Beethoven: String Quartet in F Minor op. 95 'serioso'
Britten: String Quartet No. 2 in C op. 36
My first experience of Wigmore Hall Live i'the flesh. I was sat near the back (row S) in the central column of seats. But for some callow youth, I would have been the youngest soul in attendance.
Sundry remarks:
- Lovely building. Decent cappuccino, and not too expensive for London (£2.80)
- Sarah Walker comes on stage, thanks us for being there, then does an awkward sales pitch for the Brodsky Quartet's back catalogue.
- a generally impeccably behaved audience, though, of course, coughs, splutters and sneezes came at the worst possible moments (those rapturous, ethereal wisps of sound at the end of the first movement of the Britten quartet, for instance, quite shattering my transcendence
)
- the acoustics are as good as everyone here said they were; the most satisfying chamber music experience I've had to date in this respect.
- I thought the playing was superb, the young viola player and cellist being outstanding. As a quartet, in terms of synchrony, I found them to be eminently satisfying. As was intonation and use of dynamics.
- the Beethoven has never sounded more appealing as a work, though it remains enigmatic, schizophrenic, straddling, as it does, the middle and late periods. I have to say, I definitely heard more 'late' than the 'middle' today, though, which made it a revelatory account.
- the Britten is another enigmatic piece, sounding unlike anything else that I've heard in the repertoire (a bit Shostakovichy). The final Chacony was played well, the ending superb, as the main them returned amidst stabs of sound.
- All in all, an immensely satisfying first visit. I can't wait to return, and I'll definitely be investigating the Brodsky's back catalogue, too.
Definitely worth a listen on iPlayer.
--
Edit: it sounds rather muffled, I'm afraid. Poorly recorded, it would seem.
Britten: String Quartet No. 2 in C op. 36
My first experience of Wigmore Hall Live i'the flesh. I was sat near the back (row S) in the central column of seats. But for some callow youth, I would have been the youngest soul in attendance.
Sundry remarks:
- Lovely building. Decent cappuccino, and not too expensive for London (£2.80)
- Sarah Walker comes on stage, thanks us for being there, then does an awkward sales pitch for the Brodsky Quartet's back catalogue.
- a generally impeccably behaved audience, though, of course, coughs, splutters and sneezes came at the worst possible moments (those rapturous, ethereal wisps of sound at the end of the first movement of the Britten quartet, for instance, quite shattering my transcendence
)- the acoustics are as good as everyone here said they were; the most satisfying chamber music experience I've had to date in this respect.
- I thought the playing was superb, the young viola player and cellist being outstanding. As a quartet, in terms of synchrony, I found them to be eminently satisfying. As was intonation and use of dynamics.
- the Beethoven has never sounded more appealing as a work, though it remains enigmatic, schizophrenic, straddling, as it does, the middle and late periods. I have to say, I definitely heard more 'late' than the 'middle' today, though, which made it a revelatory account.
- the Britten is another enigmatic piece, sounding unlike anything else that I've heard in the repertoire (a bit Shostakovichy). The final Chacony was played well, the ending superb, as the main them returned amidst stabs of sound.
- All in all, an immensely satisfying first visit. I can't wait to return, and I'll definitely be investigating the Brodsky's back catalogue, too.
Definitely worth a listen on iPlayer.
--
Edit: it sounds rather muffled, I'm afraid. Poorly recorded, it would seem.
. I've just seen them live once, but very good they are. That sounds a bit Yoda-ish....
- try out one of the Sunday Lunchtime concerts - they are extremely popular, relatively cheap (£12 I think ) and the ticket price includes a programme and a glass of sherry 
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