Chiaroscuro Quartet

Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 12/8/24

Chiaroscuro Quartet

The eagerly-awaited recital by the Chiaroscuro Quartet at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival was the Queen’s Hall concert of Monday 12th August.  Led by violinist Alina Ibragimova, the musicians play on gut strings with historical bows and minimal vibrato, delivering a purity of limpid tone that is almost unequalled.  However, much though I admire this, I recall an EIF Queen’s Hall performance of a few years ago in which their reading of the Schubert A-minor was so limpid as to be anaemic, and frankly unmoving.  I hoped that their reading of two early Haydns and especially a Beethoven Razumovsky would not suffer from the same obsessive starkness.  I like my Beethoven to be gutsy.  I needn’t have worried. 

A fact uncaptured by the advance publicity (and indeed the photographs in the printed programme freesheet) is that there has been a small but very significant change of personnel.  The second violin, formerly the Spanish musician Pablo Hernán Benedí, has been replaced by French violinist Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux.  With the original Swedish violist Emilie Hörnlund (misspelt on the programme) and French cellist Claire Thirion, there is new vitality, cohesion and, frankly, joy in the dynamic of the all-female group and its chamber music-making, into which the audience is irresistibly drawn.  They played with violins and viola standing and cellist seated on a slightly raised plinth, enabling the eye contact, smiles and mutually responsive phrasing that are the life-blood of great chamber music.  As is becoming increasingly the norm, digital tablets replaced sheet music.  Even though their intonation was steadfastly flawless, care was taken to tune between movements, probably advisable for gut strings.  One final critical swipe at the programme freesheet: for the first time ever in my experience, details of the movements of the three works had been omitted. Whilst the hall was not full, attendance was quite satisfactory.

The two Haydn quartets of the first half were from the Op.33 so-called “Russian” set of 6, being dedicated to a Russian patron, as of course was Beethoven’s Op.59 “Razumovsky” set of 3.  No.5 in G major was followed by No.4 in B-flat.  Both abounded in Haydn’s playful wit and whimsy and were awarded readings that gave full rein to their genial charm and good-natured humour.  The first movement of No.5 starts and ends with a cadence that gives it its nickname “How do-you-do?”, the Vivace assai full of typical cheeky Haydn gags like instruments finishing each others’ phrases, a sudden minor key episode with discords, ‘false start’ failed interruptions from the cello, beautiful pianissimo passages and teasing rallentandi.  The second movement is a mock mezzo-soprano aria for first violin, extremely ornamented (and quasi-parodic) and very suggestive of Glück’s Orfeo.  The Scherzo is a very fast minuet where the big gag is 1 bar rest delaying the end of each line with a non-sequitur cadence; its trio is “well-behaved” and lyrical by comparison, with lovely conversation between first violin and cello.  The 6/8 Allegretto finale was a theme with a set of increasingly ornate variations, the last one a helter-skelter dash to the finish.  The first movement of No.4 was genial Haydn on his best behaviour with sunny lyricism, the only mischief being the cello trying to restart the recapitulation while the first violin was still negotiating challenging runs at breakneck speed. The Scherzo was an elegant minuet, its trio a plaintive minor-key song.  The minuet reprise was played pianissimo and was exquisitely beautiful.  The Largo slow movement was a beautiful E-flat major rhapsodic song-like melody with some daring key explorations and a great cello part. The Presto finale was a scampering rondo with cheeky rallentandi and general pauses, with a final hectic pizzicato scramble, concluding a feast of delightful Haydn.

So, was the Beethoven Op.59 No.1 after the interval as gutsy as I like?  Oh yes it was, and more. The sense of joy at setting out on a journey that opens on cello drew the audience in before even the home key of F-major was established.  Even the securest intonation can waver in a key-exploration passage for first violin in the development, but Alina Ibragimova’s was rock solid with crystal clarity.  The ensemble sound was radiant and captivating and we were transported with the pacy narrative.  The whimsical Scherzo with its lovely blend of rustic earthiness and subtle grace was a delight.  The melancholy F-minor slow movement was achingly beautiful, with moments of hesitant pathos and exquisite stillness.  It segued into the joyous and playful finale, earthiness and delicacy displayed by turn.  A teasingly wistful slow fond leave-taking before the final dash – the fastest I’ve ever heard it – was perfect. 

I am delighted to confirm re-enrolling as a fan of the Chiaroscuro Quartet. The new line-up is pure gold.