New Zealand String Quartet

The Tom McDonald Barrel Room is an ideal venue of just the right size for chamber music performances and is a favourite of the NZSQ. The programme is totally romantic music. While a programme of this type may not be to every audience member’s liking, there was sufficient contrast in the three works played to give balance overall.

The writing in the String Quartet in F Minor by Mendelssohn was born of the personal tragedy of the untimely death of the composer’s sister. It shows Mendelssohn at his best and the essential deep emotion of each movement was well portrayed in an assured performance. The drama of the first movement leading to the emphatic Presto at the end, was strongly projected and followed in the emotional Scherzo with its driving rhythmic impetus always in focus.

Pianist Terence Dennis joined Douglas Beilman, Gillian Ansell and Rolf Gjelsten in the well known Schumann Piano Quartet in E flat Opus 47. Playing on a small grand piano Terence Dennis impressed with both his technical command and the integration of the part with the strings in what was probably limited rehearsal time. The grandeur and more overt romanticism of the opening movement was captured by all four players, with quite magical contrast shown in the Scherzo in an exhilarating performance. The opening cello solo was a highlight of the third movement while the complex character of the fugal elements in the Finale were combined in an impressive close.

The more expansive writing of the arch romantic Brahms was well conveyed in the performance of the String Quartet in A Minor Opus 51 No. 2, where the music frequently almost pauses to meditate on some melodic, rhythmic or harmonic aspect. The playing throughout was again characterized by elegant shaping of the melodic lines, strong dramatic contracts and emphatic climaxes.