Free Essay On Concert Report

"The concert was in the LACMA ( Los Angeles Country Museum of Art). Sundays Live. The program played by The Lyris String Quartet. Musicians were Alyssa Park(violin), Shalini Vijayan(violin), Luke Maurer (violin) , Timothy Loo (cello).
The atmosphere at the LACMA was electric as the Lyris String Quartet took the stage. There was a sense of expectancy in the air and I felt that I was set to witness a truly fine performance. The attire of the musicians reflected a certain sense of detachment since the girls were dressed quite casually while the boys were a bit more formal but certainly not too straightjacketed either.
The programme of works chosen was pretty eclectic ranging from the avant garde String Quartet Nr 2 by the American composer Gerard Schurmann onto the massive ‘Rasumowsky’ String Quartet by Beethoven, probably one of the greatest ever composed by this composer and one of the few marked in a tonality of F minor.
Gerard Schumann (b. 1924)-String Quartet No. 2 *( Moderato, Presto Adagio elegiaco, Allegro).
Schurmann’s quartet got off to an auspicious start especially with the range of attacca seen in the Moderato opening movement. I was particularly enthused by Alyssa Park’s violin playing here as she really brought out all the mystery that is part and parcel of this important movement. The same could be said of the Presto-Adagaio elegiac which was beautifully done especially with the cello playing of Timothy Loo adding a sort of mystique to the whole piece.
Schurmann’s work is imbued with mystique and is very much attuned to his background as a boy in New England where the need for creativity was always an intrinsic part of his artistic makeup. The Allegro Finale to the Second String Quartet is a case in point where we may observe the highs and lows of the musical firmament in full glory. Once again the Lyris String Quartet played quite brilliantly with all four soloists rounding off a truly superb performance.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)-String Quartet No. 7 in F major, Opus 59, No 1 " Rasumovsky" ( Alegro, Allegro vivace e sempre scherzando, Adagio molto e mesto, Theme russe:Allegro)
With the Beethoven quartet, the Lyris ensemble were on much more hallowed ground. This is a massive work and needs a certain amount of tact to bring off although this quartet were definitely not for tirning. They brought an incredible amount of passion and exuberance to the opening movement which sailed off into the evening especially at the Allegro vivace e sempre scherzando point. Beethoven’s markings are quite liberal at this point and the Lyris players seemed to enjoy playing around with them.
The second movement marked Adagio molto was also winningly done with Park’s violin playing particularly commendable. The same could be said for Luke Maurer and Viyajin who played with an almost demonic intensity at times especially in the mesto part where the string instruments almost intertwine with each other.
We then moved on to the Finale which is marked Theme Russe – Allegro. Here the quartet soloists played with devilish intensity throughout bringing real panache to the music and quite a lot of swagger too. The music seemingly rushes one off their feet and the reaction of the audiuence was very much in keeping with this statement. It was a brilliant, albeit short concert which really showcased the talents of the Lyris String Quratet, both from a perspective of musicality as well as personality.