washington the Quartet and Nunns also offered a short private concert at the New Zealand Embassy which  included another quintet, Gareth Farr’s He Poroporoaki (A Farewell) specially composed for and premiered at the 2008 Gallipoli celebrations.  Other concerts by the Quartet and Nunns on this US tour were in Reading, Pennsylvania and Luther College, Decorah, Iowa.

Glowing reviews, enthusiastic audiences and invitations to return have greeted the New Zealand String Quartet’s thirteen concert international tour which finishes in Curacao this week. New Zealand’s most travelled classical ensemble set out for Europe a month ago and have been overwhelmed with praise for their playing and for the music by New Zealand composers they included in their programmes in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Scotland. Nine concerts in Europe were followed by a concert in London, Ontario and three in Willemstad, Curacao.

“This tour has been an unqualified success” says Quartet Manager Elizabeth Kerr. “European presenters have been full of praise for the musicians and their programmes and have sent feedback like “breath-taking”, “profound musicality” and “fantastic playing”.  Several have already asked for return visits.”

Critics were also unfailingly positive and like the audiences responded strongly to the New Zealand compositions. Gillian Whitehead’s celebration of whales Puhake ki te rangi featured in five of the programmes, with Richard Nunns joining the quartet on Maori instruments made of whale and albatross bone. Audience members surrounded Richard and the instruments after every performance and the piece was described as “a real piece of magic” and “an eye-opener”. Music by John Psathas and Gao Ping was also played on the tour, usually combined with more traditional chamber works by Schubert, Mendelssohn and Shostakovitch.

New Zealand composer Miriama Young, recently appointed to the music staff of the University of Aberdeen, attended the concert there and wrote afterwards “I thought the Quartet played with a striking sense of integrity, a deep connection to the repertoire and with so much nuance, delicateness and musicality! The collaboration with Richard created a richly-textured and evocative endpoint to a very powerful concert — and the audience were, I think, deeply moved. It’s just wonderful to hear such a strength and diversity of repertoire, and to experience the range of Asia-Pacific (and Mediterranean!) influences that threaded their way through the programme. The New Zealand String Quartet and Richard Nunns are true ambassadors for New Zealand, and I feel very proud!”

 The New Zealand String Quartet plans to return to Europe in 2010.

The New Zealand String Quartet’s acclaimed performance of the Allegro from Beethoven’s Razumovsky Quartet in E minor Opus 59 No 2 is now on YouTube for all to enjoy.