Divertimento String Quartet
[Review extract]
The
Divertimento
String
Quartet
performed
for
the
sixth
concert
of
the
2022/23
season.
Musicians:
Mary
Eade,
violin;
Lindsay
Braga,
violin;
Andrew
Gillett,
viola;
on
cello
-
Vicky
Evans,
provided
an
imaginative
programme
spanning
460
years
from
Renaissance
to
contemporary.
These
accomplished
artists
provided
an
evening
of
aural
self-indulgence
in
a
refined
performance
of
unmistakeable
quality
and musicianship.
Divertimento
revealed
its’
super-powers
-
performing
the
Minuet
and
Trio
from
Caroline
Shaw’s
Entr’acte,
a
welcome
musical
challenge.
Inspired
by
the
minuet
and
trio
of
Haydn’s
Op
77
no.
2
Quartet,
the
group
obligingly
performed
Haydn
first,
providing
the
definitive
sound
of
a
string
quartet;
the
cello
providing
a
delightful
rhythmic
core.
Described
as
a
metaphor
for
being
in
the
world,
Entr’acte
propelled
the
audience
400
years
into
the
future,
dropping
all
into
a
melting-pot
of
sounds
and
music.
This
liberated
exploration
of
musical
ideas,
requires
a
variety
of
unusual
techniques,
including:
breathiness
of
pitchless
bowing;
pizzicato-like
left-hand
plucking,
muted
by
the
bow;
sighing
noises
produced
by
gentle
bowing
whilst
subtly
changing
the
intonation.
From
rich
opening
harmonies,
the
music
morphed
into
a
soundscape
of
breathiness,
re-emerging,
reforming
and
mutating
into
a
pizzicato
section
–
the
muted
plucking
sounding
like
fast
dripping
water,
then
crescendoing.
After
a
brief
resurgence
with
a
new
motif
from
the
viola,
the
music
built
up
like
waves
bearing
down
on
the
shore,
dissolving
into
a
sighing,
almost
weeping
sound;
then
a
reassertion
of
the
opening.
Guitaristic
arpeggiated
chords
on
the
cello
brought
the
piece
to
a
gentle
finish. In writing Entr’acte, Shaw clearly had just one rule: have fun and explore sound through play.
Concluding
the
concert
was
a
Quartet
in
F
minor
by
the
Romantically
influenced
and
inventive
Carl
Nielsen.
In
a
potpourri
of
music,
this
piece
projected
the
true
spirit
of
Divertimento.
Comprised
of
four
movements,
it
opened
passionately,
with
hints
of
the
exotic;
a
blues
melody
appeared
like
blue
smoke
winding
upwards
in
a
forest
of
music.
A
thoughtful
Adagio
had
hints
of
Dvořák
and
a
colourful
fringe
of
Eastern
influences;
then
the
emergence
of
a
beautiful
cello
line,
to
fade
out
with
combined
harmonics.
After
a
rhythmic
and
lively
Scherzando,
the
suite
came
to
a
perfect
climax
as
the
ensemble
joyfully
delivered the Allegro appassionato. IM
Divertimento String Quartet
[Review extract]
The
Divertimento
String
Quartet
performed
for
the
sixth
concert
of
the
2022/23
season.
Musicians:
Mary
Eade,
violin;
Lindsay
Braga,
violin;
Andrew
Gillett,
viola;
on
cello
-
Vicky
Evans,
provided
an
imaginative
programme
spanning
460
years
from
Renaissance
to
contemporary.
These
accomplished
artists
provided
an
evening
of
aural
self-indulgence
in
a
refined
performance
of
unmistakeable
quality
and musicianship.
Divertimento
revealed
its’
super-powers
-
performing
the
Minuet
and
Trio
from
Caroline
Shaw’s
Entr’acte,
a
welcome
musical
challenge.
Inspired
by
the
minuet
and
trio
of
Haydn’s
Op
77
no.
2
Quartet,
the
group
obligingly
performed
Haydn
first,
providing
the
definitive
sound
of
a
string
quartet;
the
cello
providing
a
delightful
rhythmic
core.
Described
as
a
metaphor
for
being
in
the
world,
Entr’acte
propelled
the
audience
400
years
into
the
future,
dropping
all
into
a
melting-pot
of
sounds
and
music.
This
liberated
exploration
of
musical
ideas,
requires
a
variety
of
unusual
techniques,
including:
breathiness
of
pitchless
bowing;
pizzicato-like
left-hand
plucking,
muted
by
the
bow;
sighing
noises
produced
by
gentle
bowing
whilst
subtly
changing
the
intonation.
From
rich
opening
harmonies,
the
music
morphed
into
a
soundscape
of
breathiness,
re-emerging,
reforming
and
mutating
into
a
pizzicato
section
–
the
muted
plucking
sounding
like
fast
dripping
water,
then
crescendoing.
After
a
brief
resurgence
with
a
new
motif
from
the
viola,
the
music
built
up
like
waves
bearing
down
on
the
shore,
dissolving
into
a
sighing,
almost
weeping
sound;
then
a
reassertion
of
the
opening.
Guitaristic
arpeggiated
chords
on
the
cello
brought
the
piece
to
a
gentle
finish.
In
writing
Entr’acte,
Shaw
clearly
had just one rule: have fun and explore sound through play.
Concluding
the
concert
was
a
Quartet
in
F
minor
by
the
Romantically
influenced
and
inventive
Carl
Nielsen.
In
a
potpourri
of
music,
this
piece
projected
the
true
spirit
of
Divertimento.
Comprised
of
four
movements,
it
opened
passionately,
with
hints
of
the
exotic;
a
blues
melody
appeared
like
blue
smoke
winding
upwards
in
a
forest
of
music.
A
thoughtful
Adagio
had
hints
of
Dvořák
and
a
colourful
fringe
of
Eastern
influences;
then
the
emergence
of
a
beautiful
cello
line,
to
fade
out
with
combined
harmonics.
After
a
rhythmic
and
lively
Scherzando,
the
suite
came
to
a
perfect
climax
as
the
ensemble
joyfully
delivered
the Allegro appassionato. IM
