East Neuk Festival: Castalian Quartet 1 & 2

Kilrenny Church - 30/06/23 & 01/07/23

The morning concerts of the second and third days of the East Neuk Festival were back in Kilrenny Church, a bright, airy chamber music venue with a great acoustic. Each featured two masterworks from the core string quartet repertoire played by the Castalian Quartet. These comprise Finnish leader Sini Simonen, Welsh second violinist Daniel Roberts, Irish-born violist Ruth Gibson and Welsh cellist Steffan Morris.

The concert of the 30th opened with Mozart’s No.15 in D-minor K.421, the second of the set dedicated to Haydn and the only one of the set in a minor key (though there are frequent forays into D major and the relative F major for contrast).  The darkly conspiratorial opening was played properly sotto voce (as marked – too many quartets fail to fully observe this) allowing the dynamic contrasts that permeate the movement to be fully realised and to guide the phrasing, which seemed to breathe naturally, while the articulation of Mozart’s richest counterpoint was flawless. A perfect balance of individual voices and ensemble cohesion was achieved. The 6/8 Andante in F major (with an excursion into F minor and remoter keys in the middle) featured lovely cantabile playing from Sini in music that is quasi-operatic.  The drama was heightened by again honouring Mozart’s dynamic contrasts.  Call me old-fashioned, but I like it when players “dae whit they’re telt” by the composer.  That said, the Allegretto of the D-minor minuet benefits dramatically from a bit of pace, and that’s what it got.  The delicious D-major trio, where the first violin yodels over a pizzicato accompaniment, was not appreciably slower, but elegant teasing use of rubato, rallentando and tenuto made it exquisite nonetheless. Elegant too was the tempo choice for the Allegretto ma non troppo finale, a whimsical 6/8 theme and variations with a storytelling vibe.  The variations merit characterful playing and they got it in spades; respectively (my nicknames): violin chromatic snakes, show jumping, viola’s star turn, picnic in the D major sunshine and finally, rush for the bus home.  All pretty excellent.

Dvořák’s No. 13 in G major, Op.106, his last to begin, but penultimate to finish, dates from his return to Europe from America.  Generally sunny and full of Czech themes (with an occasional nod to American memories), it is nonetheless harmonically complex and there are hints of suppressed emotional turmoil.  The Allegro moderato was confident and ebullient with a fabulous ensemble sound.  

The subtly radiant Adagio ma non troppo in E-flat major was played with sensitivity and was very lovely and intensely moving.  The 3/8 scherzo has an equestrian feel like the second variation of the Mozart finale, with two less animated contrasting trios in different keys, beautifully played with brioand character.  After a slow introduction, the vigorous finale is interrupted by slow wistful and very atmospheric episodes before a dash to the finish.  The Castalians display a sympathy with Czech musical sensibilities, so I thirst to hear their Janáček. Their Dvořák is everything one could wish for.

The concert of the 1st July opened with Haydn: his Op.20 No.4.  The Op.20 set are seen as the “coming of age” of the genre, with compositional techniques that were to influence it for the next two centuries.  From the off, it received the fullest advocacy. In the first movement, the acoustic of the space was exploited to the full, from the quiet mysterious opening to the agile triplet runs of the development and the soft close.  The new democratisation of parts finds expression in the theme-and-variations of the second movement, with second violin and viola in conversation, cello, and first violin in turn all getting a variation in which to shine.  The final variation, sotto voce and mysterious, played to the strengths of all with adventurous harmonies, terminating in a dramatic operatic recitative and cadenza (better than anything to be found in an actual Haydn opera, I hope I’ll be forgiven for saying). The ‘minuet’ is so mischievously disrupted with off-beat ‘gypsy’ accents as to be undanceable, while its trio is a scampering role-reversed cello solo with dronelike chording in the treble and alto lines instead, too brief and disorienting to brave the dance floor before the gypsy mayhem returns. If the minuet is tongue-in-cheek, the Presto e scherzando finale is an anarchic romp from start almost to finish, as if it were stitched together from random bits of other works.  Utterly hilarious and played with infectious glee.  In a final joke it ends ludicrously with exaggerated demureness. Scrumptious.

But the ‘meat’ of the concert was Sibelius’ quartet ‘Voces intimae’.  Finnish leader Sini introduced it, mentioning its symphonic scope and its richness in Finnish folk material, which she described as ‘like mother’s milk’ to her.  It is a work I also love, so hearing these words after hearing three other quartets performed so expertly raised expectations of an informed and characterful outing for the 5-movement masterpiece. My expectations were manifoldly exceeded.

In last year’s festival, the Pavel Haas Quartet gave an unforgettable spellbinding account of Janáček’s “Intimate Letters”, with an immediacy that allowed the listener to believe the composer was addressing them personally.  It was for me the highpoint of the festival.  The Castalians’ Sibelius was no different.  And yes, it was to prove the highpoint of this year’s festival for me.

From the opening question on first violin and the cello’s response, the first movement’s shifting tempi, varying phrase lengths and life-affirming rich chording emulated the speech of ‘inner voices’ and radiated a comforting sense of a world, inner and outer, that is far from indifferent to humanity, quite at variance with the hostile environments, psychological and geographical, that are found in some of Sibelius’ symphonic music, notably the austere 4th.  The delightful fleeting vivace folkdance-like first scherzo, fashioned from themes already heard, was deliciously cheeky.  The core of the work is the earnestly profound adagio, introverted and meditative, with moments of melancholy, tenderness and passion, and it was played with great sensitivity, more delicious chording and was breathtakingly good.  A cello phrase near the end where a major key is re-established was exquisite, as was the closing pianissimo of the movement.  The second scherzo, a triple-time folk melody marked pesante(ponderous), with tempo fluctuations like that of the 6th symphony, was as characterful as it was whimsical, closed down by the disapproving cello at the end.  The playful folkdance finale opened with a more measured tempo than I have heard before, but the phrasing was resultantly natural and expressive, plus the contrast that this afforded when the pace picked up was quite magical, especially as this was even faster than I’ve heard before.  Though principally in D-minor and ending in the home key, it is a work of radiant optimism and its lovely melodies have remained welcome earworms even still as I write this review a few days later.

So yes, the Castalian Quartet’s performance of Sibelius’ ‘Voces intimae’ was my highlight of the East Neuk Festival 2023.  And yes, I long to hear their Janáček.