The highly polished Flinders Quartet, comprising Shane Chen and Nicholas Waters on violin, Helen Ireland on viola and Zoe Knighton on cello, made its debut appearance at North Sydney’s lovely Independent Theatre with special guest cellist, Timo-Veikko Valve.
They presented a delightful program by Peter Sculthorpe, Boccherini and Schubert chamber pieces for strings. With such a program one could readily identify the composer’s country of origin as in the case of Sculthorpe and country of adoption in the case of Boccherini.
Following a fine introduction by Knighton (founding Cellist) it was clear from the start that this ensemble has a strong affinity for contemporary Australian composers. In fact Sculthorpe’s “String Quartet No.18” was written on the Quartet’s 10th birthday. It was jointly commissioned by Peter and Leila Doyle for the Flinders Quartet and by the Edinburgh International Festival for the Tokyo Quartet, first performed in June 2010.
The program opened with Sculthorpe’s “String Quartet No.18” which is a heart-felt expression of the composer’s concern about climate change. Peter Sculthorpe wrote, “rather than attempt to write a work that addresses the plight of the planet itself, I chose to use Australia as a metaphor for it”.
The work consisted of 5 movements:
- I. Prelude
- II. A land singing
- III. A dying land
- IV. A lost land
- V. Postlude.
Ireland (Viola) opened the ‘Prelude’ with a slow resounding haunting rhythm. Insect sounds appear in this movement followed by cries of birds in the next one. A very musical and sad melody runs throughout ‘A land singing’ based on the energetic indigenous chant known as “Windmill”.
There’s more bird cries in ‘A dying land’. The next movement ‘A lost land’ is at the emotional heart of the work. According to the program notes, “its desolate outer parts embrace a section that follows the contours of a nostalgic Torres Strait Island song, Waive “. It’s beautifully played with such melancholy and sadness.
The 5th movement ‘Postlude’ is also rather melancholic with the melody lifting towards the end where the beautiful cries of birds invoke hope, new beginnings of life and renewal.
This very tightly knit ensemble played Sculthorpe’s work superbly. They relayed the composer’s intention well. One could hear the Australian landscape, its huge sky, the red earth, insects and birds throughout. Potent imagery indeed!
Next came Luigi Boccherini’s “String Quintet in D major Fandango” and what a change of pace that was.
Luigi Boccherini was born in Lucca Italy. A virtuoso cellist he also wrote a large amount of chamber music, including over one hundred string quintets, a dozen guitar quintets, nearly a hundred string quartets, and a number of string trios and sonatas.
Boccherini’s “String Quintet in D major” “Fandango” is heavily influenced by Spain being his adopted country. This quintet is one of a dozen that Boccherini arranged from earlier works by using different movements from pre-existing works. The 3 movements ‘1. Pastorale’, ‘ii.Allegro Maestoso’ and ‘iii. Grave Assai- Fandango’ go so well together. Boccherini borrowed the first two movements from a quintet composed in 1771, the final two from another composed in 1788.
In the first movement ‘Pastorale’, the introduction of the main melody was beautifully played by Valve (Cello) with wonderful expression. In the vigorous ‘Allegro maestoso” Boccherini’s Spanish influence comes to the fore. It’s rather majestic and courtly in style handled well by these technically strong musicians.
The ‘Fandango ‘movement is at the heart of the quintet, ‘Fandango’ is an old dance of Latin origin. This movement opens rather bleakly but gradually whips into a colourful dance with rhythmic frenzy injected by castanets played by Knighton (cello) with good humour and fun. Also visibly enjoyed by the rest of the players.
The second half of the program followed a short interval with Franz Schubert’s “String Quintet in C major D.956”.
Schubert composed this great work in 1828 just 2 months before he died. Many consider this work to be the most sublime piece of chamber music ever written.
The first movement ‘Allegro ma non troppo’ is rather expansive filled with unexpected harmonic turns culminating with a perfectly voiced G major chord swelling in a crescendo towards the end. The melody is beautiful.
The second movement ‘Adagio’ opens and closes with one of the most beautiful strung out melodies which is at its emotional core. This is punctuated by cello pizzicato played by Valve (Cello) confidently. Also well paced are all the other players who bring out the dark and anguished character of this dramatic section beautifully. The rollicking ‘Scherzo’ which followed was played with gusto and energy, the trio, in contrast, being subdued.
The finale movement ‘Allegretto’ stylishly opened by Chen (Violin) with some reserve could have sparkled a little more with greater contrast. This movement has some wonderful catchy rhythms, a fugue, beautiful melodies and a whirlwind sprint to the end which the Ensemble handled well.
Overall the Flinders Quartet with guest cellist Valve was in fine form. Their dynamic and stirring performance was a joy to watch and to listen to. Together they weaved their magic by being in tune with each other and playing as one. They delivered a stirring and passionate performance in what is an excellent musical program.
The concert took place on the afternoon of Sunday 18th June at the Independent Theatre.
Highly recommended. If you have the opportunity to attend their upcoming performances of this same program in Melbourne make sure that you get tickets.