Balourdet Quartet brings youthful verve to cornerstone works for CMSFW
A spirited performance of string quartets by Haydn, Smetana, and Bartók opened the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth’s 2024-25 season at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Saturday afternoon. The Balourdet Quartet—Angela Bae and Justin DeFilippis on violins, Benjamin Zannoni viola, and Russell Houston cello—is a young award-winning group formed at Rice University six years ago.
The concert opened with Haydn’s charming “Lark” quartet in D major, one of his most familiar. The group’s expert balance and taut ensemble were immediately on display after the first dozen measures. The well-matched contrapuntal dialogues in the opening movement continued in the slow movement, framing Bae’s warm tone in the longer song-like passages that shift from major to minor and back.
Haydn’s bouncy dance energy was brightly captured in the Menuetto, followed by a fiery tempo lent to the vivace finale. The violins featured both solo and together in the movement’s rollicking hornpipe-like tunes, occasionally sharing speedy episodes with cello and viola. Quick unison passages were crisp and clear.
The players took a slightly longer pause between movements than is customary, deliberately letting the ideas and affects of each previous section settle in the hearer’s minds.
Bartók’s Fifth String Quartet reflects his intense study and absorption of eastern European folk music—inspiring his ideas without quoting melodies from the Hungarian and Bulgarian peasant tunes he admired. The work’s five movements are arranged in Bartók’s favored “arch form,” in which outer movements share general styles and techniques, and with an individualistic central movement.
The quartet’s performance brought out the dramatic, rhythmic vibrancy of the work, clearly displaying their comfort with the idiom. The first and last movements call for a very wide variety of textures, techniques, tempos, and dynamics, which were deftly handled. Choppy group unisons and close dissonances spice up these sections, and Houston’s firm cello playing guided and grounded the whole.
Wispy trills in all parts opened the second movement before violins and viola began to trade two-note motives. Bae’s yearning melodies were supported by lush chords in the other three parts. The movement built beautifully from four independent ideas to its quiet, lush ending with mutes.
The third movement—the central “keystone” of the arch—is a Bulgarian-inspired scherzo in a quirky 9/8 meter. The cello’s opening pizzicato double-stops led to Zannoni’s brief, rich solo passages before he dove back into the homogenous ensemble. Bae precisely spun her exotic chromatic themes above the others till they gave in and joined, often colored with mutes.
The Andante saw DeFilippis rise to the challenge of the widest diversity of passages, including unisons and octaves with the first violin, answering motives from other parts, interior supportive material, ensemble chords, and independent lines both bowed and pizzicato. The group’s brilliant ensemble playing complimented large chordal and unison gestures.
The frenetic finale was impressively polished. The percussive bowing included bouncing on the hair and even playing with the wood. Duos in octaves (in violins and viola-cello) were marvelously unified, as were the ebb and flow of tempos. DeFillipis’s melody was playful in the ironic tonal interjection near the end.
While the Bartók can be a challenging piece for listeners, the Balourdets brought the audience along via their virtuosic control, garnering a standing ovation just before intermission.
Bedřich Smetana composed his String Quartet No. 1 just after his deafness appeared permanent. The work is in E minor and subtitled “From My Life.”
DeFilippis ably led as first violinist and the opening dramatic viola solo was played with polish by Zannoni. The first movement’s Romantic energy was by turns flowing and fervid. Houston’s full, rich sonorities underpinned the piece.
The second movement, subtitled “à la Polka,” featured Zannoni in another warmly executed viola solo near the beginning. Houston led the pacing in the light trio sections, with perfectly matched melodies in the violins.
Smetana’s third movement portrayed his love for his late wife, beginning with Houston’s soulful cello solo. DeFilippis’s tone was smooth and sweet in the soaring themes that followed. The final movement was led by themes and passages in the outer instruments, all solidly supported by the steady inner parts. The work concluded with a surprisingly slow, delicate pizzicato ending.
Throughout the program the group’s unified vision of the works was apparent, leading to a wonderfully balanced and sensitive performance.
The Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth’s next concert takes place October 19. The program includes Jessie Montgomery’s Strum, Jerod Tate’s newly commissioned string quartet (title TBA) and his arrangement of Pura Fé’s Rattle Song, and Dvořak’s Quartet in F Major “American.” cmsfw.org
Leave a Comment
