Belcea Quartet
Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 20/8/25
Belcea Quartet, Corina Belcea, violin, Suyeon Kang, violin, Krzysztof Chorzelski, viola, Antoine Lederlin, cello
Link: https://www.eif.co.uk/events/belcea-quartet
Barely 7 weeks ago, the Belcea Quartet gave an unforgettable performance of Beethoven’s Op.131 in Crail Church at the East Neuk Festival. Their encore ambushed me with the slow movement of Op.135, bringing tears to my eyes. The programme for their Queen’s Hall concert of 20th August featured Op.135 in its entirety, putting my tear ducts on alert for a rematch. After the interval, we heard Mozart super ‘Dissonance’ Quartet. The concert opened with Nos. 4 and 3 of Mendelssohn’s Four Pieces for String Quartet, Op.81.
Hitherto unknown to me, the first Mendelssohn excerpt was a Fugue in E flat. Knowing Mendelssohn’s reverence for Bach, I suppose I expected a Bach homage, so I was surprised to hear a virtual hymn to Beethoven’s ghost, and one that showed a particularly deep fascination with the musical language of none other than Op.131, matching its fragility and rawness, yet underlying life-affirming optimism. It was clear that the Belcea rate it highly as they awarded it a committed and persuasive outing. The E-minor Capriccio which followed was very much a “Song Without Words” and not what I would call Mendelssohn in capricious mood. It was deeply felt and anxious, even before it too boasted another fine fugue. Two excellent pieces that deserve to be heard more. They received top quality chamber performance.
The first movement of the Beethoven unfolded with genial lyricism and sunny F-major candour and whimsy. The frequent eye contact and postural echo of the players give a visual reinforcement to the aural perfection of the mutually responsive phrasing that is the core joy of chamber music-making, for players and audience alike. The drunken syncopated rustic dance that is the scherzo was as light-hearted as it was lumpen-footed and as joyously abandoned as it needs to be. That I retained my composure for the slow movement should not be taken as an indication that it was any less moving than in Crail; merely that the element of surprise was absent: forewarned is forearmed. It was surpassingly beautiful and the tenderness of Corina Belcea’s violin in the closing bars had me spellbound. The melodramatic F-minor ‘difficult question’ was brushed aside temporarily for more F-major sunshine as the finale got under way. Lovely cello lyricism from Antoine Lederlin made the second theme glow.. Mounting anxiety in the development threatened to subvert the jollity. But F-major was re-established and Beethoven skipped off into the sunset with one of the happiest codas ever written. Magical.
Mozart’s C major Quartet K.465 is nicknamed ‘Dissonance’ for the tonally ambiguous Adagio introduction to the first movement, but the sun came out for the ensuing Allegro. with playful sforzando-piano articulation and charming dialogue between Corina Belcea’s and Suyeon Kang’s violins, with answering from Krzysztof Chorzelski’s viola. The dynamic balance was perfect and the moments of cheeky counterpoint were elegantly realised. The slow movement charmed with lovely cantabile playing and a nice duet between first violin and cello. The minuet, with whimsical chromatic slides and a playful mood, framed a darker C-minor trio. The playfulness continued with the finale, ducking and diving with stop/start trickery, key modulations and some very agile scurrying for the first violin. Top drawer Mozart.
Krzysztof introduced an encore. He said how wonderful it was to be back in the Queen’s Hall and reminisced about the late Laura Samuel, founder member of the Quartet (subsequently beloved leader of the BBCSSO) who died in November. In her memory they played the second of Webern’s ‘Five Movements for String Quartet, Op.5’, over which, he said, “her spirit hovers”. Spare, minimal and elegiac, it was very moving and yes, I was ambushed.