Alban Berg Quartet
City Hall Concert Hall
Reviewed: May 26
If the first performances of Beethoven's String Quartet Op130 had been in the hands of the Alban Berg Quartet, nothing would have persuaded the composer to provide the easier alternative for the last movement.
Contradicting the programme notes, we heard the work in its original form with a fugal finale that is the musical equivalent of wrestling a bull. The players sliced effortlessly through the complex counterpoint and were no less stunning in the magically whispered interludes.
They etched the preceding five movements with unanimity in tonal variation and characterisation - from the scherzo's witticisms to the andante's trot through the park, some hiccuping rustic dance and the undulating bliss of the cavatina.