Those that follow this site regularly probably know that I was not particularly satisfied with the first two recitals in the current season of Chamber Music San Francisco (CMSF). Fortunately, yesterday afternoon was a major shift for the better with the program presented by the Esmé Quartet. This ensemble made its first appearance in San Francisco in March of 2022, when they were selected to give the San Francisco Performances Gift Concert. Then, in February of last year, first violinist Wonhee Bae appeared as guest artist for the first Chamber Music Tuesday program of the spring term at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She was joined by Viola Faculty member Dimitri Murrath, who subsequently replaced Jiwon Kim as the quartet’s violist. Murrath is the only member of that ensemble that is neither Korean nor female. The other members are violinist Yuna Ha and cellist Ye-eun Heo. In the second half of yesterday’s program, the quartet was joined by Yekwon Sunwoo (also Korean) for a performance of Johannes Brahms’ Opus 34 piano quintet in F minor.
The chemistry between pianist and quartet could not have been better. I have to confess that, across the entire canon of chamber music, this quintet has consistently been a favorite and holds a secure place in my personal “top five.” In the context of such familiarity, I was throughly drawn into yesterday afternoon’s performance.
Indeed, I would say that I was more aware than ever before of the sophistication with which Brahms’ distributed his thematic material across the five musical parts. This was decidedly not a “concerto for piano and very small orchestra,” regardless of Brahms’ enthusiasm for the piano itself. Rather, it has established itself as a paragon of expressiveness in the piano-and-strings canon. Yesterday’s performance showed a keen awareness of every detail of that expressiveness. As a result, in spite of my familiarity with the music, the freshness of the interpretation was one of my most stimulating encounters with the music.
The first half of the program offered a delightfully contrasting pair of quartets. As had been their case for the Gift Concert, they began with a quartet by Joseph Haydn. This time the quartet was Hoboken III/38 in E-flat major, the second of the six Opus 33 quartets. This is the one that has been assigned the title “The Joke,” and yesterday’s performance made the source of that title abundantly clear.
Most listeners assume that the name refers to the “last word” of the entire quartet; but, as might be expected, there are more than a few comic twists in the second (Scherzo) movement. Indeed, there are probably more “surprises” lurking in the entire score than may be grasped in a single listening. In any event, the Esmé players definitely knew how to seize audience attention with their opening selection!
This was followed by the more sober experience of Claude Debussy’s only string quartet. This is a relatively early composition (Opus 10); but I have consistently enjoyed the freshness and diversity of its rhetorical twists and turns. As is the case with the Brahms quintet, I have had a generous share of encounters with this music; but each of them inevitably turns up some previously overlooked gem within the entire score. The Esmé players clearly appreciated the broad extent of expressiveness in the score, making my encounter with their interpretation as fresh as ever.
For the encore the entire quintet turned to Ástor Piazzolla, performing “Invierno Porteño.” This is the “winter” composition in the collection that is now known as Estaciones Portñas (‘the four seasons of Buenos Aires” in English). This was originally scored for a quintet with piano joined by violin, electric guitar, bass, and bandoneon. I have no idea who prepared this particular arrangement; but the music itself was as fresh as ever, putting a tasty cherry on top of the “dessert” for an afternoon feast of chamber music.
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