Schubertiade

Summit meeting of quartets in Schwarzenberg

Incredibly finely tuned: The musicians of the Hagen Quartet.

(Bild: (c) Schubertiade GmbH)

Two of the world's best string quartets, the Belcea Quartet and the Hagen Quartet, joined forces at the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg.

The Schubertiade is a festival that is all about the finer things, especially comparisons of interpretation. Such comparisons were particularly possible when the international Belcea Quartet played on Sunday evening and the Austrian Hagen Quartet played on Monday afternoon, especially as they each performed one of Beethoven's magical late compositions almost seamlessly.

There is no difference in quality between the Belcea Quartet and the Hagen Quartet, both represent their art form at the highest conceivable level. The three siblings Lukas (violin), Veronika (viola) and Clemens Hagen (cello) with second violinist Rainer Schmidt have been a close-knit team for a very long time, their sound is tightly blended, but by no means undifferentiated. Their playing is exceptionally subtle and attentive, although at times it lacks tension. In Schubert's "Rosamunde" quartet, for example, one could have imagined crisper sounds in the last two movements. However, the slow movements in Beethoven's Opus 135 or Haydn's "Sunrise" quartet were magical with this approach to music-making.

The Belcea Quartet had an absolutely demanding program in its luggage - and captivated its audience.

(Bild: (c) Schubertiade GmbH)

Admittedly, the Hagen Quartet had an unusually restless audience, whose applause was nevertheless rewarded with Puccini's "Crisantemi".

Never-ending tension
The audience listened to the Belcea Quartet with great concentration on Sunday evening, and that is saying something, because their program was challenging. In addition to Beethoven's Opus 18/4 and the Quartet Opus 127, the musicians played Béla Bartók's Quartet No. 1, the first of the master's six quartets premiered in 1910.

This uncompromising distillation of musical ideas challenges musicians and listeners alike (the rehearsals for the premiere took a whole year). The Belcea Quartet, to which Suyeon Kang recently joined as second violin, is a group of very different personalities who interact in a fascinating way.

This results in a never-ending tension, especially as all four, but especially primaria Corina Belcea, are astonishing masters of their instruments. There was also an encore on this weighty evening: the "Andantino" from Claude Debussy's only string quartet.