Review | Takács Quartet Performance with Insight and Passion

0

Takács Quartet with Jeremy Denk. Music by Haydn, Fanny Mendelssohn and Schumann. Koerner Hall, Toronto. March 23, 2023.

Rating: *****


Bringing together thoughtful and talented musicians for a concert nearly always guarantees time well spent, and the experience might even be revelatory. That was certainly the case on March 23, 2023 at Koerner Hall in Toronto when the Takács Quartet led by Edward Dusinberre and American pianist Jeremy Denk took the stage.

The Takács Quartet has been around since 1975 and Edward Dusinberre has been its first violinist since 1993. Dusinberre is a wonderful violinist and leader but he is also the author of one of the best books ever written about understanding and playing the Beethoven Quartets (Beethoven for a Later Age). More recently, he has written a book about the music of Dvorak, Elgar, Bartok and Britten (Distant Melodies: Music in Search of Home). And in addition to being one of the world’s leading piano soloists, Jeremy Denk has written a profoundly insightful book – Every Good Boy Does Fine – about growing up and learning to play the piano under the direction of sometimes helpful and sometimes soul-destroying teachers.

What you missed?

The evening began with a performance of Haydn’s last quartet, his Op. 7 No. 2 in F major, dating from 1799. It is a masterpiece of musical invention and development and abounds in examples of the composer’s patented sense of humour. The performance was masterful too with exciting give and take and boundless energy.

Next came a real rarity: Fanny Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E flat major. Female composers are finally getting their chance to be heard, and it is not surprising that neglected women composers from the past should also be brought to the fore. We have always known that Felix Mendelssohn’s older sister was a prodigiously talented musician, and that it was her conservative and overbearing father who prevented her from having a career. She got married and had children but continued to write music, most of it left unperformed and unpublished at her early death at the age of 41. Her E flat major quartet is a piece of real substance and originality. It demonstrates formidable knowledge of string writing and musical form, and not for a moment suggests imitation of the music of her more famous brother. This is a fine piece and should be part of the repertoire. The Takács had obviously prepared it with infinite care and played it with total commitment. Fortunately, the Takács has recorded the piece too: Hyperion CDA68330.

Jeremy Denk, photo: Josh Goleman

After intermission Jeremy Denk joined the quartet for a performance of Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E flat major Op. 44. Over the years I have had the pleasure of hearing many excellent performances of this piece, including a memorable one by Menahem Pressler and the Emerson Quartet. But this one might have been the best yet. It certainly was the best balanced I ever heard. Often the piano overwhelms the strings but not on this occasion. Should we give credit to Jeremy Denk’s sensitivity, or to the wonderful Koerner Hall acoustics? Probably both. But perfect balance allowed us to hear everything Schumann put into his score. Denk and the Takács were obviously enjoying themselves in this performance but they have clearly also worked hard to find just the right tempo and the right dynamics in every bar. The slow movement funeral march was especially moving. A little faster than I have sometimes heard it but it worked. The viola playing by Richard O’Neill was both rich and powerful. After the heartache of the slow movement the finale was a joyous romp.

After a standing ovation the Takács and Denk gave us a choice encore: the rollicking scherzo movement from Dvorak’s Piano Quintet Op. 81.

There have been many changes in personnel in the Takács Quartet over the years. The only original member remaining is the cellist András Fejér. On the basis of what I heard last night, at the age of 68 Fejér is playing better than ever. The only woman in the quartet is Harumi Rhodes. She joined in 2018. Violist O’Neill has been a member since 2020. But even with all the changes the Takács remains one of the finest of all quartets active today. Dusinberre has been leading the Takács for 30 years now and one assumes that he and cellist Fejér have been the glue that holds the ensemble together and gives it its remarkable homogeneity and energy. The Emerson Quartet gave a very good concert as part of their farewell tour in Toronto last fall. To my ears, the Takacs played with even more insight and passion.

www.rcmusic.ca
www.takacsquartet.com

Share:

About Author

Former conductor and broadcaster, Paul E. Robinson, is the author of four books on conductors, Digital Editor for Classical Voice America, and a regular contributor to La Scena Musicale.

Leave A Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.