Tina Fineberg, The New York Times
The Upper East Side's 92nd Street Y has a longstanding
tradition of programming the complete cycle of Beethoven's heralded 16 string
quartets that dates back to 1938, when the then–Y.M.H.A. presented the Budapest
String Quartet in a series of five concerts. The marketing collateral used in
1938 still rings true today: "If you are a musician, you will appreciate the
importance of this announcement—if not, just ask any real musician and you will
be convinced." Composed over the course of 24 years, Beethoven's quartets
represent the pinnacle of the string-quartet form, mirroring the development of
the composer's style as well as his fiery temperament and health troubles.
The latest cycle comes from the Austrian Hagen Quartet, one of
Europe's most critically acclaimed groups, marking their first-ever survey of
the Beethoven quartets outside of Europe. Still comprising three of the four
sibling members of the Hagen family who founded the ensemble in 1981 (Rainer
Schmidt permanently stepped in after second violinist Angelika's departure in 1987),
the quartet has built an acutely innate sense of communication that allows for
an effortless and intimate performance style.
Sunday's program, the third of six concerts in the
series, featured the E minor Quartet, Op. 59, No. 2, of the "Razumovsky" set,
and the titanic A minor Quartet, Op. 132—a solid 80 minutes of material that
demands incredibly dense and virtuosic music-making from its players. The Hagen
players excelled in showcasing the dynamic contrasts between the two quartets,
and although the venue's Kaufmann Concert Hall didn’t allow for a deep sense of
resonance in the music's quietist passages, it was clear that the audience was
seeing four masters at work.
The E minor Quartet, despite having all four movements
rooted in the same key of E, provides constant changes in mood and
character—from the first movement's high sense of drama and shifting tonalities
to the finale's dance-like gallops. First violinist Lukas Hagen's tone was
ravishing, instilling a great sense of confidence even when challenged with the
most fiendish cadenza passages. Contrasting the many flourishes and dance
passages of the piece, the "Molto adagio"
is the heart and soul of the work; here the Hagen players were at their most
communicative, with many fine moments of collaboration between Lukas and
violist Veronika Hagen. The group's blend was sublime, with not a single
entrance or release out of place.
Surprisingly enough, the ensemble opened the program with
the muted A minor Quartet, a greater challenge musically due to the lack of any
typically "flashy" material. Written after the successes of the Ninth Symphony
and Missa Solemnis, the A minor
Quartet is a shadowy, autumnal work from a composer at the height of his powers, seamlessly moving from solemn prayer to
stormy outbursts and back again.
The quartet also boasts the famous central
movement, "Heilinger Dankgesang [Holy Song of Thanksgiving]"—an 18-minute
meditation on the strength of the human spirit, composed after a near-death
liver virus nearly ended the composer's life. Written in the Lydian church
mode, the chorale-like hymns sounded otherworldly in the Hagen Quartet's hands,
with each variation on the initial canonic entrances coming across as an organic entity that maintained a
beautiful sense of blossoming throughout.
A daring use of straight-tone playing (no vibrato) and a full range of
dynamic possibilities truly set the Hagen Quartet apart from their peers, and this
sole movement alone would have been well worth the price of admission.
The Hagen Quartet continues their Beethoven cycle on Thursday, November 14, Saturday, November 16, and Sunday, November 17. Complete program information and tickets available via the 92Y's box office.