MUSIC REVIEW--THE KUSS QUARTET AT CARAMOOR

November 14, 2010

Reviewed by Bill Breakstone


The Berlin-based Kuss Quartet appeared at Caramoor on Sunday afternoon, November 14th. I had not previously attended a concert by this ensemble, nor had I even heard of the group except when I read the promotional material mailed me by Caramoor. The four instrumentalists hail from different countries in Europe: first violinist Jana Kuss and second violinist Oliver Willie reside in Berlin; violist William Coleman hails from England; and cellist Mikayel Hakhnazaryan is from Albania.

The program offered one of Haydn’s Op. 20 quartets, and two mature quartets by Mozart, the B-Flat Major “Hunt Quartet,” K. 458 and the D Major 1st Prussian Quartet, K. 575. This was a delectable trio of quartets, to be sure.

Haydn’s set of six Op. 20 quartets were composed around 1770; the exact dates on many of Haydn’s works are hard to pinpoint. They are not as often performed as his more mature quartets of Op. 71, 74, 76 and 77. But they are nonetheless fascinating examples of one of the great quartet composers of all ages, indeed the inventor of the form. They date from the composer’s Sturm und Drang period, and established the four-movement format that Haydn and Mozart would use from then on; Beethoven, too, used the four-movement outline up until his late quartets. The outer movements were generally of moderate to fast pace; the inner two movements consisted of an adagio and a minuet. Haydn’s biographer Tovey wrote of the C Major, No. 2 that “it a new degree of cyclic integration with its luxuriantly scored opening movement, its minor-mode Capriccio slow movement which runs on directly into the minuet, and a fugato finale alternating between light and serious moods.

The two Mozart Quartets are gems. The first is one of the six Haydn Quartets, all masterpieces of the literature. The two Prussian Quartets are less often performed, but both are gems. They date from the period of Mozart’s greatest compositional achievements: the three final symphonies, the operas Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte, the Clarinet Quintet, the G Minor and D Major String Quintets, and the heavenly B-Flat Major Piano Concert No. 27, Mozart’s finale in that format.

The performances by the Kuss Quartet provided the audience with proof of this ensembles well-earned praise from music critics worldwide, and why it has been awarded so many prizes in quartet competitions. Tempi were just right, phrasings perfect, bowing immaculate, and the playing overall heart-felt and fresh.

Enough can’t be said of the venue. The Music Room at Caramoor is just the type of setting that chamber artists and audiences dream about. It is not too large, not too tight, offers a smallish stage that does not dwarf the players, and has excellent acoustics. Add to that a rococo beauty of design and furnishings, and you have all that any music lover could wish for.

There are two remaining chamber concerts in this Caramoor Series: next Saturday, November 20th, at 8 P.M. with the Caramoor Virtuosi; and on Sunday, December 5th, at 4 P.M. with the Chamber Ensemble from the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.