One of the beauties of festivals is how the proximity of concerts allows for easy comparisons and insights into styles of music and interpretation. Although Toronto Summer Music Festival’s second concert of its eighth season on Wednesday night at Walter Hall was impeccably played, it was completely different from Tuesday’s opener.
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
The 21-year-old Brentano Quartet, best known right now as the real players in the 2012 movie A Late Quartet, is beautifully balanced. Violinists Mark Steinberg and Serena Canin, violist Misha Amory and cellist Nina Lee play close to technical perfection. Every note and phrase is accounted for; no barline or tempo instruction has been overlooked.
Technical prowess may breed respect, but it didn’t foster any love on the part of this listener.
Where Trio Pennetier Pasquier Pidoux overlaid their hard work with a deceptive layer of insouciance on Tuesday, the Brentano Quartet was all about souciance, showing at every possible opportunity how painstakingly they had worked to get the music just so.
It was a big, meaty programme, played to a capacity house — and a boisterously enthusiastic response.
The foursome began with a punctilious reading of Ludwig van Beethoven’s D Major Op. 18 No. 3 String Quartet, followed by a coldly cerebral interpretation of Claude Debussy’s G minor String Quartet from almost a century later.
The heart, not just the mind, did get a dose of satisfaction from the programme’s closing piece: Antonin Dvorák’s effusive Op. 81 Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, performed with the enthusiastic collaboration of pianist Pedja Muzijevic.
Although the Brentanos could not fully bring themselves to toss away their metaphorical starched collars, the music itself fulfilled our collective need for emotional fulfillment.
This was the Brentano Quartet’s second Toronto visit in less than a year (they performed for Music Toronto just a few months ago) and, judging from the audience’s reaction, would be welcome back anytime.
Toronto Summer Music Festival artistic director Douglas McNabney used Wednesday night’s concert as an excuse to underline how the festival has programmed afternoon activities to complement the evening concerts. Earlier in the day, many members of the audience had attended a screening of A Late Quartet, then attended a question-and-answer session with the Bentanos during their dress rehearsal.
It’s an experience to deepen as well as broaden the concert experience unavailable during the regular season. Who says summer means switching off our minds?
You can check out all the programming details here.
John Terauds
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
