★★★★½ A very French finish to Musica Viva’s 70th-birthday year.

October 8, 2015
Queensland Conservatorium

There was French cuisine, French chatter and French singing in the Queensland Conservatorium Foyer on Thursday night, in celebration of the Modigliani Quartet’s visit to Brisbane for their first solo tour of Australia with Musica Viva. As the final chamber music group touring with Musica Viva in its 70th year, the Modigliani Quartet wrapped up the party in the most appropriate birthday celebration spirit: with joyfulness, exuberance and warmth. Founded in Paris in 2003, the group has cemented their reputation as one of the world’s top string quartets, and their effortless and relaxed but seamless style was most welcome to their enthusiastic audience.

Unfortunately, the quartet’s usual cellist, François Kieffer, injured his shoulder just ten days before the commencement of the tour, requiring a last-minute substitute cellist to step in and fill the void. Renowned French virtuosic cellist, Christophe Morin, fills in admirably under such short notice, and the change does not diminish the pleasure of hearing from such a remarkable group of musicians.

Haydn’s String Quartet No 36 in B Flat major was the first of the evening’s delightful offerings. From the lightness of the first Allegro movement, through the warmth and expressiveness of the second Adagio movement and the short and sprightly third, to the happy, bright finale, the performance was perfectly delivered. Showcasing all of the composer’s wit, elegance and spirit, the Modigliani Quartet were clear masters of the work, and profoundly captured the joyfulness that is the core of Haydn’s quartet.

The more dramatic Beethoven String Quartet No 11 in F Minor followed the light Haydn, altering the mood immediately by transitioning from joyful to stormy. It was almost too sudden a change in atmosphere; there were a number of programme alterations and rearrangements as the result of the change of cellist, and I found that the energy at the start of the Beethoven did not quite match that at the end of the Haydn. By the solemn third movement and the beautiful fourth, however, the Modigliani Quartet was back in its element, with excellent frantic passages, solid accentuation and some especially beautiful melodic work from first violinist, Philippe Bernhard. The group’s passion and virtuosity shone by the final movement. I think that perhaps the order on the printed programme, which placed the Schubert between the Haydn and Beethoven, may have worked slightly better and avoided the stark contrast, especially for a group whose forte is the lightness served so well by Haydn; but this is a slight quibble indeed.

Franz Schubert’s gentle, tuneful String Quartet No 10 in E Flat Major suited the Modigliani Quartet’s elegant style, and there were some gorgeous stately passages in the third Adagio movement in particular.

The programme began with a work from the consummate master of the quartet, Joseph Haydn, and ended with the first, somewhat suspicious attempt at a quartet from Dmitri Shostakovich. When he began writing his String Quartet No 1 in C Major, Shostakovich did not believe that the string quartet combination was useful for expressing his feelings, and began the work as an exercise without the intention of publishing it. He of course changed his mind, and ended up completing fourteen more string quartets, including the highly popular Quartet No 8. His first foray into the form, however, is light, cheerful and uncharacteristically untroubled. Only about fifteen minutes long, the Shostakovich began with a simple first movement, showcasing the viola nicely, and featured some interesting and well-handled experiments in tonality, before ending festively, in keeping with the theme of the night.

While Nigel Westlake’s Quartet No 2 would have varied the programme more, the group’s reluctance to tackle the work with ten days to prepare together as an ensemble is perfectly understandable, and the Shostakovich was a welcome addition to the programme. A night of elegance and joy from one of France’s finest ensembles, and a fitting end to Musica Viva’s birthday year.