Parker Quartet– 01/13/23

Friday the Thirteenth proved to be quite lucky for me. DACAMERA presented the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet at Zilka Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. They are quartet in residence at Harvard University. Their violist, Jessica Bodner, was my student in high school and freshman year of college. I couldn’t be prouder of the beautiful artist she has become. The quartet sounded magnificent in a varied program of Antonin Dvořák, Béla Bartók, and Vijay Iyer.

First was four selections from Cypresses by Dvořák. Given the perfect chamber music acoustics of Zilka Hall, the Parkers produced some of the most beautiful sounds I have heard from a string quartet. Vocal and sensitive viola solos were integral to the dreamily nostalgic effect. It was clear this would be no ordinary concert.

Bartók’s 5th string quartet was in stark contrast. Here, more forceful dynamics and angular rhythms served dissonant harmonies. The timing of interconnected parts and the contrapuntal complexity makes this one of the most challenging quartets in the repertoire. The accuracy of ensemble and intonation was stunning. But this was not the product of metronomic practice alone. Underlying dance figures and hair-trigger mood changes (including humor) were never far from the surface. Written almost 90 years ago, this work sounds more modern than many contemporary pieces of today.

Vijay Iyer’s Mozart Effects begins with a 54-bar fragment of a string quartet by Mozart. Following virtuoso solo passages for violin and then cello, the fragment stutters with an inconclusive cadence. A comically unrelated cello pizzicato signals that the music, with or without Mozart, is now in the 20th century. Iyer continues with technical effects that show compositional acumen, but with a paucity of expression. While very well played, the overall Effect is a bit kitschy.

Dvořák’s “American” String Quartet concluded the program. The piece is a favorite of amateur and student quartets because the notes are somewhat playable. What the Parker Quartet did with it would require several years of intimate ensemble work and a high level of technical proficiency and mutual trust. It is possible to perform much of this work with a metronome. What was heard was expressive melodies riding a rhythmic pulse but not bound by it. Absent was the usual ‘point and shoot’ at the next beat or barline. In its place was an organic sense of ensemble that sets this group apart from many American ensembles. Pianists playing Chopin can keep the left hand steady with the right hand free. They are a single mind. A string quartet can do this only when they are of a single mind. Such is the case with the Parker Quartet. They were rewarded with a well-deserved standing ovation.

As I said, today was a lucky day.