Date: Fri 26-Mar-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: SHIRLE

Quick Words:

Orpheus-NFoM-Quartet

Full Text:

CONCERT REVIEW: Orpheus Wraps Up Its Debut North American Tour Flawlessly

By June April

Exuberant musicianship marks the playing of The Orpheus Quartet. Combined with

superb technique and an obvious love of performing music, it is evident why

these four talented gentlemen have amassed numerous first place awards in

competitions throughout Europe and Asia.

Last Sunday's concert for the Newtown Friends of Music capped the quartet's

first North American tour. On Monday, March 22, the Orpheus Quartet flew home

to Dusseldorf, Germany.

Their initial American exposure was so successful that immediate arrangements

were made in a number of the cities where they performed to engage the Orpheus

Quartet for the 1999-2000 season. They performed to rave reviews and cheering

audiences from Los Angeles to New England.

To quote violist Emile Cantor, "music is our life." The same sincere buoyant

enthusiasm that marked Roberto Benigni's response at the Academy Awards Sunday

evening comes across with the Orpheus Quartet. At the conclusion of the March

21 concert at Edmond Town Hall in Newtown, the quartet eagerly responded to

the hearty applause from the audience and played two very different pieces for

its encore.

The Orpheus began its encore with second movement of the First String Quartet

by the Czechoslovakian composer Erwin Schulhoff. The work had been

commissioned by the Orpheus Quartet. The second piece was the "Largo" movement

from Josef Haydn's String Quartet Opus 54, No. 2.

The encores mirrored the afternoon's concert, as well as the musical range of

the extraordinary quartet. The common thread in its repertoire is the

willingness to be experimental. The musicians are proponents of fresh and

exciting creativity. So a portion of musical programs are devoted to works

they have commissioned, or that have been sent to them.

The quartet's members seek classic works that take a new direction. With five

compact discs now recorded on the Channel Label, the Orpheus Quartet has

captured for time immemorial string quartets composed by Bartok, Schubert,

Beethoven, Malipiero, and one with the works of three composers: Ravel,

Debussy and Dutilleux.

The opening work at Sunday's concert was Mozart's String Quartet in D, K. 499.

For this genius composer, the quartet explored new directions in compositional

style and experimented with traditional treatments between major and minor

keys, as well as nuances in harmonic approaches.

Following a superb presentation of the Mozart quartet, the quartet next

performed Hungarian composer Bela Bartok's String Quartet No. 4. This piece is

full of new and explorative musical technical applications and structure. Each

of the five movements reaches for a unique approach of expression.

In the fourth movement the plucking of the strings, known as pizzicato , were

the sole form of music technique employed by the violins, viola and cello.

Tonal and rhythmic parallels recalls the works of another musical giant, the

Russian born Igor Stravinsky.

After the intermission, the audience -- a full house -- was treated to the

more melodic strains of Johannes Brahms' String Quartet in B-flat Major, Opus

67.

The flawless technique and golden sounds of first violinist Charles-Andre

Linal meld with exquisite seamlessness into that of second violinist Emilian

Piedicuta, violist Emile Cantor and cellist Laurentiu Sbarcea.

The Orpheus Quartet stands out for its virtuosity and fresh sound. Excitement

is generated by the members' collective technique and by the joy which

emanates from them as performers loving to play the music that elevates them.