Penderecki Quartet

It's all too rare that we get to hear great music played by truly world class performers. Last night's concert of the Penderecki string quartet was all that and more.

We heard music from visiting Italian composers Ada Gentile and and Riccardo Piacentini. Gentile's 3rd and 1st quartets were played back to back, and even though these quartets were only composed a few years apart (2000 and 1996), I appreciated having the opportunity to hear how her writing had changed between the two (though I did find it curious that the more recent was played first).

We also heard the group perform the music of its namesake, his second quartet. Obviously one would expect this group to excel at Penderecki's music, but this performance overcame any expectation. Wow. Just, wow. The expressive capability of this group is exceptional. They have a spectacular range of dynamic, colour, texture, everything that makes the music come alive.

In the second half we heard the 3rd quartet of Andrzej Panufnik. Panufnik is not heard often on this side of the pond, though apparently he was very well known and respected in his native Poland when he was active there. (He died in 1991.) I'm familiar with his music, having written a paper on one of his pieces when I was in school, but I hadn't heard this piece before. I quite enjoyed it - despite its somewhat traditional sound, it's full of expression and emotion, much like his music I'm more familiar with. If you've never heard of him before, check him out - it'll be worth your time.

The concert wrapped up with a premiere by Pianentini. At this point I should mention that inside the Music Gallery the temperature hovered around 35 degrees, with no fans on at all. I have no idea how the musicians not only made it through such a challenging concert (in full concert dress no less) but played to their exceedingly high standard. But by the end of the evening there's no doubt everyone was beat. I do wish this piece had been placed earlier in the program, because I think I would have paid much closer attention and enjoyed it much more had I not been trying to retain consciousness.

A world-class performance indeed.