Over the years, the Winchester Festival has had a knack of engaging performers who go on to make their mark on the world stage, particularly chamber ensembles. Those who attended the Chapel of St Cross on a wet evening were well rewarded by the peerless playing and teamwork of the Badke String Quartet.
The group was formed in 2002, and has quite quickly built up a reputation that has taken them far, and will surely take them further. Their programme was well-considered, with two Viennese masters contrasted with Debussy's only work for the genre. What all the works have in common is a sense that boundaries are being stretched, and new styles being explored.
Starting the programme was the fifth of Haydn's Opus 20 set - not an early work, despite the relatively low opus number. The adage about Haydn being forced to be original' because his work kept him out of the Viennese loop of the 1770s could well have been coined for this work. Real interplay of the four instruments was quite new for those days, and the frequent contrasts of texture were, if not revolutionary, then at least innovative - and frequently charming as well.
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From the intensity of the opening movement through the deceptive simplicity of the minuet to the fugal finale, the Badke Quartet had the full measure of this music, conveying all its intricacies without losing sight of the pleasure that is there to be savoured. Such was also their response to Debussy's masterly quartet, with each of the four players bringing out the details in a way that reflected the group's obviously careful preparation. Every pizzicato moment was perfectly controlled, and phrases uniformly shaped, with the range of colours and effects all present, but over-riding this all was a vision of what the music has to offer, looking beyond the norms of the nineteenth century, towards the new age.
To finish the programme with the third of Beethoven's Rasumowsky quartets took us back to Vienna, but to another composer who was stretching beyond the past. The extreme contrasts of mood and dynamic were all presented with impeccable control, with all four players facing the often virtuosic writing with fearless aplomb. Yet here, as throughout the programme, the precision and technique were always put to the service of the music, presenting this music as if it were the extraordinary new creation that it must have seemed 200 years ago. Beauty of tone was uniform, especially in the slow movement.
This was a masterclass in what good ensemble playing should be, but more importantly, there was music-making at a very high level to be enjoyed. We suspect that many people from Winchester will now be looking out for the Badke Quartet's progress. It will be good to follow.
ByJohn McCaffry
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