Last night my daughter and I had the privilege to attend a concert by the Miro Quartet at the UCSD Mandeville Auditorium. They were joined by pianist Pei-Yao Wang to present three wonderful piano quartets. The first selection was the Piano Quartet in E-Flat Major, K.493 by Mozart. This was followed by a wonderful early work by William Walton, Quartet for Violin, Viola, Cello, and Piano. The evening was finished off with the Piano Quartet in G Minor, Opus 25 by Brahms. My daughter and I especially enjoyed the Walton and Brahms pieces, and the last movement of the Brahms, with it's emotional gypsy fire, was a real "barn-burner"!!
I have not had the opportunity to listen to many live quartets, and especially not by a group of this high caliber. These young musicians played perfectly together, sounding at times like one large instrument. We had seats at the front, just a few feet from the quartet, which made the music even more exciting and immediate. They were perfectly balanced, maintaining the musical dialog through both the quiet and energetic movements. Pei-Yao Wang did a wonderful job making the piano a partner in the quartet and not overwhelming the strings with its size or power, but complementing and taking part in the conversation. The quartet communicated wonderfully with each other through body language, posture and expressions which added to the performance rather than being a distraction. They even breathed together, which sounds funny out of the context, but made them seem like part of the same musical organism!
We arrived a little early before the concert and got to listen to the "meet the artist" interview and questions from the audience. It was fun to hear these musicians talk about their music, and how they go about making music together. After the concert, Heidi and two friends who had taken a master class from the quartet, got to go backstage and greet them. The violist recognized the girls from the class which gave them a thrill. During the pre-concert discussion, they mentioned that in August of 2005 they will have a new cd release, the first six Beethoven string quartets. This is part of a project to record all of Beethoven's string quartets.
I highly recommend this wonderful group of young musicians to all lovers of chamber music. Be sure to look for that new Beethoven release in August!!