by Joseph Hartman
October 7, 2006, Hickory, NC: The Battle of the Bows
has begun. The Western Piedmont Symphony, after the recent announcement
of the departure of the resident Degas String Quartet, has brilliantly
set up a sort of mock competition to bring a new ensemble to the Hickory-Metro
area. Four quartets will perform throughout the Chamber Classics Series
and at the conclusion of the season one will be asked to be the new
resident string quartet. During the short two to three week visit each
quartet has also been asked to perform at functions in the community,
such as school events, etc.
Round one began at the Catawba Valley Arts and Science Center with
a performance by the La Catrina String Quartet. The group was founded
in 2001 and has a special vocation to promote the music of Mexico.*
Their home base is currently Kent State University.*
While the group specializes in performing the works of Mexican*
composers, they have a diverse repertoire that includes many of the
better-known masterpieces written for the string quartet. They opened
the evening’s program with one of those, Mozart’s String
Quartet in C, K. 465 ‘Dissonant.’ It garnered this odd
appellation because the first 22 measures contained notes that did
not fit the usual pattern heard in music of the classical period. The
players seemed uncomfortable in this work, pulling against each other
rather than creating a symbiotic sound. It was off balance, and voices
were cloudy and indistinct. All the notes were played but it lacked
a lyricism and grace that one often recognizes in the music of Mozart.
The final movement began with flair and the quartet sounded like they
were starting to gel when a most unfortunate accident occurred. The
E-string on George Figueroa's* violin broke, and the music
came to a screeching halt. He showed good humor and promptly restrung
his instrument. The group, however, did not recapture the succinct
sound they were beginning to make prior to this incident.
For the second piece of the program La Catrina wisely chose a piece
in which they seemed to be a little more in their element. The String
Quartet No. 4, “Musica de Feria,”of Mexican
composer Silvestre Revueltas was written in 1932 as a bi-tonal composition
(most of the piece is played in two keys simultaneously). It is a brief
piece written to mimic the sounds of a Mexican festival. The performance
was fresh and exciting, one could feel the passion
they had for the music. It was filled with reminiscence and had a tinge
of longing for times past. The piece was expertly crafted, wonderfully
performed, and was the highlight of the evening.
Following intermission the band returned to the more standard repertoire
with Dmitri Shostakovich’ epic String Quartet Op. 110, No. 8. Violinist
Daniel Vega-Albela* spoke beforehand on the programmatic qualities
of the work, such as the second movement symbolizing invading armies,
and
the pedals in the third and fourth movements representing air raid
horns. La Catrina fared well here and connected with the audience
bringing a sorrowful, somber mood to the auditorium. Cellist Allan
Daowz did especially well in furthering the gravitas of the piece with
plunging bass lines and a subdued lilting motion in the principal motif.
Having put the audience in a melancholy stupor, the group decided to
close the concert with an energetic modern piece by Mexican composer
Javier Alvarez. A short one-movement quartet, Metro Chabacanois about
a subway station in Mexico City and was written for an art exhibition
that was held in that station in 1991. Vega-Albela* spoke about
going to this station everyday on his way to work and hearing some
of the
sounds that Alvarez is trying to reproduce. Once again the ensemble
gave a passionate retelling of a piece that touched on familiar elements
to each of the players. Personal experience is often the impetus for
great music, whether in composition or in performance, and La Catrina
provided a prime example of this. Hickory would be in good hands with
a group of such integrity and passion.
*Edited/corrected 11/5/06.
