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Mon, 8 Nov 1999 08:13:22 -0500 |
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I probably listen less to string quartets than to any other music on disc
and have very few opportunities to attend concerts featuring quartets. So,
I was looking forward to last night when my wife and I attended a concert
locally in which the program was Prokofiev's Second Quartet, Mozart's
Dissonant Quartet, and Beethoven's op. 59 n 3. While overall an enjoyable
evening with an engaging group of young musicians, the performance seemed
to lack something. I'm not going to mention the name of the Quartet
because I don't feel qualified to pass judgement; instead, i tried to put
my finger on some of the things I found lacking. And I'd like to ask list
members if these are, in general, the types of things that influence a
quartet performance--for better or worse.
First, the group seemed to all play at the same dynamic level. This
led to the second thing I noticed which was that I had trouble picking
out separate voices, often in places where I knew there should be some
distinction from my familiarity with the recordings. The inner voices
and counterpoint were often lost in a generalized sound of all fouor
instruments. What can cause this? I realize this kind of "imaging" problem
can be characteristic of a less than ideal recording or audio set up, but
I expected more in a live performance.
Sforzandos lacked bite. This contributed to an overall lack of energy or
excitement in the performance. Finally, (no pun intended) endings were
often ragged, with a miniscule, but observable gap between the instruments.
Are these the kinds of factors which distinguish a good performance from a
lesser one? What are other factors I might have considered? Lastly, how do
others find the difference between string quartets live vs. cd?
Thanks.
Ed
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