Aroha Quartet delivers with a flourish of triumph
WELLINGTONBASED string quartet Aroha Quartet (founded in 2004) presented a recital at Marama Hall on Wednesday evening and, with New Zealand concert pianist and renowned teacher Diedre Irons, became a quintet to perform Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F minor.
The venue and acoustics were ideal for this chamber music recital, and the programme opened with String Quartet No 17 in Bflat K458 by Mozart. Nicknamed ‘‘The Hunt’’ because the opening themes are reminiscent of hunting horns, the work reflects the composer’s love of fun and practical jokes, and Aroha Quartet delivered with a palette of everchanging dynamics, passing themes between players to produce a joyful bright timbre work.
New Zealand composer Brigid Ursula Bisley (Auckland) wrote Unbound in 2011 — a very contemporary 20 minute work in three sections, which was introduced as being serene and meditative. A strong violin motif eventually emerged from the thick dissonance and glissandi of the opening passages of Part I, and Part II was more lyrical, but by the end of the third section with its heightened agitation and restlessness, I found myself deciding Unbound was a depressing work, devoid of beauty of sound, though no doubt stimulating and elevating for musicians to interpret in recital performance.
The second half of the programme Piano Quintet in F minor Op.34 was a celebrated chamber work by Brahms, and with the experienced Irons at the pianoforte, the Aroha strings delivered a heartfelt performance. The intricacies of negotiating the many themes and moods of this work are hugely challenging — everything from tranquillity and lyrical beauty to rhythmic frenzies and unrelenting harmonic outbursts.
In quieter passages especially, there were moments lacking in tightness and definition, but the final coda ended with a flourish of triumph.