United States Shostakovich Cycle [I]: Jerusalem Quartet (Alexander Pavlosky, Sergei Bresler [violins], Ori Kam [(viola], Kyril Zlotnikov [cello]). Gartner Auditorium, Cleveland Museum of Artwork, Cleveland, 21.4.2025. (MSJ)
Shostakovich – String Quartets: No.1 in C main, Op.49; No.2 in A significant, Op.68; No.3 in F main, Op.73
There’s arguably just one cycle of works within the twentieth century that rivals Shostakovich’s symphonies for sheer depth, wry humor, terror and abyssal depths. And that’s the identical composer’s fifteen string quartets. Begun within the aftermath of Shostakovich’s first run-in with the ire of Joseph Stalin, after his opera Woman Macbeth of Mtsensk offended the fascist idiot, the quartets grew to become a extra personal discussion board for Shostakovich’s expressions than his massive, publicly scrutinized works. And he wanted that: after an official censure for his Ninth Symphony, Shostakovich utterly ceased writing symphonies till Stalin was safely lifeless and embalmed. An intimate format just like the quartet was adopted by connoisseurs, not most of the people, and the Soviet authorities confirmed a lot much less curiosity in what Shostakovich expressed there. The works thus ended up charting extra of the composer’s internal life than the rest he wrote.
This live performance was the launch of the primary full cycle of the quartets to be offered in Cleveland: performances by the Jerusalem Quartet over 5 nights on the Cleveland Museum of Artwork, introduced collectively and arranged by the Cleveland Chamber Music Society. The opening evening featured the primary three quartets and made it clear that the Jerusalem Quartet has the grasp of those formidable works and the fearlessness to drive them dwelling.
Compared to the opposite items within the cycle, Quartet No.1 appears small, cheerful and virtually Haydnesque. That’s solely as compared, although, for the piece is stuffed with the wit, mischief and explosive chemistry which mark Shostakovich’s most interesting work. Written in 1938, it will need to have been a reduction for him to show away from large public statements to a chunk the place he might write for the enjoyment of constructing music with out worrying about how others would parse it for which means. The Jerusalem gamers shortly demonstrated their ability on the give-and-take of Shostakovich’s interactive writing, weaving round one another tightly but permitting house for every participant to ascertain a voice and presence. Ori Kam led off the reasonable sluggish motion of the quartet searchingly, with wealthy tone however centered stream, quickly adopted by the opposite gamers. The muted scherzo was a quicksilver surprise, Alexander Pavlovsky and Sergei Bresler twining playfully round one another’s musical line. The motion’s inconclusive conclusion was delivered with good dry wit. The combination of shiny pleasure and generally wild roughhousing introduced the finale equally to life.
Quartet No.2, written within the depths of World Struggle II, is one other world. The pressing, imperious opening was spun out by Pavlovsky with aggressively swelling chords from the opposite gamers, setting in movement a hair-raising journey, or hair-shredding within the case of cellist Kyril Zlotnikov, who performed with such power that his bow saved dropping hairs which he needed to tear off each time he might discover a break of some bars. The second motion introduces a basic Shostakovich trope, with the primary violin ranging freely and expressively over a trance-like sequence of held chords from the opposite strings. Within the nervous waltz that adopted, Zlotnikov led the dance, inhabiting the mysterious melody with a form of swish nervousness. All of the gamers made essentially the most of their focal moments within the dramatic variations of the finale.
Quartet No.3 is roughly the identical dimension because the second, but it covers much more floor. The Jerusalem gamers savored the sardonic wit of the primary motion however established the grim reverse pole with the strict Moderato second motion, taken a shade broader than most performances, which gave it a sure stoic method, good for the staccato second theme. The next scherzo was quick and livid, the punchy chords ringing off into the corners of the dimly lit corridor. The fourth motion plunged into the depths of tragedy, harrowing but noble in its moments of restraint. The emotionally twisted finale was given with shut consideration to its convoluted turns from obscure gestures by means of folk-like melodic hooks, by means of the devastating return of the Adagio’s lament and on to an otherworldly, shell-shocked closing. The live performance was met with a standing, cheering ovation by an viewers clearly enthusiastic about taking Shostakovich’s epic journey with the Jerusalem Quartet.
Significantly abetting the gamers was a implausible program booklet for your entire cycle, which highlighted further occasions akin to masterclasses and a screening of the Kozintsev movie of Hamlet, for which Shostakovich wrote the rating. The ebook contains detailed notes for the quartets by Peter Laki, in addition to contextual timelines; a brief bio of the composer; a celebration of the Cleveland Chamber Music Society (celebrating its seventy-fifth anniversary this 12 months); a pattern web page from this system for the CCMS’s first live performance in 1950, that includes the Hungarian Quartet; and previews of upcoming concert events by the Budapest String Quartet and a quartet drawn from the Cleveland Orchestra with then-music director George Szell on the piano.
Bulletins had been additionally included concerning the society’s subsequent season, which can embrace visits from James Ehnes, the Belcea and Takács Quartets and Jeremy Denk, amongst many others. All that, mixed with a placing design and enormous format, make it fairly merely the best program ebook I’ve ever encountered. Additionally of observe within the live performance presentation was a preview speak by James Wilding which was concise, informative, powerfully communicative and offered with utter conviction. It was a mannequin of what preview talks must be, however so hardly ever are.
In sum, the Cleveland Chamber Music Society has excelled itself with the presentation of this cycle that includes visceral performances by the Jerusalem Quartet. The cycle will proceed with Nos.4, 5 and 6 on 22 April; Nos.7, 8 and 9 on 23 April; Nos.10, 11 and 12 on 29 April; and Nos.13, 14 and 15 on 30 April. All performances are within the Gartner Auditorium within the Cleveland Museum of Artwork.
Mark Sebastian Jordan
