Skampa Quartet proves reputation well-founded

SKAMPA QUARTET, Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah, Oct. 25

Numerous outstanding musicians have come out of the Czech Republic over the past many decades. Not all have had the chance to make a name for themselves in the United States, but when the Iron Curtain fell in the early 1990s, they were freed from political obstacles and were able to bring their artistry to new audiences around the world.

Among this younger crop of musicians are several notable string quartets. And among these is the Skampa Quartet. Over the past two decades the Skampa has earned a reputation as one of the great Czech quartets.

Currently on an American tour, the foursome stopped in Libby Gardner Concert Hall on Monday for a concert sponsored by the Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake City. And when they finished playing a scant two hours later, they proved beyond any doubt that their reputation is well-founded.

The group exhibited wonderful musicality and an amazing sense of interpretation. They brought passion and excitement to their playing and their interpretations were perceptive, intelligent, lucid and thoughtful. The Skampa is indeed a quartet that will be around for a long time.

They opened their concert with Ludwig van Beethoven's Quartet in E flat major, op. 74, better known as "The Harp." The work harks back stylistically to the classicism of the op. 18 quartets, but with an expanded palette of expressions. The Skampa infused their playing with a spirit of romanticism that wasn't overdone.

The first violinist played with a beautiful singing tone that the others emulated, and their account was fluid and lyrical. Their phrasings were delicately crafted and very classical but played with broader gestures allowing them to find and bring out the nuances in the score.

The concert continued in quite a different vein with Dmitri Shostakovich's Quartet No. 8 in E minor, perhaps the best known of his 15 quartets. No. 8 is a heart-wrenching piece filled with tension and turmoil but also with sadness and incredible beauty. The four gave a striking account that captured the range of emotions. Their playing was bold and dynamic and their expressions intense and vivid. It was a potent and thought-provoking reading that was compelling for its strength and that engaged and captivated the audience.

The evening ended with Leos Janacek's Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters." A very personal and private work for Janacek, it explores his relationship with a much younger woman. The work is infused with intense passion and relentless energy that the Skampa brought out with its exuberant playing. The group brought cohesiveness and fluidity to their interpretation and made wonderful sense of it all. And despite the dramatics that creep into the score, they managed to bring expressiveness to their interpretation and turn it into poetry.

e-mail: ereichel@desnews.com