One of the greatest pleasures of being in Oxford at the weekend is the Sunday Morning Coffee Concert Series at Holywell Music Room. Historic, elegant and timeless, it was possibly the first purpose-built concert hall in Europe, its fine acoustics perfectly suited to chamber music, and attracting some of its most brilliant performers.
Sunday’s concert featured the prizewinning Barbican Quartet, named after the location of their founding concert in 2016. Comprising four nationalities and speaking seven languages between them, Amarins Wierdsma (violin), Kate Maloney (violin), Christoph Slenczka (viola) and Yoanna Prodanova (cello) are mentored by Gunter Pichler at the Reina Sofia String Quartet Academy in Madrid, and the Quatuor Ebene in Hochschule fur Musik Munchen. They currently divide their time between London and Munich.
The Quartet have been widely praised for their virtuosic performances and intimate yet powerful sound. Wide in emotional range, Joseph Haydn’s 'String Quartet in D, Op 20 No. 4' forms part of the dramatic Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) symphonies which established the Viennese classical style. Played with both passion and sensitivity, the musicians deftly captured its expressive intensity. From its sombre opening, the tender moments of the second movement soared so sweetly; realised by violinist Wierdsma’s exquisite sensitivity, and cellist Prodanova’s delicate support, they almost hung, pellucid, from the gilded chandeliers. The ensemble’s subsequent robust exuberance and final perfectly executed cadence delighted the audience.
Maurice Ravel’s 'String Quartet in F' initially disappointed his revered teacher Gabriel Faure, but on second sight of the score, Faure agreed he "might have been wrong." Its similarities to Debussy’s earlier 'String Quartet' delighted the older composer, but contemporary comments were mixed. The Quartet’s deft wit during the pizzicato scherzo and Slenczka’s and Maloney’s skilled contribution to the poignant introspective of the third movement ensured that Ravel’s characteristic elegance and clarity were realised – to the foot stamping applause of the audience.