Concert Three – Night at the Opera

Alban Berg wrote two significant operas, Wozzek and the unfinished Lulu. His op 3 quartet has one of the most dramatic openings in the quartet repertoire, thus providing the perfect curtain raiser for this concert. Mozart excelled in both genres achieving perfection in great operas such as Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan Tutte and in his ten celebrated string quartets. Mozart wrote so much music in his short life it is difficult to comprehend how he managed to notate it all down on paper. Two of the most loved composers of opera, Verdi and Puccini added a small but significant contribution to the quartet repertoire. No evening at the opera would be complete without them both.

The works by Puccini and Verdi are a joy to play and are masterpieces from two composers who wrote very little chamber music. Puccini’s Crisantemi is a short piece taken from his opera Manon Lescaut. The haunting melody used in the quartet appears in the final act where De Grieux and Manon Lescaut wander the plains of New Orleans, exiled from France awaiting Manon’s inevitable death.
Verdi’s four movement string quartet in E minor is so full of lyrical melody and dramatic drive that it could so easily be transferred to the opera house. The ultimate tenor solo appears in the trio of the third movement in the form of a gushing cello solo. I am in awe that Verdi, who composed only one quartet, could produce such a wonderful masterpiece.

Jeremy Williams

BERG – String Quartet op 3
MOZART – String Quartet in E flat major, KV 428
PUCCINI – Crisantemi
VERDI – String Quartet in E minor

Sydney
Tuesday 4 November, 7pm
City Recital Hall Angel Place

Brisbane
Thursday 6 November, 7pm
Ian Hanger Recital Hall, Queensland Conservatorium

Adelaide
Saturday 8 November, 7pm
Elder Hall, University of Adelaide

Melbourne
Tuesday 11 November, 7pm
Collins Street Baptist Church