Classical review: Carducci Quartet

CIT Cork School Of Music

Cork Orchestral Society’s first presentation of the 2015 season brought the always-impressive Carducci Quartet back to Cork for the first concert of a series in which they will play all 15 string quartets by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich.

This series will bring the two husband and wife pairings to a huge variety of venues on three continents and will culminate in London’s Globe Theatre, where they will play all 15 pieces in one day.

Music lovers in the south of Ireland who missed this performance should absolutely not miss the Carducci Quartet’s return visit in the autumn.

Their performances of Quartets No 1 in C, No 4 in D, and No 12 in D flat were outstanding.

The soul of Shostakovich (1906-1975) is to be found, in his own words, in his string quartets, several of which were not played in public until long after the end of the Stalin era.

The fear, under which so many Soviet artists lived and created, is particularly evident in his quartets, yet the music is never depressing.

It is intense, searching, and frequently very moving — as well as being exciting, brilliant, joyous, full of original colours, and utterly captivating.

All of these emotions were evident in the playing of the Carducci. From the beginning of their career, they have demonstrated technical brilliance, excellent tone, and sense of ensemble.

All of these qualities have matured wonderfully, enabling the Carducci to present these great masterpieces with a confidence that belies their comparative youth.

From the rather innocent, easy-on-the-ear music of the C major quartet, we were brought, in the D major quartet, into the dangerous world of protest against the menace of the Stalinist regime.

The atmospheric playing in No 4 was enhanced by a brilliant range of dynamics, especially in No 12, the most dissonant (but totally accessible) of these three quartets.

The Carducci’s triumphant ending of this fabulously passionate work was quite magnificent.