East Neuk Festival: Opus13 Play Op. 13
Kilrenny Church 2/7/26
Opus13 string quartet
https://eastneukfestival.com/events/opus13-play-op-13/
The first outing for one of the three string quartet ensembles appearing at this year’s East Neuk Festival was on the evening of 2nd July in Kilrenny Church, given by Swedish-Norwegian string quartet Opus13. The catchy tagline Opus13 Play Op.13’ referred to Mendelssohn’s amazingly mature and profound Beethoven-influenced A-minor quartet, often rather randomly assigned ‘No.2’, written in 1827 when he was 18 years old, following Beethoven’s death. It was the second half of the concert. The group is named for the piece, it being the first they played together. Mozart’s D-minor Quartet No.15 K421, the second (1783?) of the set of six dedicated to Haydn, opened the concert. Before the interval was a recent work by Swedish composer Britta Byström, ‘Images from the Floating World’, 6 short movements inspired by ukiyo-e, Japanese woodblock prints.
I know first-hand what a joy Mozart’s ‘Haydn’ Quartets are to play, usually (but not exclusively) from the 2nd violinist’s chair, though I’ll shrink from revealing how many decdes ago that was , The D-minor is probably the one I played least, apart possibly from its 3rd movement, which is a cracking encore piece. Opus13 set about showing why it deserves the same love as the other 5 ‘children’ (as Mozart referred to the 6 quartets in his dedication to Haydn). From the start, gorgeous mutually responsive phrasing breathed the quirky ebb and flow of the music, while the sunny F-major second theme smiled warmly, the exposition repeat allowing us to savour it again. The brief but ingeniously fugal development was characterful, before D-minor was reasserted by the end of the recapitulation and for the brief stern coda. Genial F-major opened and closed the Andante’s narrative-like phrasing, the dramatic minor key exploration in the central interlude making a super contrast and inviting each listener to make up their own story-line. The minuet’s grim sturm-und-drang counterpoint sounded as if it was going to be canonical (it isn’t). The contrasting D-major sweetness of the gossamer-light, soaring flight of fancy for first violin in the Trio was exquisite, not least because of the flawless intonation from leader Sonoko Miriam Welde and her Stradivari instrument. A lovely teasing tenuto before the last phrase of the Trio drew a smile, and then of course the minuet stylishly reaffirmed its tale of woe. Super. It was a decade and a half later, and half that time after Mozart’s death, that Haydn penned his Op.76 No.2 Quartet (the “Fifths”), also in D minor. Its “Witches’ Minuet - Hexenminuett” and D-major trio remind me of the Mozart and make me wonder whether the older composer was looking back with a mixture of affection and sadness at his young friend gone too soon. The finale’s theme-and-variations is based on a jaunty folksong-like melody, each narrative phrase responded to by “oh my gosh, surely not, did you real-ly?”, its charm fully realised. The variations include an ornate melisma for first violin, some equestrian jumping with displaced accents, a singing duel between the viola and first violin as two exotic birds, a D-major idyll, and a final quicker D-minor trot to the finish line, with rueful chromaticism and a cheeky Tierce de Picardie at the end. Scrumptious.
Cellist Daniel Thorell spoke of how glad the quartet were to be back in the East Neuk, as he introduced the Byström. Expecting some sonic picture-painting, I confess that the first of the 6 images, marked ‘Con moto’ had me thinking “oh no, not another 5 of these”, as it was all shrieks and howls. But, in fact and thankfully, it was an atypical ‘outlier’ and the other images were significantly more listener-friendly. In ‘Ritmico’, ornamented figures commented over pizzicato ostinati, culminating in harmonious ebb-and-flow with the texture thinning and broadening by turn. ‘Leggiero’ involved a strolling rhythm overlaid with flicking figures, subsiding to warm chording with birdsong in the first violin. ‘Grazioso’ was gorgeous: dreamy harmonics drifting in harmonious chords ornamented by delicate figures. ‘Energico’ had fragments of jig rhythms morphing to something squarer, harmonics singing elegantly again at the end. The final image, worryingly bringing back the marking ‘Con moto’, was in fact a delight, with pleasing textures and an oriental feel. Well worth seeking out another hearing, possibly skipping the first movement.
But we were there for the Mendelssohn, and it was worth waiting for. The song-like tenderness of the A-major Adagio introduction benefitted from rich, warm ensemble tone, while stormy passionate romanticism was dramatically unleashed in the ensuing Allegro vivace. Chamber conversations, especially between first violin and cello, were particularly well highlighted. The slow movement begins with a reference to the opening song of the first movement. A desolate viola melody from Albin Uusijärvi became a slow melancholy fugue (very like that in the slow movement of Beethoven’s Op.95), desperately sad, leading to a more turbulent section which built to an agitated climax, from which the first violin’s sobs climbed down. Quiet consolatory chording offered solace and re-established the calm of the opening. When the viola returned with the theme that had become fugal, it was enveloped in the warm embrace of chording from the others, ending the movement calmly. The third movement, rather than a dance in 3, opens with a slow light-textured and rather satirical march. Even more light-textured, the scampering, dizzy middle section scurries about recklessly. The march is reprised, as is a fragment of the scurrying, before the finale launches attacca and dramatically with scary tremolo and a disapproving recitative from the first violin. The finale proper has a striding pace that seems confident but is repeatedly challenged. Numerous possible endings appear but are overshot, including the recitative again. So far so Beethoven. But instead it is the original A-major lyricism that gets to end the quartet calmly as it had begun.
Over the years, I have heard Mendelssohn’s A-minor Quartet live many times, including with such quartets as the old Takács Quartet, the old Juilliard and more recently the Edinburgh Quartet. In terms of combining cogent musical argument with expressive passion, Opus13 could give them all a run for their money. Excellent.