Quartet passionless at times, compelling at others

ST. PETERSBURG STRING QUARTET, Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah, Jan. 13

The St. Petersburg String Quartet returned to Utah on Wednesday to start the Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake City's new season. The four works the group played in Libby Gardner Concert Hall all had some connection to St. Petersburg or to the ensemble itself, with the notable exception of a piece by Beethoven — the op. 95 quartet, also known as the "Serioso."

The foursome gave a lyrical reading of this work; however, there was no passion in their playing. It was as if they were just going through the motions. The "Serioso" is a compact work; in fact, it's Beethoven's most concise quartet until his last, the op. 135. And as with the op. 135, the "Serioso" contains a wealth of material and emotions, but the manner in which the group played it only hinted at that. It was an insipid and anemic interpretation.

The concert opened with a work written for the St. Petersburg Quartet by the contemporary Georgian composer Zurab Nadarejshvili in 2003. His Second Quartet is infused with lyricism and tempered with contemporary idioms. It's a detail-oriented score, and the foursome did a fine job capturing the music's nuances.

The spirit of Shostakovich is clearly present in this quartet. Although not as emotionally charged and intense as Shostakovich's works, stylistically, this piece is definitely something that the older composer might have written had he outlived the Soviet regime. It's an interesting piece that also incorporates folk elements, but it's ultimately rather hollow.

But fortunately, the St. Petersburg Quartet also brought with it one of Shostakovich's works — the Eighth Quartet in C minor, op. 110 — with which they closed their program. The Eighth is one of the more frequently played of Shostakovich's 15 quartets. Driven and intense, the work can be emotionally draining if the ensemble playing it pays attention to the nuances in the score. And the St. Petersburg Quartet gave the audience quite a ride with this work. Their account was compelling and brought out the darkness of the music wonderfully. This was the highlight of the concert.

Borodin's Nocturne from the Quartet No. 2 in D minor preceded the Shostokovich in the second half. One of the composer's most endearing pieces, it was played with nicely turned phrases and finely crafted expressiveness.

There was one encore — the "Alla Czecca" from Erwin Schulhoff's "Five Pieces for String Quartet."

e-mail: ereichel@desnews.com