Telegraph Quartet

NOT A SEVENTH BUT A FIRST AT SPRING LAKE VILLAGE CONCERT

Felix Mendelssohn wrote six wonderful string quartets, pillars of the repertoire. But wait, there is a seventh, and the Telegraph Quartet played Fannie Mendelssohn’s E-Flat Major Quartet March 20 at the Spring Lake Village Concert Series.

Before a full house the Telegraph, in residence at the San Francisco Conservatory, played the innovative and often boisterous work from 1835 with considerable elan and captivating phrasing. Clearly there are echoes of her brother’s music, especially the two piano concertos, but there is substantial individuality in each of the four movements. Sound in the bantamweight ending of the Romance was perfectly graded.

Rich vibrato and Jeremiah Shaw’s cello sound were prominent throughout.

Another four movement work, Dvorák’s A Flat Major (Op. 105), closed the short program. It was the composer’s last venture in the medium, the 14th, and written both during his three-year American stay and later in his Prague home. The Telegraph’s interpretation caught the flavor of Dvorák’s themes, fitting perfectly the stellar music in seamless ensemble. There was a touch of portamento in the Lento e molto cantabile.

Aggressive playing characterized the finale with its abbreviated fugue, yearning motives and false cadences.
Violinist Eric Chin’s potent violin line sporadically was dominant.

There was no encore. The Telegraph seats the second violin stage left, but with the auditorium’s bright acoustics and minimal reverberation the sound was direct and never harsh.