Chamber Music New Zealand saved its best till last, signing off 2019 with Quatuor Ebene celebrating its own 20th birthday and Beethoven's upcoming 250th. Magnificently.
And a momentous occasion it was, with a film-maker and multiple cameras on stage, shooting footage for a documentary to be released after these musicians have taken the composer's 16 quartets around the globe. For two enchanted hours, we were part of the world.
Beethoven's Opus 18 reveals an ambitious young German firebrand daring to take on sophisticated Vienna. Violinist Pierre Colombet opened its G major quartet with effortlessly sweet lyricism, his colleagues maintaining almost conversational interchanges around him. This was music for eyes as well as ears.
Lightness, wit and echoes of Haydn ruled in the outer movements, but the great melodic breaths of the Adagio cantabile showed a composer demanding almost orchestral sonorities —and here, we got them.
The Opus 95 quartet sets off with a terrifying roar. We shivered at its ferocity, but relaxed in admiration at the cool precision of the ensuing chromaticism. This dramatic score, written in times of ever-increasing deafness, makes much of contrasts, all masterfully caught tonight, especially when a jagged scherzo melted into hushed translucence.
