As the members of the Rossetti String Quartet took their places on
Zankel Hall's center stage, each with burnished instrument in hand
and unconventionally attired in concert hall casual, one knew right
away that the Quartet's NY City debut was going to be an evening of
pleasant surprises. As indeed it was, beginning with a program that
highlighted their versatility and artistic strengths both as an ensemble
and as individual musicians.
The program began on a joyful note, Mozart's G-Major Quartet K.387,
the first in a set of six quartets that a youthful Mozart dedicated
to Haydn. Composed in a new style emulating Haydn whom he greatly
admired, it is a piece that sings with endearing lyricism. The Rossetti
Quartet played it with nuanced expressivity, refreshing spontaneity,
and brilliant musicality.
Listen to an excerpt
and lilt to the thematic melody of the first
movement(allegro vivace assai) - and be charmed
by the Rossetti Quartet's colorful style of music-making.*
Fast-forwarding
to the end of the 19th century, the Quartet then played Debussy's
first mature chamber music work, the String Quartet in G Minor, Op.
10. Like Mozart's quartet, it marks a turning point in the development
of the genre, but there the similarity begins and ends. As one can
readily tell bylistening
to the opening strains
of the first movement (Animé et très decidé)*,
Debussy has clearly broken away from the strictures of Mozart's classical
structure. In its place: seemingly endless variations on a theme pursued
in free form, somber tones that echo turn-of-the century anxiety,
intricate rhythms. But the Rossettis are quite at home with Debussy
and play his music with passion and such exquisite phrasing that soon
we, the audience, are excited about the music and begin to feel quite
at home with Debussy as well.
Notes:
1. The concert took place in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, NY on April
27, 2004.
2. Go to CALENDAR for
the Rossetti Quartet's upcoming performances.
Quartet
Photo: Christian Steiner, courtesy of Colbert Artists Management Inc.
Thibaudet Photo: FanFaire.com
