CalPerformances presents St. Lawrence String Quartet
2014-11-23
Hertz Hall
U.C. Berkeley, Bancroft Way at College Ave, Berkeley, CA
3:00 PM, Sunday, November 23, 2014

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• Beethoven: String Quartet, Op. 131
• Golijov: Qohelet
• Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 76, No. 3 (Emperor)

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): String Quartet No. 62 in C major, Op. 76, No. 3, “Emperor” (1797)

[3:03 PM lights down, JN talks; false start: bow breaks]

1. [3:06 PM] Allegro
2. [3:17 PM] Poco adagio; cantabile
3. [3:24 PM] Menuetto. Allegro
4. [3:29 PM] Finale: Presto
   [set ends 3:33 PM]

Osvaldo Golijov (b. 1960): Qoholet (2011)

1. [3:35 PM] 1st movement »
2. [3:m PM] 2nd movement
   [set ends 3:48 PM]

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): String Quartet No. 14 in C♯ minor, Op. 131, (1826)

[4:06 PM lights down, announcements from Geoff]

1. [4:07 PM] Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo
2. [4:13 PM] Allegro molto vivace
3. [4:16 PM] Allegro moderato – Adagio
4. [4:17 PM] Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile – Più mosso – Andante moderato e lusinghiero – Adagio – Allegretto – Adagio, ma non troppo e semplice – Allegretto
5. [4:29 PM] Presto
6. [4:34 PM] Adagio quasi un poco andante
7. [4:36 PM] Allegro
   [4:42 PM work ends]

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): String Quartet No. 28 in E♭ major, Op. 20, No. 1, FHE No. 43, Hoboken No. III:31 (1772)

1. [4:44 PM] 3rd Movement: Affettuoso e sostenuto
   [show ends 4:49 PM]

St. Lawrence String Quartet

• Christopher Costanza: cello;
• Geoff Nuttall: violin;
• Scott St. John: violin;
• Lesley Robertson: viola.

Set One was sublime – the SLSQ have truly jumped to the top of the rank in my estimation, and I'll definitely be putting their gigs on my calendar more frequently in the future. After the group walked out and took their seats, Geoff greeted the audience and announced that they were going to swap the order of the Beethoven and Haydn pieces. And so they did, or attempted anyways, because the stirring opening chords were interrupted with a twang as the head of Chris Costanza's bow detached from the body. This surprising development was met first with consternation, then guffaws and muffled laughter at the sight. Hard to saw when your bow don't hold! “Just back from the shop,” he declared sadly. I'm guessing the work was done with inferior glue, but that's pure speculation. All of us in the audience waited for resolution while Chris and Geoff talked quietly. After a moment, Chris got up and left with the broken bow, while Geoff explained that the issue to resolve was that Chris had brought only the single bow! Uh-oh! Fortunately, Geoff had not one, but two spares on hand, so we wouldn't have to wait on a repair attempt, just a swap. Whew! We all exhaled – dodged a bullet there!

While the Haydn was exquisite once the show resumed! – as should be expected! – I was knocked out all the more by the following piece by Golijov, delivered in one stretch, although written in two movements. Golijov's work was sensuous, yearning and tender. In some respects it reminded me most of film music, written as backing to some sort of romantic tragedy. Being more or less devoid of anger or angst, I can imagine that some might call it a treacly work, but I didn't find it sweet as much as wistful. I'm guessing that the restricted emotional range of the piece – which was reflected in it's pacing as well as the timbral qualities noted earlier – prompted Golijov to omit any consideration of faster tempos. Thus: two slow movements and we're done. Good work! A wonderful way to close the set!

Headed outside for break, and surprise, surprise, surprise (you gotta imagine Gomer Pyle there with me, OK?), it's a beautiful, sunny fall afternoon! Hard to tell when you've been cooped up in a windowless concert hall! I find a seat in the sun and enjoy my allotment of sols. Life is good! A guy is eating an apple under an old oak tree about 10 feet away, and as I watch, a bold golden ground squirrel creeps closer and closer, eventually standing inches for the guys toes, stretching upward and waving his pause in supplication. “Please sir, spare a morsel for a poor creature of the woods?” he seems to ask. The apple eater is amused, but offers no handout. I try to snap a shot of the shameless begging, but the phone camera is too slow as I've got it set, and only later do I realize that burst mode would have been a good choice. You'll have to imagine the beggar without photo evidence. Soon enough, the chimes signal that break is ending, so I join the scrum and squeeze back inside for the rest of the show.

And how is it? It's Beethoven at his best, of course, and the SLSQ is well-prepared for the task. I'm a little surprised that they zip through the seven movements without anything that even faintly resembles a full stop (Note: this is old Ludwig's intent – nothing special, doh! I'm just a maroon!). Maybe a half second pause in a couple places, but sheesh, you don't watch like a hawk, you gonna miss it. Which is a roundabout way of noting that I caught only half of the transitions. Dang! I been flummoxed again. Good for them. Cast that musical spell and reel 'em in! When they crashed to a stop at the end, Geoff had kind of a pissed off look as he stood up to accept our standing ovation. Mad at us? Himself? Costanza? Hard to know, since he didn't say anything! But I was happy to see them stay on after the second curtain call and cast out one more spell: the slow movement of Haydn's first Opus 20 quartet. Smooooooth!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2014 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event!