Moscow String Quartet performs at Moravian College

Friday, Sept 30, at 8 p.m. in Foy Hall in Bethlehem--the seats were filled with a large number of community members, but also a decent number of students of the Moravian College music department. The hall was abuzz  as everyone eagerly awaited the performance of the Moscow String Quartet.

As the lights dimmed and the crowd quieted down, the president of the Chamber Music Society, Ursla Levy, greeted the audience warmly and with much enthusiasm.

"I promise you you're going to enjoy this experience," she said. She thanked the audience for coming, and expressed gratitude for all the donations that had been made by patrons to the Chamber Music Society in the past year--patrons being the community members, not the college students, because lord knows we don't have money.

But even so, Levy invited all to attend the reception after the concert, young and old alike.

The quartet, which is made up of Eugenia Alikhanova on violin, Galina Kokhanovskaia on violin, Tatiana Kokhanovskaia on viola, and Olga Ogranovitch on cello, began their performance with a classic Mozart piece, String Quartet no. 21 in D major.

 I was immediately absorbed by the grace with which they played, and their clear and touching tone. It was a great mix of sounds and harmonies, and their blending was perfect. It was a good start to the concert, and I was looking forward to hearing the rest.

The next piece, however, caught me, and probably most attendees, by surprise; it definitely wasn't Mozart. This was Sofia Gubaidulina's String Quartet no. 3, and before they played the piece, the first violin player came up and said a bit about it.

"It looks like instrumental theatre," was one of the first things she said, and that definitely describes the piece in a nutshell. She explained that the composer was very interested in using different parts of the instrument, and that, maybe most importantly, the composer thought that a musician's personality was in their fingertips. I could really only imagine what in the world this meant. To say the least, my curiosity had peaked.

"The ending is unusual" she said. What could this mean? Were they gonna smash their instruments at the end? We would see.

The piece itself was indeed very strange, as the first seven minutes or so involved sporadic plucking of the strings and making other odd sounds with them. It sounded more like a child had started playing with the instruments, rather than it being an actual piece. But maybe the composer was going for that.

The rest of the piece was filled with atonalities and generally uncomfortable tones, with what seemed like no rhyme or reason at all. It was definitely interesting to listen to. Some parts I did like, but others I didn't. If you like 20th century music, like Webern, then this is the piece for you.

The ending wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be, as it ended in a pleasant chord, which was not at all as intense as instrument smashing would've been. But it's just as well that they didn't, since then they wouldn't have been able to play their last piece, Shostakovich's String Quartet no. 2 in A major.

They played with the same grace and tone as their previous two. But Shostakovich's piece really brought out their blending of beautiful harmonies and gentle melodies. The piece brought out the best of the group- they were able to showcase their tone, blend, and ability to work together well to get a spectacular performance.

At the end of the show, the audience showed their appreciation by loud applause and a standing ovation. The performers, standing on stage, beamed with pride at their successful performance. Many in attendance, including the performers, then joined for the reception to mingle and eat cake.

What did you think of the concert?