Debussy and Haydn

CD: Virtuosi Tasmania
Huon Quartet
Debussy, Haydn
Virtuosi Tasmania Records

Haydn dances with Debussy at the Hobart Governor’s Ballroom.

Two minor string quartets recorded in the Ballroom of Government House, Hobart might sound underwhelming, but Virtuosi Tasmania provide a terrific match with Haydn and Debussy on their latest release.

Debussy’s stunning String Quartet in G Minor is thrillingly suspenseful. The second movement throbs with metronomic pizzicato, supplying fantastic textural contrasts. The Andantino, doucement expressif is painful in its beauty: this is the sort of music string quartets were created for. The romance comes to an impossibly peaceful ending, weakened only by a shaky beginning to the final chord. A pulsing cello drives the final movement to its brilliant finish.

Haydn’s String Quartet in F Minor, Op 20 No 5 sounds conservative and might have had more impact had it been placed first.

This is not to suggest the two works aren’t an appropriate fit – in fact, Haydn offers an emotional respite after the intensity of the Debussy. Haydn’s reliably repetitive motives in the first movement are followed by a light Menuetto. Because of the subtlety of this quartet, the ballroom’s mildly reverberant acoustics are more apparent. The Adagio pulses like a lullaby before coming to a dreamy end, followed by the Finale: Fuga a due soggetti. These final movements would go well without a break, and despite the Finale’s darker feel, the quartet still retains the lightness of the third movement before its bold conclusion.

Stephanie Eslake
Limelight Magazine Feb 2015