The critics, judges and international audiences agree: The Artemis Quartet sound as sweet as their repertoire. Originally formed in 1989 in Germany’s Musikhochschule in Luebeck, the Quartet has won praises internationally ever since. Performing under the direction of established giants such as the Alban Berg Quartet and the Emerson Quartet, it is no surprise that the youngsters’ musical language reflects that of their teachers. Their performances have been well catalogued on CD and these recordings are testaments to the outstanding quality of their musicianship. Now they’re on to take over the world one city at a time, La Jolla included.
The scheduled performance at Mandeville Auditorium consists of Mozart’s “String Quartet No. 22 in B-flat Major,” Gyoergy Ligeti’s “String Quartet No. 1” and Franz Schubert’s “String Quartet No. 13 in A Minor.” Although the Artemis Quartet’s discography contains fairly difficult and courageous works, the scheduled pieces featured here are rather tame and dry. Their more interesting repertoire includes works from Zemlinsky, Webern and Wolf. In fact, the only interesting work on schedule is Ligeti’s first string quartet.
Ligeti wrote “String Quartet No. 1” during his early composition period, when the composer still lived in communist-controlled Hungary. The puppet regime, as expected, censored and controlled a great deal of the arts, including music and performance. The enforced art form of the time was called “social realism,” which was really propaganda. Artists and composers had no contact with the West and their works were carefully monitored. Despite Big Brother efforts, however, artists continued to explore their craft regardless of the consequences. Many simply did not publish their works and worked in the dark. Ligeti was one of them. He never expected his first string quartet to be performed and it never was until he fled to Austria in 1956. Once in the West, he discovered and worked with contemporary geniuses such as Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. From there, Ligeti developed his “micropolyphonic” pieces and became one of the most important composers of the 20th century.
“String Quartet No. 1” is fairly different and straightforward compared to his later electronic and serialist-influenced pieces. Obviously this is before his development of micropolyphony, so the composer’s voice still had not matured. Instead, the quartet is highly chromatic in the style of early 20th-century postromantic composers like Anton Webern, Alban Berg and, most of all, Bela Bartok. Bartok was a great influence on Ligeti due to Bartok’s interest in Hungarian folk music and nationalism. In short, Ligeti’s first string quartet is a formulaic sum total of early 20th-century chromaticism mixed with Bartok, resulting in a musically challenging yet highly accessible piece.
It is unfortunate, however, that the Artemis Quartet will not perform Ligeti’s much more important and, frankly, better “String Quartet No. 2.” Perhaps the reason for choosing his first quartet instead is that it “flows” better with the Mozart and Schubert pieces. Still, the selection is very unfortunate. The Mozart and Schubert pieces are certainly not a highlight of their respective genius. For example, the Mozart piece is featured on a CD titled Night Music: Classical Favorites for Relaxing and Dreaming. For many classical music consumers, their only experience with the Mozart and Schubert pieces is as background music, perhaps for sleeping, or simply relaxation. But hopefully, the Artemis Quartet’s impeccable musicianship will evoke the original excitement and brilliance of these classical masters.
Artemis String Quartet will perform at 8 p.m. at Mandeville Auditorium on Feb. 4. Tickets are $16 for students and $36 for general admission.
