Concert Review: American String Quartet

Concert Review: American String Quartet

May 1, 2010, Merkin Concert Hall
American String Quartet
Schubert/Webern/Berg

I have been attending more and more chamber music concerts. I am not familiar with the American String Quartet, which enjoy longevity (rare in the world of quartets) and apparently, have a fine reputation. At least 3 members are on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. This challenging program centers on the Viennese School.

The foursome surprised me. While notably American in their bold playing, their ensemble was of a very high caliber. Blending of the voices was seamless, attacks in unison and solo's delivered with flair. The tightly controlled Webern's Five Movements was a cornucopia of sound, from explosive outbursts to the merest of whispers. The Berg String Quartet, Op 3 that followed was big and splashy. Leader Peter Winograd, steady and infallible, really dug in, not afraid to let in a trace of coarseness.

The lengthy Schubert's Quratet in G, D887 is a challenge for any ensemble. The performance was technically impeccable and although I admired their sheer stamina, I was somehow unmoved, unlike the works from the Second Viennese School that went before. I attribute this to a lack of rhythmic subtlety. The Schubertian lilt was in short supply. Despite bold playing, there was a curious lack of inevitablity, of the inexorable progression, of the "tragic" that one feels in Schubert's late works. In contrast, the Quarttetsatz that opened the program was more suited to their iron-clad approach. All in all, this is a quartet that I shall hear again.

The concert was held at the renovated Merkin Hall. The hall was famed for its acoustics, but I'm not so sure this is true now. For the opener I sat up front (lower than stage level) and the sound lacked fullness. After I moved to further back in the hall the sound improved significantly.