Brentano Quartet gives lush, expressive performance

BRENTANO STRING QUARTET, Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah, March 17

With the kind of playing the Brentano String Quartet exhibited Tuesday in Libby Gardner Concert Hall, the future of the medium is ensured.

The Brentano (violinists Mark Steinberg and Serena Canin; violist Misha Amory; cellist Nina Lee) is a wonderful ensemble. Its members have amazing musicality and stunning interpretative talents. They capture the heart and soul of the music they play. But not only do they bring a keen perceptiveness to their interpretations, they also bring an exuberance that ignites the audience.

For anyone keeping track of such things, 2009 is an important year. Not only does it mark the 200th anniversary of Joseph Haydn's death, it's also Felix Mendelssohn's 200th birthday. And both composers' works have been receiving extensive play time this year.

And the Brentano had both on its program Tuesday.

They opened with Haydn's Quartet in D minor, op. 76, no. 2, subtitled "Quinten," or "Fifths," since the theme of the first movement is based on the interval of a fifth. It's a luminous work that the foursome played with passion and intensity. Their clean, crisp and articulate playing underscored the classicism of the work, but they also infused their reading with a fervor that gave it a romantic sheen.

Their penetrating reading was wonderfully crafted and executed. It was vibrant and radiated an intensity that grabbed the listener right from the start and didn't let go until the final measures of the last movement. This was a performance that any quartet would be proud to own.

The first half continued with Mendelssohn's Quartet in A minor, op. 13. One would never guess this was a youthful work, written when the composer was only 18, for all the power and emotional intensity in it. And the Brentano foursome captured all this with their marvelous playing. The storminess of the opening movement was given an electric charge that eased into the tranquility of the slow movement and the unexpectedly light Intermezzo, before reigniting for the tense finale.

This was a wonderfully impassioned and emotionally charged reading that was intense, but which was also infused with subtle lyricism.

The program concluded with Robert Schumann's Quartet in A major, op. 41, no. 3.

Once again, the Brentano mesmerized the audience with its sensitive interpretation that captured every subtle inflection and nuance in the score. The group's playing was lushly romantic, with long sweeping lines and large gestures, but it was also infinitely intimate and inviting. Gorgeously expressive and wonderfully lyrical, this was a polished and eloquent reading that didn't miss a thing. This is how Schumann deserves to be played.

E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com