by Kevin McLaughlin
There’s an old adage about the Danes: they are an amiable people, quick to embrace hygge and humor, yet they hide a deep streak of seriousness when it matters. The Danish String Quartet has made a career out of embodying that balance. Their concerts feel open-hearted, even playful, but the music-making is etched with an intensity as real as an icy wind — one they would probably shrug off if you asked them about it later.
On Friday evening, November 21, in Oberlin’s Finney Chapel, three Danes (Frederik Øland & Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, violins and Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola) and a Norwegian (Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, cello) using, in their words, “four simple instruments made of wood” brought ease and gravity to a program that moved from Stravinsky and Jonny Greenwood to late Beethoven and to the folk traditions of their northern homes.
Their spoken introductions were casual in the best way: well-crafted, low-key, and quietly funny. In introducing the first half, Sørensen introduced Stravinsky’s Three Pieces and Jonny Greenwood’s Suite from There Will Be Blood, followed by the Beethoven, as if that were the most natural sequence in the world.
Oberlin’s
[Editor’s note: John Relyea was forced to cancel his appearance due to illness. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe agreed to step in for him, but fell ill herself and cancelled shortly before the performance on April 2.] Choosing repertoire for a solo recital is not an easy task when you’re a bass-baritone. “The bass voice is often put into dramatic dark territory, and maybe that’s because of the way people heard the color of the voice lending itself to the mood of the poetry,” bass-baritone John Relyea said during a telephone conversation. “I’m always looking for songs to sing that have more positive, less depressing texts.”