CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEW : 2 Quartets Test Loyalty of Mozart Aficionados

Placing both Mozart Piano Quartets on Monday’s heavy-duty SummerFest program may have been devised as a loyalty test for festival patrons. And most of the packed Sherwood Auditorium audience remained through the final E-flat Piano Quartet, K. 493, which stretched the concert to a generous 2 1/2 hours. But the minority who slipped out before it started may be forgiven for turning down a second helping of piano quartet after the lackluster performance of Mozart’s G Minor Piano Quartet, K. 478, on the program’s first half.

Pianist Andre Previn proved the weak link in the G Minor Quartet, spinning out pretty pastel passage work when a decisive, crisp approach to articulation and phrasing would have given the passionate opus its wonted direction.

Violinist Young Uck Kim and violist Heiichiro Ohyama repeated the assured partnership they had displayed in the previous night’s Mozart Sinfonia Concertante, but neither their conviction nor cellist Gary Hoffman’s suave underpinnings could compensate for Previn’s wimpy piano contribution.

The same four musicians made a more convincing case for the E-flat Piano Quartet, however, finding in its sunny themes more congenial musical arguments. The players appeared to be relieved that the rigors of the G Minor Piano Quartet were indeed behind them.

Cellist Carter Brey opened the program with an eloquent, highly sympathetic performance of Benjamin Britten’s First Suite for Solo Cello, Op. 72. Written for Mstislav Rostropovich in 1964, the Suite is both a worthy homage to J. S. Bach’s towering set of six Cello Suites and an incarnation of the late British composer’s ample lyric gifts. In spite of the work’s many technical challenges--extensive double stops, an entire section played pizzicato, and stratospheric harmonics--Brey scrupulously executed its elegant formal outlines and maintained a resonant, singing line throughout.

Leos Janacek’s cheerful wind sextet “Mladi” served as a welcome cushion between the two Mozart quartets. The SummerFest players caught the playful spirit of the piece, whose title means “youth,” and indulged its jaunty warbling with unfussy precision. Bassoonist Denis Michel laid the foundation for the work with characteristic strength and nobility, while John Lorge offered bold, throaty horn calls, and oboist Gerard Reuter added spiffy, well-focused lines.

Other members of the well balanced ensemble were Anne Diener Giles, flute; David Peck, clarinet, and David Howard, bass clarinet.