MUSIC REVIEWS : Hagen Family Quartet Offers Stormy Program in Laguna

In an age of instant music, it is refreshing to learn that Hausmusik flourishes, in the Hagen house, at least. The youthful Hagen Quartet proved that family music-making need not be amateurish in a Wednesday night concert at Laguna Beach High School Auditorium that was sponsored by the Laguna Beach Chamber Music Society.

The ensemble, which first performed in Los Angeles at the Olympic Arts Festival, includes siblings Lukas, Veronika and Clemens Hagen (violin, viola and cello, respectively), plus friend Rainer Schmidt (second violin). Judging from their almost-grim demeanor, one suspects that the Hagen family takes music very seriously.

The agenda reflected that. Hugo Wolf’s sensuous “Italian” Serenade seemed out of place in an otherwise-stormy program, in which the musicians seemed more at home playing Haydn’s Quartet in G minor, Opus 74, No. 3 and Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” Quartet.

Schubert’s masterpiece may not reflect a preoccupation with death, as some have suggested, but it is a somber work, nonetheless. Cellist Clemens Hagen made the most of his brief solo in the second variation, which he performed with great passion.

Playful “Papa” Haydn is not so playful in the late-in-life Quartet in G minor. The unsettling harmonic language is counterbalanced by classical forms, which were masterfully articulated by the quartet.

The ensemble playing was flawless, suggesting a far more experienced group. While much of that may be due simply to growing up together, the sheer talent of the ensemble should not be overlooked.