Gringolts Quartet
Beethoven / Dutilleux
Lugano, LAC, 2017-04-21
2017-04-27 — Original posting
2018-05-09 — Corrected instrument information, based on input by Ilya Gringolts
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Musicians
In 2008, the Russian violinist Ilya Gringolts founded the Gringolts Quartet. The members of the quartet are
- Ilya Gringolts, violin (*1982 in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg). Ilya Gringolts is playing a violin by Giuseppe Guarneri “del Gesù” (Cremona 1742/1743). He is teaching at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste. His sister Olga married the violinist Maxim Vengerov.
- Ilya Gringolts himself is married to the Armenian violinist Anahit Kurtikyan. Since 2001, Anahit Kurtikyan is leading the second violin section of the Philharmonia Zurich, the orchestra of the Zurich Opera House. She plays a violin by Camillo Camilli (Mantua, 1733)
- The Romanian violist Silvia Simionescu is pursuing an international career as soloist. Since 2004 she is professor at the Music Academy Basel. Silvia Simionescu plays a viola by Jacobus Januarius (Giacomo Gennaro, Cremona, 1660).
- The German cellist Claudius Herrmann was born 1967 in Mannheim. Since 1992 he is principal solo cellist in the Philharmonia Zurich. He plays a cello by Giovanni Paolo Maggini (ca. 1600).
The Gringolts Quartet is based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Venue and Concert Setting
This was the first concert in a weekend series of three top quality String Quartet recitals in the LAC (Lugano Arte e Cultura). It was an unusually intimate event. The concert was not set up in the main concert hall, rather in the Teatrostudio. That is a room in the remotest corner of the same, new building complex (which also includes a major museum). Oddly / strangely, one needs to wait for the elevator to be unlocked to access the fifth floor. This only happens half an hour before the concert starts. Then, one needs to follow a rather long, windowless corridor, after a left turn, walk down another corridor of similar length. Finally, a staircase leads to the fourth floor, and to the Teatrostudio in the northwestern corner of the complex.
The Teatrostudio is a small, rectangular, high hall, with facilities (illumination, control room in the upper floor) for theater rehearsals. It looked like being windowless. The lower part of half of the walls was hidden behind black curtains. In fact, there are windows in the distant, short side of the room, now covered with the curtains. Along the western, long side, there were four rows of chairs (72 seats overall, the two rows in the rear elevated by one step each). With concert lighting, walls and ceiling partly disappear in the dark. The listener’s attention gets focused onto the musicians. This at the same time creates a “community feeling” together with the musicians. An unusually intimate chamber music event!
General Remarks on the Concert
The artists formed an almost closed circle, with Ilya Gringolts at the left, Anahit Kurtikyan on the right, Silvia Simionescu (viola) in the rear left, and Claudius Herrmann (cello) on the rear right-hand side. Even though the instruments stem from a vast variety of manufacturers and were made over a time of 1.5 centuries, I felt that they formed an excellent ensemble, seemed matching ideally in their characteristics. The ensemble exhibited an excellent balance. Only perhaps the second violin (Anahit Kurtikyan) may have been facing a very slight disadvantage, as she was playing towards the rear wall. However, in this small venue, this was hardly noticeable at all.
In fast movements, the artists preferred a fluent, if not fast pace. Their technique, the coordination, the intonation, and the dynamic balance were essentially flawless across the entire concert. I was also very pleased to note that the ensemble observed all of Beethoven’s repeat signs.
Beethoven: String Quartet No.6 in B♭ major, op.18/6
In the context of a comparison of various recordings of the String Quartet No.6 in B♭ major, op.18/6 by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) I have posted a detailed description and discussion of this composition. I’m therefore just giving a list of the movements here, with the time signatures:
- Allegro con brio, 2/2
- Adagio ma non troppo, 2/4
- Scherzo: Allegro, 3/4 — Trio, 3/4
- La Malinconia: Adagio, 2/4 — Allegretto quasi Allegro, 3/8 — Prestissimo
The Performance
Already with the first few bars of this quartet, I was already completely “pulled into” the interpretation of Beethoven’s op.18/6. Nothing in their performance was casual or “unimportant”. The four musicians were so mentally and emotionally engaged, played with a seriousness and a sincerity that isn’t seen very often. Their playing was full of tension and character at all times. Their tone was far away from neutral beauty and perfection—rather a tone with “grip”, clear attack and sound quality/character. They used minimal vibrato and didn’t shy away from using empty strings. Their interpretation was dramatic, both in agogics and dynamics, “awake”, alert even across general rests.
I. Allegro con brio
The ensemble’s seating arrangement yielded an interesting “cross-shape” constellation in this movement: first violin and cello at times have an intense, vivid dialog, an exchange of motifs on one diagonal, while on the other diagonal, the second violin and the viola were jointly doing the accompaniment. One may sometimes hear this music played superficially, lightly, in the style of Rococo music. However, what these artists presented could not be any farther from this description of harmlessness. Clearly, in their hands, this proved to be a masterwork of the young Beethoven, who already much have been at the height of his art!
II. Adagio ma non troppo
Here, the quartet avoided all excess sweetness: their performance convincingly proved to me, how even this movement must have sounded revolutionary at the time of its creation. The ensemble’s playing was very atmospheric, but resting in itself, like unified to form a single instrument. I particularly liked the often delayed, slight vibrato, the sotto voce segments entirely devoid of vibrato, or the delicate, very refined, yet very accurate spiccato in the first violin, above the staccato accompaniment.
III. Scherzo: Allegro — Trio
The Scherzo part is a vivid, wild discourse between the instruments, with strong contrasts and tricky sforzato syncopes. The musicians did not hesitate to expose the latter with deliberately rough articulation—furiously fast, but with perfect coordination.
IV. La Malinconia: Adagio — Allegretto quasi Allegro
Some of the Adagio in the last movement—entitled “La Malinconia” (The Melancholy)—seemed to preconceive / anticipate the “Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit” (Holy song of thanksgiving of a convalescent to the Deity) from the late String Quartet No.15 in A minor, op.132: revolutionary harmonies, full of pain, erupting into outcries, with strong dynamic contrasts, building up tension until it became nearly unbearable.
As expected, the Allegretto quasi Allegro was very fast and virtuosic—but not smooth and polished: rather wild, extremely engaged; not just simply joyful, rather moody, if not desperate. The closing Prestissimo was brilliant, masterful. Yet, it was played as if it had been a matter of life and death!
Dutilleux: “Ainsi la Nuit“, for string quartet
Henri Dutilleux (1916 – 2013) wrote his string quartet “Ainsi la Nuit” (Thus the Night) between 1973 and 1976. The composition was commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation, for the Juilliard Quartet. The composition is build on the basis of a single “hexachord” C♯ – G♯ – F – G – C – D; Dutilleux apparently studied the string quartets by Beethoven and Béla Bartók (1881 – 1945), as well as the Six Bagatelles by Anton Webern (1883 – 1945) before starting with this work.
Structure of the Composition
“Ainsi la Nuit” is rather demanding—technically, for the musicians, but also for the listener, who might perceive this as “difficult to understand”. The latter may indeed be true if one tries to “understand” its structure. However, this is going to fail almost inevitably, as (certainly to the first-time lay listener) the composition lacks a melodic structure, i.e., recognizable lead motifs, etc., and an obvious harmonic progression, even rhythmic structuring. Even the movement structure is heavily veiled: the first of the seven movements has an extra introduction. In addition, the first five movements are linked through short “Parenthèses” in which the musicians have plenty of freedom in tempo, etc., and the last four movements are to be played attacca:
- (Introduction): libre et souple, 1/4=66 — Nocturne: assez lent
- Parenthèse I: très libre —
Miroir d’espace: violent - Parenthèse II: libre et flexible —
Litanies: animé - Parenthèse III: lent —
Litanies II — - Parenthèse IV: animé —
Constellations: vif, souple et libre — - Nocturne II: légèrement détendu —
- Temps suspendu: 1/8=96 ca.
The trailing dashes indicate where in this performance pieces or segments were played attacca, i.e., without break.
What I (Don’t) Hear as a Listener
Without a score (or knowing the composition inside out), the first-time listener has no chance of discerning the seven movements in “Ainsi la nuit“. I had done some preparation for the concert, but still, to me, the only bracketing element was the fact that the last piece, “Temps suspendu“, takes up the swelling motifs of the opening “Nocturne” again. There is no underlying, concrete or explicit poetic program to this work. With this, I think that the listener should rather rely on his senses, let the piece work on one’s mind and mood, abandon oneself, indulge in the music—and enjoy.
Henri Dutilleux explores just about any conceivable special techniques—all involving the strings, though. He does not venture into pure noise-making, such as knocking on the instrument body (nor even col legno playing). These techniques include sul ponticello (at the bridge) playing, as well as sul tasto (over the soundboard), flageolet, flautando, glissando, pizzicato, tremolando, “airy bow”, tones in extreme heights, rapid sequences of (also overlapping) motif fragments, and so on.
The Performance
The Gringolts Quartet mastered this music with relentless presence, technically and musically absolutely firm: in rhythm, coordination, as well as in the intonation.
To me, the introductory “Nocturne” evoked the spirits of the night, maybe also nightmares. In the movement “Miroirs d’espace” (Mirrors of Space), dynamic contrasts produce spatial (3D, so to say) plasticity, including reverberation from objects staggered in the depth. “Litanies I” evoked pictures of paintings using broad, coarse paintbrushes, splattered colors, such as in paintings by Jackson Pollock (1912 – 1956)—and later there seems to be the sound of a swarm of bees.
As a contrast, the subsequent “Litanies II” seemed to express forlornness, loneliness, the silence of a starry night. Contrasting again, “Constellations” sounded like a wild, almost chaotic hurly-burly, or an intense, excited discussion (virtuosic pizzicato, rapid accelerations & crescendi), followed by periods of silence, voices or birds / insects hushing by in “Nocturne II“. Overall, it’s definitely fascinating music, imaginative, never boring (full of tension, even suspense!), nor ever repelling—quite to the contrary. And the performance here was compelling, firm, convincing.
Beethoven: String Quartet No.8 in E minor, op.59/2, “Razumovsky”
Also here, I have posted a detailed description and discussion of String Quartet No.8 in E minor, op.59/2, a.k.a. “Razumovsky Quartet No.2”, by Ludwig van Beethoven, hence I’m only including a list of the movements here:
- Allegro, 6/8
- Molto adagio (Si tratta questo pezzo con molto di sentimento), 4/4
- Allegretto — Maggiore, Theme russe — Minore, 3/4
- Finale: Presto, 2/2
The second one of the “Razumovsky” quartets is demanding on the musicians (technically, as well as in the interpretation). On top of that, it is also not easy to “take in” for the listeners, being one Beethoven’s most reserved compositions. Most of the late quartets—often called “difficult”—in my opinion are easier to “understand”.
The Performance
I. Allegro
The first movement was (expectedly) fast, energetic, if not ferocious in the semiquaver runs, very expressive, vivid. The scarce use of vibrato clearly made dissonances sound “sharper”, more incisive: one could well imagine how revolutionary this must have sounded ion the ears of Beethoven’s contemporary listeners! Then, there are these almost creepy pp segments, full of tension, suspense: energetic sections competing with a moments of forlornness. And quartet playing like coming from one single mind and soul!
II. Molto adagio
In the Molto adagio, Beethoven explicitly notes “Si tratta questo pezzo con molto di sentimento” (this piece must be treated with lots of sentiment). The performance seemed to breathe exceptional calmness. It was begging, pain-loaded intervals again aggravated by minimal or no vibrato at all—then again firm, determined, with extra-distinct articulation, where the music seems to be rebelling. To me, it felt like completely making the listener live through the composer’s mind / world / feelings and anxieties.
III. Allegretto
The Allegretto is rhythmically intricate: fast, moody and rebelling, but without caricature-like exaggeration. It was anything but comfortably or playfully swaying music! Once more, the coordination, the ensemble playing with these complementary rhythms was perfect.
There is a contrasting, fugated / polyphonic Maggiore part in the center of this movement (analogous to a Trio), featuring the Russian theme (Thème russe)—a common feature in all three of the “Razumovsky Quartets”, op.59. Here, this segment shortly opens a window into another, serene, heavenly world.
IV. Finale: Presto
Again as expected, the final Presto with its galloping rhythm in the accompaniment was very fast: restless, extremely virtuosic and expressive. There were impulsive eruptions that deliberately were taken to the limits of the technically doable. With every return of the Rondo theme, the pace even seemed to step up. Clearly, expression had priority over absolute precision, over detailed articulation of the fastest quaver figures. But one need to listen very carefully to detect one of the very few small mishaps in the fastest notes.
Encore — Schumann: String Quartet No.1 in A minor, op.41/1 — III. Adagio
The audience of course expected an encore. Selecting an appropriate piece after this concert was a delicate task, requiring sensitivity and tactfulness. Another piece by Beethoven was hardly appropriate after the emotionally heavy quartet op.59/2, nor would a harmless lullaby be suitable, or joyful, light “last dance”. The Gringolts Quartet’s choice was excellent: from the String Quartet No.1 in A minor, op.41/1 by Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856), the ensemble played the third movement, Adagio: rather earnest, contemplative, but very intense and expressive, and with wonderful cantilenas. It was the perfect “transition back to real life”, the “closing statement” to a most memorable quartet evening!
Addendum
The other concert in this string quartet weekend series at the LAC in Lugano were:
Addendum 2
The score to Henri Dutilleux’ “Ainsi la nuit” is rather expensive, as it is not (and will not be, for many years) available in the public domain. However, there is a video of “Ainsi la nuit” on “Dailymotion”, with score display:
Addendum 3
For the same concert, I have also written a (shorter) review in German for Bachtrack.com; this posting is not a translation of the Bachtrack review, the rights of which remain with Bachtrack.com. I created the German review using a subset of the notes taken during this concert. I wanted to enable my non-German speaking readers to read about my concert experience as well. Therefore, I have taken my original notes as a loose basis for this separate posting. I’m including additional material that is not present in the Bachtrack review.
