Bruce Hodges listens to the two quartets perform Mendelssohn, Enescu and Fauré at Philadelphia’s Perelman Theater on 10 November 2024
As the saying goes, it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission. When the two cellists of the Belcea and Ébène quartets – Antoine Lederlin and Yuya Okamoto respectively – tore into the finale of the Mendelssohn Octet, I was hoping their colleagues forgave them, though, of course, the breakneck speed was likely rehearsed well in advance.
Throughout its half-hour duration, with the Ébène’s Pierre Colombet as leader, Mendelssohn’s youthful high spirits came through with gleaming ardour. The phrase ‘luxury casting’ gets tossed around a lot, but seemed entirely appropriate here, as these two distinguished groups effortlessly fused their expertise – and had a blast doing it. The gutsy results had many people in the audience standing before the interval.
For the Enescu Octet, in an equally epic reading, Corina Belcea led the charge. One of the high points was the end of the first movement, as the prayerful tone grew ever softer in the final bars. The plotting of the vast structure was a marvel – Wagnerian in scope – capturing all of the composer’s colours, without ebbing in energy or focus.
How often does an octet do an encore? In this instance, to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Gabriel Fauré, violist Krzysztof Chorzelski introduced the much-loved ‘In paradisum’ from the Requiem, transcribed for the eight players. After the moving results, it would be unfair not to cite the remaining musicians: violinist Suyeon Kang of the Belcea, and violinist Gabriel Le Magadure and violist Maire Chilemme of the Ébène. Needless to say, it was quite an afternoon.
Bruce Hodges
Read: Belcea Quartet announces new second violinist
Watch: Belcea Quartet performs Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge op.133
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