Born
one year and 300 miles apart, Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann
met for the first time in Leipzig on August 31, 1835. The Serafin String
Quartet reunited them at Wilmington’s Trinity Episcopal Church with a program
of two of their most Beethoven-inspired works: the A minor quartet, Op. 13 (Mendelssohn) and the A major quartet, Op. 41, No. 3 (Schumann). The date was also — coincidentally
— the 210th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth.
Mendelssohn,
often referred to as the “classical romantic,” was a most celebrated composer
during his lifetime. His stature slipped somewhat during the 20th Century,
but this most underrated of the Romantics is enjoying a resurgence in
popularity as many top-flight recordings and performances of his works
indicate.
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The Serafin Quartet. Photo courtesy of the artists. |
Mendelssohn
was just 18 years old when he wrote his A
minor String Quartet in 1827, which was also the year Beethoven died. The
Beethovian influence is evident, as are influences from Mozart and Haydn. The
quartet also displays the young composer’s facility with the cyclical technique
and exhibits a degree of passion and drama not characteristic of Mendelssohn.
Kate
Ransom’s first violin was reliably lyrical and dramatic in the highly expressive
opening movement, while the ensemble played as if it were one. The musicians lovingly
conveyed the aching sorry of the second movement, a complex and dramatic affair
marked adagio non lento (“slow not
slow”). Beautifully judged phrasing and dynamics characterized the fiendishly
difficult third movement with its contrasting moods.
The
finale returned to the emotional
world of the first movement. Beethoven’s influence again evident with its
stormy recitative over tremolo accompaniment. The Serafin
delivered a glowing and energetic performance of this most complex movement yet
managed a conclusion that was gentle and calming.
Schumann’s
A major quartet was again delivered
with tonal precision and blend. In the first movement, the playing was flexible
and fluid, capturing the halting nature of the music with its unsettling
syncopations. The musicians delivered the fugato
and tempo risoluto sections of the
second movement with a muscular certainty, while the finale was exuberant and full of toe-tapping dance.