Takács Quartet

The annual trip to Glyndebourne for Brighton Festival is always a highlight and this year was no exception. Starting with Rosamunde Schubert’s String Quartet in A minor we were treated to a familiar work but one performed with a lightness of touch that breathed an air of new life into the piece that refreshed my love for it, especially in the Menuetto: Allegreto which simply shimmered.
Next Webern’s Langsamer Satz, a work that whilst clearly in the classical romantic form has elements of modernity that Takács deliver with intuitive polish. To say that as musicians they are connected may sound simplistic, but as performers they are sublime individually and exquisite as a whole.
Antonin Dvorák’s String Quartet in A Flat major takes influences from traditional Bohemian folk dance but there is a thrilling thread of modernity here too, perhaps influenced by his time in America. There is a darkness to the whole but not without moments of hope and light.
For an encore we were treated to a ripping pizzicato piece by Bartok, a tantalizing end to a delightful afternoon.
15 May
Glyndebourne
Andrew Kay
5 stars