by Daniel Hathaway

The Utrecht String Quartet made Rocky River the first stop on its brief tour of the US on Monday evening, January 14, in a fresh and fascinating program of little-heard repertory by Verhulst, Mendelssohn and Sibelius at the West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church. Though only violist Joël Waterman is Dutch by birth, all of the ensemble’s members (violinists Eeva Koskinen, from Finland, Katherine Routley, from Australia and cellist Sebastian Koloski, from Germany) gravitated to the Netherlands and to the charming canal city of Utrecht, where they teach and play in other groups when not appearing as a quartet. When they do, to judge by Monday evening’s performance, their playing is always thoughtful, lively and infectious. The near-capacity audience was obviously captivated.

The program began with a charming quartet by the 19^th century Dutch composer Johannes Verhulst (1816-1891), a friend and admirer of Schumann and Mendelssohn who spent his career keeping the “Music of the Future” of Liszt and Wagner at bay. The first of Verhulst’s three quartets — cellist Sebastian Koloski noted that the group had discovered it “in a library” — pays homage to both of his heroes. The second movement Adagio is songlike in the style of R.S. and the third movement Scherzo — the first of several on Monday’s program — owes its genes to F.M. The sweet and skittery opening Allegro and the energetic Presto con fuoco put the quartet’s virtuosity and ensemble playing to the test, and they rose to the challenge skilfully. A few moments of gratuitous chromaticism left only a small blotch on Verhulst’s musical character. (Players looking for new repertory can download parts for all three of his quartets here). [Read more…]