One usually expects to hear the best in chamber music from named ensembles, whose members play together as a group all the time. Violinist Antje Weithaas, viola player Tabea Zimmermann, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras and pianist Lars Vogt are an exception. They have careers as soloists in their own right and are all strongly individualistic players, yet together they generated a performance of an excitement and polish to rival that of any established group.
The ensemble built up in size throughout the concert, starting off as a violin-viola duet for Martinu's Three Madrigals. Martinu seemed positively to thrive on what many composers would consider sparing resources; the madrigals are intriguing pieces, full of interest texturally and melodically and ambitious in their scope. Weithaas and Zimmermann established a strong partnership in these that boded well for the items that followed; they seemed to hand melodies and ideas back and forth almost physically, their resonant tones complementing each other. At times the sound was so thick there could have been at least four players on the platform.
The duo was augmented by Queyras for a taut performance of Beethoven's String Trio in C minor, Op 9 No 3, a work that predates the composer's quartets and in many details anticipates them. Zimmermann, seated in the middle, seemed to be the pivotal member of the group, linking together Weithaas's remarkably eloquent violin playing and Queyras's responsive cello lines.
The fuse was laid by the time they came to Brahms's intensely personal Third Piano Quartet, and it was up to Vogt to light it. The explosion came early on, with the main theme of the opening movement crashing forth in visceral, revealing playing. The scherzo contrasted impassioned, motor-driven passages with moments of otherworldly stillness. But it was a passage of intertwining melodies towards the end of the slow movement that best encapsulated the success of this group. Each musician was self-absorbed, playing with individual character, but at the same time utterly in sympathy with the others, sharing an overriding sense of purpose that meant the music never lacked direction. Chamber musicians have to strike a fine balance between assertion and submission; these four have got it right.
