Brentano String Quartet plays with conviction

BRENTANO STRING QUARTET, Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah, Sept. 29

The Brentano String Quartet has been around for nearly two decades, and right now the group is at the top of its game. The four members play with self assuredness and confidence and, more importantly, conviction.

They bring sincerity to their playing and they bring insight to their interpretations. What separates the Brentano's in this regard from other quartets is their finely shaped expressions and eloquent lyricism. Their sound is also distinct — rich, homogeneous and wonderfully resonant.

Through years of playing together, the foursome is well matched temperamentally and musically. The ensemble returned to Utah this week to open the Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake City's new season Wednesday evening. They brought a wonderful program with them that included a work by Felix Mendelssohn that is almost never heard in the concert hall. To begin the evening, the four played Joseph Haydn's lustrous Quartet in F major, op. 77, no. 2 — one of the composer's last works. Haydn is frequently referred to as the father of the symphony, but he can also be called the father of the string quartet.

In his prodigous body of quartets the variety of writing and the musical inventiveness on display is such that each is a treasure of the repertoire.

In the F major Quartet, the Brentano brought romantic expressions to their account. Their effusive playing worked wonderfully here. their interpretation was filled with nuances and subtle turns of phrases.

Mendelssohn's Quintet in A major, op. 18, followed with violist Hsin-Yun Huang joining the group. A seldom played work, the quintet is a lost gem. There is an earnestness that courses through the work, and the five captured that with their thoughtful and intelligent reading. They didn't miss anything in bringing out the subtleties of the score.

The evening ended with a radiant account of Ludwig van Beethoven's glorious Quartet in E flat major, op. 127.

e-mail: ereichel@desnews.com