Review: METAMORPHOSES Was A History Of The String Quartet

Reviewed by Ewart Shaw, Thursday 13th October 2016

The string quartet is a particularly refined and structured musical ensemble, and the pieces written for it represent, for many, the pinnacle of chamber music; two violins, a viola and a 'cello, equally tasked with presenting the composer's intentions, each of them exposed to the listener.

While the 18th Century quartets by such as masters as Haydn and Mozart were structured along the lines set out by Roman orators for the presentation of arguments, counter-arguments, and elaborations of statements, the tonal and rhythmic possibilities of the ensemble gave, to later composers, remarkable freedoms.

Metamorphoses, with the current lineup of the Australian String Quartet, presented a late masterpiece of Mozart, an early work of Georgy Ligeti and the only essay in this form by Ravel, showing just how the traditional form could change, mutate, indeed undergo a metamorphosis in the hands of later creators.

The first violin, the nominal leader of the ensemble, is Dale Balthrop, the second violin is Francesca Hiew, viola Stephen King, and 'cello Sharon Draper. The instruments that they are currently playing are all by the celebrated instrument maker Guarnerius, built between 1743 and 1784 in Turin and Piacenza. The instruments are on loan to the Quartet from Ulrike Klein, who also commissioned the concert hall at Ngeringa, now known as Ukaria.

From the first bars of the allegro moderato, the unity of purpose shown by the musicians was clear. Let's face it, you don't get to join a quartet of this importance, with 'Australian' its name, unless you can play your instrument, and play well with others. There have been recent incarnations of the ASQ that have split mid-season because of personality problems. Some of the greatest quartets have been together for decades changing nothing more than their socks.

Beautiful modulations of tone throughout, excellent balance between the parts, all these are what you expect from a Quartet of this calibre playing the last quartet Mozart ever wrote, labelled as one of the Prussian quartets after its dedication to the king of Prussia. While a late work of his, it still moves within the confines, freely it is to be admitted, of the form established and developed by Haydn. There's a saying in some musical circles that Haydn taught Mozart how to write string quartets, and Mozart showed Haydn how they ought to be written.

Georgy Ligeti chose the string quartet form for Metamorphoses Nocturnes which abandons the classical form of the quartet, replacing it with 17 contrasting sections, played without break as a one movement work. While Ligeti's later works were avant-garde this piece, at first hearing, was redolent of the music of Bartok, but also of Shostakovich. It was written in Hungary while that country was under Russian occupation and after the composer had seen the scores of two Bartok quartets, whose performance was banned in that country at that time. It was first performed several years after composition, when the composer had fled Hungary for Vienna, in the aftermath of the Hungarian uprising of 1956.

While exhilarating to listen to, it was also fascinating to watch. I was seated in the front row at the perfect angle to watch the 'cellist's hands. While much of the music sits comfortably for the modern technique, Ligeti calls for several unusual effects; a slow repeated glissando, and the 'cellist's fingers slide down and up the strings, a rapid finger drumming that ends in a brisk tap to the body of the instrument. As the instrument is a Guarnerius 'cello dating back to the mid 1700s, there's always the risk of damage when new approaches are taken. It escaped unscathed.

The interval gave most of the patrons the chance to stretch their legs, grab a glass of wine, and let their ears relax.

The second half was devoted to the only string quartet of Maurice Ravel, in F major like the Mozart, and in four movements as ordained in the 18th century.

But while it harks back to the golden age of the quartet, it is impressionistic in expression, harmony, and rhythm. Rather like a veil, it floats, it ripples and it explores harmonies in a way that influenced many of Ravel's successors and, while in the same key as the Mozart, that location was far less established than in the earlier work, and it drifted, illusions of order, suggestions of form, and suspicions of emotion. There is a passage inspired by flamenco guitar in the second movement, but at every point the four players showed a lightness of touch, a grasp that caressed more than gripped, and the eye contact that is often the only way to co-ordinate while a work is being played. Evidently I missed the moment when the 'cellist and the second violin exchanged raised eyebrows, at something the first violin did. It was in the Ligeti, so it may not have been obvious to others.

The quartet played Adelaide and then went on tour. The season for 2017 has been published. They are very fine indeed, and let's hope they stay together long enough to restore the Quartet's reputation.

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