Kleio Quartet

Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 20/8/24

 Kleio Quartet

 Just 8 days after the Chiaroscuro Quartet’s super first Queen’s Hall recital as an all-female group, the venue welcomed another, the Kleio Quartet. As the leader of the Chiaroscuro Quartet, Alina Ibragimova, has described the Kleio Quartet as "A wonderfully dedicated group of musicians who bring assuredness and freshness to everything they play", expectations were high, fuelled further by their status as First Prize and Commission Prize winners at the Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition 2023.  Add to this their intriguingly eclectic programme – Britten’s ‘Three Divertimenti’, Haydn’s Op 20 No 4 in D and Wynton Marsalis’ ‘At the Octoroon Balls’ (String Quartet No 1) – and their Edinburgh International Festival debut was unmissable for this reviewer. The Queen’s Hall was not quite full, but the turnout was nonetheless entirely satisfactory. Expectations were not confounded.

The Britten was new to me and it is a gem. Three characterful pieces, a March, a Waltz and a Burlesque, make up the entertaining work, with ample opportunity for chamber banter and individual wit, and no attempt to conceal that the viola (Jenny Lewisohn) was Britten’s own instrument. The strutting March oozed confidence and rhythmic aplomb. The whimsical Waltz (as it would no doubt have been named, had it made it into the Simple Symphony) had a children’s song vibe and sported a stylish episode for viola. The Burlesque was a pacy, driven (and slightly demonic) fast waltz introduced by the first violin (Yume Fujise) and joined by the others, concluding with the Haydnesque gag of slowing before a final fast dash. An unalloyed delight performed with flair that showed how much these young musicians love making music together and taking the audience with them.

Of course, nobody does Haydn as perfectly as the man himself.  Cellist Eliza Millett addressed the audience to introduce the rest of the programme. Despite the early opus number, the Op 20s represent Haydn in full command of his powers in the genre he had just created. The first violin is still the star in No 4, but there are hints of the ‘democratisation’ of the ensemble writing that Haydn pioneered with some cameos for everybody. The two contrasting themes of the sonata form first movement, one hymn-like, the other athletic, are played off against each other in the imaginative development.  The hushed start of the recapitulation and hush again at the end of the movement added drama. Individual and ensemble tone were radiant and flawless. The slow movement in D minor, an exquisitely lyrical pavane with 4 variations, did not feel slow. The second violin (Katherine Yoon) led the first variation, answered by viola, in an achingly beautiful melody. Similarly, viola answered by cello dominated the second variation.  The third, an ornate rhapsody in triplets for first violin, was gloriously phrased. The final variation started as if just a restatement of the theme but became an ingenious key-exploring drifting harmonic sequence, settling to a hushed cadence. Beautifully played. The short quirky syncopated Gypsy/Hungarian ‘Minuet’ with its lyrical cello Trio was deliciously witty, but it was in the riotous Presto finale that the full Haydn hilarity was unleashed, declamatory interruptions, semitone whoops and sudden stops and restarts among the gags employed to derail the first violin’s plans for a hectic knees-up. The final gag? – a demure conclusion to the romp.  Absolutely delightful.

Anybody expecting the String Quartet by jazz trumpet legend Wynton Marsalis to feature jazz forms was not disappointed, but it was so much more. A substantial 45-minute 7-movement work, it explored many of the root genres and moods in depth. ‘Come Long Fiddler’, an extended solo for first violin, started with bluesy slides with left-hand pizzicato. A (literally) foot-tapping Bluegrass reel was incredibly virtuosic. A return to the opening mood led to a jazzier reprise of the reel and a big finish. ‘Mating Calls and Delta Rhythms’ brought in the full quartet, starting in triple time with gorgeous smoochy harmonies; there were rhapsodic excursions for the violins, singly and together, concluding in common time. ‘Creole Contradanzas’ had a tango vibe, with lovely solos for the violins and viola over pizzicato rhythms and a sweet pizzicato ending.  ‘Many Gone’, an elegiac cello spiritual evoking the voice of Paul Robeson, with Gospel-like responses from the others, was magical. ‘Hellbound Highball’ was a fast and hectic dance with common time interleaved with quirkier rhythms and thrilling syncopation (with something of the vitality of Bartók), leading to some amazing sul ponticello playing, some slow blues and a sudden stop.  ‘Blue Lights on the Bayou’ was a short slow triple-time reverie, a piano pizzicato pulse on cello topped by dreamy high chords and some bird calls on violin.  The finale, ‘Rampart St Row House Rag’, an increasingly drunken ragtime romp, was deliciously characterful and featured some great solo excursions.  ‘At the Octoroon Balls’ is a superb piece of writing for string quartet and it is hard to imagine a more committed and characterful interpretation than that of the fabulous Kleio Quartet.  A big thank you to the Festival for bringing them to us.  I hope that they will be back again for many years to come..