Jasper String Quartet’s energy has no limits—but its youth does

The enterprising ensemble, known for its “guerilla” tactics in reaching new audiences, has not outgrown its need for good coaching

By David Abrams
http://cnycafemomus.com/David_Abrams.html

There’s lots to like about the Jasper String Quartet, the youthful up-and-coming chamber ensemble with a string of prestigious competition prizes and awards to its credit that has been steadily gaining notice in the music world through “guerilla chamber music” initiatives such as spontaneous performances at malls.

For starters, Jasper plays with spunk, energy and rhythmic vitality—and its firm sense of pitch and intonation among the four players is nothing short of astounding. Moreover, the ensemble knows how to work the crowd though a liberal display of gesticulations (all seemingly genuine) that connects with the listener to forge an interactive musical experience. What, then, could possibly be the problem? 

In a word, maturity. Musical maturity.

For all Jasper’s exuberance and animated performance style there is nevertheless a certain lack of direction and interpretative savoir-faire at this stage in the quartet’s development that compares unfavorably with more seasoned chamber ensembles, both past and present. Listening to Jasper’s performance Saturday evening reminded me of that pot of soup on the stove just beginning to smell oh-so-good—until a closer examination reveals the need for additional seasonings and a good hour or two more to simmer.

Saturday’s three-work program of Russian (or Russia-inspired) music opened with Alexander Borodin’s tuneful String Quartet No. 2 in D Major, a work whose melodies you’ve probably heard without realizing they were Borodin’s. It’s a delightful work, and whatever may be lacking in form, structure and thematic development is more than made up for in sheer melodic appeal. Jasper delivered a playful rendition of this piece that shimmered, despite a few ensemble blemishes.

Blend of tone in the Borodin was generally excellent, as Jasper produced a collective sound brimming with warmth and color. Theirs was not, however, a homogenous sound. Legato was curiously choppy in the lyrical passages—as if the players could not see the forest for the trees when deciding where Borodin’s phrases were headed. Problems with legato were also evident in the playing of cellist (and founding member of Jasper) Rachel Henderson Freivogel, who appeared to have some degree of difficulty negotiating the wide-interval leaps in the alto and high tenor registers during the opening and final movements of this work, and again in the Lera Auerbach Quartet that followed. 

Ensemble-work among the four players was tight throughout, except for a lack of agreement between first and second violins in the rhythm of the prominent triplet figures near the end of the beloved Notturno movement. Everything came together nicely in the fourth movement finale, with sixteenth-note runs passing smoothly from player to player and some impressive passagework between the two violins playing an octave apart.

Russian-American composer and pianist Lera Auerbach described her String Quartet No.2 as “an intense act of soul searching.” And intense is exactly the word to characterize the deeply morose writing here. 

In his informal pre-performance talk from the stage, violist Sam Quintal urged the audience to look for “the beauty that comes from darkness.” And to be sure, there is no paucity of darkness, gloom and depression in this work (which appears to combine the hopeless resignation of Shostakovich’s late string quartets with Bartok’s extended string techniques and neo-tonal construction). What a shame Auerbach offered the listener nothing in the way of contrast of tempo or mood. All six movements are slow, and before long the “darkness” begins to generate more monotony than it does beauty.

Clearly, Jasper is a devoted champion of Auerbach’s Quartet. One could see it in the faces of the players as they passed the mournful, dirge-like lamentations to and from one-another. From a listener’s perspective, however, this piece is a hard sell. When it finally came to an end I felt as if I had just sat through a 24-hour Ingmar Bergman film marathon.

Following the intermission Jasper tackled the first of Beethoven’s three mammoth Razumovsky Quartets, Op. 59 no. 1. This lengthy masterpiece from the composer’s middle period is tightly constructed and demands a firm command of the tricky rhythmic figures to string together the relentless motifs into an organic whole.

The Jasper Quartet forged a respectable interpretation of this warhorse, particularly in the third movement Adagio, where the players captured the tenderness of Beethoven’s phrases while stressing all the right notes at just the right places. The opening of the first movement Allegro sizzled, with robust dynamic shifts and alert delivery of the eighth-notes figures that propelled the rhythmic drive forward.

The highly energized second movement scherzando demands a steady, metronomic beat and lots of muscle to propel the rhythmic motifs. It didn’t get either. The Russian dance of the Finale (Beethoven’s commission for the three Razumovsky quartets mandated a Thème russe in each work) had sufficient energy and vitality, but here too there was a lack of clearly defined rhythmic execution, such as the eighth-note followed by two sixteenths motif.

The Jasper Quartet deserves praise for spreading the word to new audiences but must recognize that it’s not necessary to lecture established audiences on familiar repertory. For those who know how to listen, Beethoven’s music speaks well enough for itself. 

Save the talks for the mall crowd.

Details Box:
What: The Jasper String Quartet, presented by Syracuse Friends of Chamber Music
Where: Lincoln Middle School, 1613 James Street, Syracuse
When: February 25, 2012, 8 p.m.
Time: about 2 hours
Information: call (315) 682-7720
Ticket prices: Regular $20, Senior $15, Student $10
Website: http://syracusefriendsofchambermusic.org 
Next: Borealis Wind Quintet, with pianist Leon Bates, 8 p.m. March 24