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How does a composer write music? Whether or not she pulls attention-grabbing sounds out of the air, or creates an elaborate scheme of hieroglyphics – can an uninformed listener inform the distinction? Generally not, as was the case Wednesday evening on the 92nd Avenue Y the place the incomparable Takács Quartet gave the New York premiere of Stream by Nokuthula Endo Ngwenyama.
Stream was backed up by an elaborate set of program notes that described inspiration starting from the sound of the Massive Bang to the respiratory self-discipline “Pranayama”. Even with that data in hand, for probably the most half I couldn’t detect the connection between idea and sound. Throughout the four-movement piece, I heard a heartbeat depicted by the viola’s pizzicato, noticed sultry pitch slides within the second violin and loved a wacky waltz the place each measure appeared purposely just a bit bit out of kilter. However the “outburst of power and matter on the delivery of our universe”? Not obvious in any respect. Then again, Stream ingeniously and efficiently meshed prolonged approach with typical sounds, and total is a beguiling piece.
I’ve been a fan of the Takács Quartet for at the least half of the group’s 49 years of ensemble-hood. This night was the primary time I heard them of their present lineup, with violinist Harumi Rhodes (joined in 2018) and violist Richard O’Neill (got here on board in 2019), merging with first violinist Edward Dusinberre who has been with Takács since 1993, and the only authentic member, cellist András Fejér.
This long-lived ensemble retained its aesthetic and its tight sound through the years and all through its personnel modifications. The Beethoven String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2 “Razumovsky” which made up the second half of the live performance was so fascinating that, in that second, I felt like I’d by no means wish to hear every other quartet, ever. The group’s lightness and joie de vivre, dramatic consideration to dynamics, and intonation and rhythmic accuracy so good, it would as effectively be a single instrument, all contributed to the quartet’s breathtaking efficiency. Their studying of the String Quartet in B-flat Main, Op. 76, No. 4 “Dawn” by Franz Josef Haydn which opened this system was equally excellent.
Stream by Nokuthula Endo Ngwenyama was commissioned for the Takács Quartet by Cal Performances and a consortium together with 92NY. They’ll carry out the work a number of extra instances in March and April 2024, in Philadelphia, Schenectady, Scottsdale, Buffalo, Ann Arbor, and Rochester, NY.
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