Review: St Lawrence String Quartet at Auckland Town Hall

St Lawrence String Quartet was an inspired choice to round off the many triumphs of Chamber Music New Zealand's 2009 season.

The Canadians chose Haydn to set us on our way and his F major Quartet Op 77 no2 was a staggering demonstration of what quartet playing is all about. Hans Keller once described its first movement as a spiritualised march and these words lingered in my mind during the SLSQ's supple and subtle play, with a rhythmic flexibility that illuminated the sotto voce second theme.

An impetuous dash of a Scherzo was followed by a richly poetic Andante, effortlessly growing from the initial duet of leader Geoff Nuttall and cellist Christopher Costanza. Only in the fourth movement, executed with almost breakneck abandon, was detail sacrificed for Hungarian fervour.

Judging by a programme note which consisted only of critical responses, John Adams is cagey about giving much information on his new String Quartet, and Nuttall didn't spill too many beans in his quip-laden introduction either.

Adams' first movement takes its time. A slightly jazzy cello pizzicato under the opening minimalist shimmer hints at intriguing takes on Americana to come and the score delivers wave upon wave of beauties, creating a complex layered structure that the SLSQ made utterly convincing.

One moment, Nuttall's violin can soar with the sort of arching lines that make you think the spirit of Brahms may have transmigrated to Big Sur; elsewhere Adams recalls Haydn's mercurial wit.

After interval, New Zealand String Quartet joined the visitors for Mendelssohn's Octet.

Nuttall's stage antics took on a new stride, reaching rodeo ride proportions. Eccentric maybe, but transatlantic and perhaps irreverent connections were forged. Mendelssohn's catchy tunes seemed to be pre-empting those equally catchy choruses from 1960s Brill Building pop songs.

The Andante delivered luminosity rather than sentimentality, the Scherzo was breathtaking, and the helter-skelter Finale seemed to harness the energy of a thousand euphonious bees. Truly, a concert to remember.