Author: BILL JONES
Augustin Hadelich made a triumphant return to the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock on Tuesday night for the first concert of this season’s River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series. Performing both solo and with members of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, the virtuoso violinist gave ample proof once again that there are good reasons for his popularity.
One of the consistently striking things about the ASO’s chamber series is the care taken in the programming, and the Tuesday night concert was neatly balanced. Indeed, a balance of sorts was struck within the first work itself, Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 54, No. 2. In their treatment of the piece, which ranged from mischievous brightness to lyrical, almost Mozart-like introspection, the Quapaw Quartet (Eric Hayward, violin; Meredith Maddox Hicks, violin; Ryan Mooney, viola; David Gerstein, cello) maintained a clean, crisp approach throughout.
The Rockefeller Quartet presented Anton Webern’s youthful, pre-twelve-tone idyll, Langsamer Satz (“Slow Movement”). A last nod to Romanticism, the short piece was a sort of love poem to the composer’s cousin and future wife, and the players (Christian Baker, violin; Darby Be-Dell, violin; Katherine Reynolds, viola; Daniel Cline, cello) handled it in true ensemble fashion. Even the pizzicato effects were kept somewhat muted so as not to distract from the impact of the yearning melodic phrases.
Hadelich introduced the second part of the evening’s program with Belgian violinist and composer Eugene Ysaye’s fiery, elegant Violin Sonata No. 6 in E Major, Op. 27, “Manuel Quiroga.” From his first touch of the strings, Hadelich owned the piece, making the most challenging turns with his bow appear both effortless and inevitable.
For the final work, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Sextet, Op. 70, “Souvenir de Florence,” Hadelich was joined by violinist Kiril Laskarov, as well as Reynolds, Mooney, Gerstein and Cline for a four movements that ranged from controlled tumult to soaring melodies.