CMSF Debuts the Notos Quartett

Notos Quartett members Philip Graham, Antonia Köster, Andrea Burger, and Sindri Lederer (from the Notos Quartett Web site)

Yesterday afternoon Chamber Music San Francisco (CMSF) returned to Herbst Theatre launch its 2022 season. The Notos Quartett gave its first performance in the United States as part of its debut tour of North America. The members of the ensemble are violinist Sindri Lederer, violist Andrea Burger, cellist Philip Graham, and pianist Antonia Köster. Their background press material does not say where they are based; but the URL for their Web site has the German suffix (de).

Their program was organized around what may be the two most familiar compositions in the piano quartet genre. The first half was devoted to Robert Schumann’s only piano quartet, his Opus 47 in E-flat major. Schumann composed this in 1842, and it may have inspired the first venture into that genre by Johannes Brahms. The second half of the program was devoted to that venture, the Opus 25 quartet in G minor. Brahms would eventually compose three of these quartets; but Opus 25 has the “benefit of exposure” not only in the chamber music genre but also in Arnold Schoenberg’s orchestration of the score. (That “exposure” was further expanded when George Balanchine choreographed the Schoenberg version.)

Ironically, the Classical Masterpieces Music Choice channel (which I frequent through my xfinity subscription) happened to be playing a recording of the Schoenberg orchestration while I had breakfast. Much as I enjoy it, there is just as much (if not more) to appreciate in the music as Brahms wrote it. The first two movements present Brahms’ command of sonata form in the opening Allegro movement and several inventive twists to the following Intermezzo movement.

After that Brahms starts to get more adventurous, not to mention prankish. The Andante con moto is another ternary form movement framed by richly emotional thematic material. However, the middle section never fails to raise eyebrows. The music is organized around a theme for a marching band, which is first stated softly, as if from a distance. As the band approaches, the music keeps getting louder, rising to a peak that is downright raucous. The band then recedes, relinquishing attention to the recapitulation of the movement’s opening theme.

One might think that Brahms had enjoyed his bit of fun and would go back to a more sober disposition. Fat chance! The final movement is identified as Rondo all Zingarese (Gypsy rondo), which may have been inspired by the concluding Finale movement of Joseph Haydn’s Hoboken XV/25 piano trio in G major, given the title “Rondo all’Ongarese” (Hungarian rondo). Where Haydn was playful, Brahms charges full-speed-ahead at a breakneck pace (Presto). Towards the end the piano lets loose with a cimbalom-inspired cadenza before the full ensemble launches into the final repetition of the rondo theme like a house on fire.

Notos brought a fearless rhetoric to this final movement. They clearly knew that the rhetorical stance was anything but sober. Nevertheless, the coordination of the four players in this account of Brahms at his most raucous could not have been better. More important was that their spirited account was just the right disposition for getting the CMSF season off to a delightful start.

While the Schumann Opus 47 quartet was far more sober, it was given an equally engaging account by the Notos players. One might say it provided just the right rhetoric for an “introduction of credentials.” The interleaving of thematic material made for attentive listening across all four movements of the composition; and, given what he did with his own Opus 25, one can assume that Brahms was just as attentive a listener.

The encore selection was Fritz Kreisler’s “Liebesleid” (love’s sorrow), the second of the three pieces that he called Old Viennese Dances. These pieces were composed for a violin solo (played by Kreisler) with piano accompaniment. However, a visit to IMSLP revealed no end of arrangements (including one for seven saxophones). It would not surprise me to learn that Notos prepared their own arrangement, allowing each of the four players a share in the spotlight, so to speak.