Goldner Quartet

Friday, 8 August at 8pm

Dene Olding (violin), Dimity Hall (violin), Irina Morozova (viola), Julian Smiles (’cello)

Programme

MOZART Quartet in G, K 387
BEETHOVEN Quartet in F, op 59, no 1 First Razumovsky

The Goldner Quartet

The members of the Goldner Quartet are members of the Australia Ensemble resident at the University of New South Wales, but are an independent group under their own management. The Quartet has received critical acclaim across the breadth of their extensive repertoire. Their performances have been described as “inspiring”, “a tour de force” and “artistry of uncompromising quality”. The Sydney Morning Herald has noted their “spellbinding performances” and “instinctively expressive playing”, their “immaculate” performance and their “…impressive reserves of passion and virtuosity”, and has stated that “the Goldner Quartet is the country’s indisputably pre-eminent chamber music ensemble.” The Shrewsbury Chronicle reported that “the Australian musicians demonstrated a remarkable cohesion and the ability to switch from moments of tender lyricism to playing of enormous vitality with total ease”. The Sun-Herald stated that the Goldner Quartet is “superior to most ensembles which Musica Viva imports”, while Strad Magazine reported that “real international class was shown by the Goldner quartet, appearing in the Australian Festival at Wigmore Hall”. The Australian provides their final quotation: “These players just play, and play superbly. They are the humble vessels through which the music flows apparently effortlessly. Careful listening, impeccable musicianship and meticulous preparation all contribute to a wonderful sense of ensemble”.

The Goldner Quartet has just returned from the UK, where they recorded their
second disc with Piers Lane for Hyperion records. This follows on from the first disc
(Bloch), which received much praise from critics including being acclaimed ‘record of the month’ by The Gramophone.

Dene Olding studied at the Juilliard School in New York, winner of a Churchill
Fellowship for advanced studies. He has won many awards, including that of Bronze
Medallist of the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Violin Competition. He has
been soloist with many orchestras in Australia, New Zealand and the USA, and was
frequently Guest Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. When Dean
joined the Australia Ensemble as first violinist in 1982, he was also Leader of the
Australian Chamber Orchestra. Since 2002, Dene has been Concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a position he previously held from 1987 to 1994.

Dimity Hall (violin) graduated from the NSW State Conservatorium of Music
before completing postgraduate study in Amsterdam on a Netherlands government
scholarship. She returned to Australia as Principal Second Violinist of the Australian
Chamber Orchestra and has been that orchestra’s Guest Concertmaster and soloist on several occasions. She has appeared, too, as Guest Concertmaster of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra. Dimity has been the second violinist of the Australia Ensemble since 1992.

Irina Morozova (viola) studied first with Richard Goldner and Robert Pikler at the
NSW State Conservatorium of Music and then undertook advanced studies in Europe and the USA. She has been Principal Viola of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and guest Principal of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Irina is the viola player in the Australia Ensemble, of which she is the only remaining foundation member. She appears frequently as soloist with the major Australian orchestras, and has presided on the juries of the Shostakovich International String Quartet Competition in St Petersburg and the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition.

Julian Smiles graduated from the Canberra School of Music and then became Principal ‘Cellist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He undertook graduate work at the University of Indiana, where he studied with Janos Starker. He returned to Australia in 1991 to take up the position of ‘cellist of the Australia Ensemble. Julian has accepted numerous invitations to perform as a soloist or chamber musician as well as Guest Principal with a number of Australian orchestras. He has been a Guest Lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and has had a long association with the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne.

Programme Notes

MOZART – String quartet in G, K 387

Allegro vivace assai / Menuetto: allegretto / Andante cantabile / Molto allegro

Haydn influenced Mozart’s earlier musical development to some degree, a fact
acknowledged by Mozart’s dedication to Haydn of a set of string quartets. Einstein
writes that the “impression made by the [opus 33] quartets of Haydn was one of the
profoundest Mozart experienced in his artistic life. [. . .]. This time, he learned as a
master from a master; he did not imitate; he yielded nothing of his own personality”.
The musicologist, H C Robbins Landon, says that “on the whole, the six quartets
dedicated to Haydn are even profounder and more accomplished masterpieces than the later three dedicated to the King of Prussia”. Mozart’s six so-called “Haydn” quartets, published in Vienna in 1785 as opus 10 and listed in Köchel’s first catalogue as K 387, K421, K 428, K 458 (Hunt), K 464 and K 465 (Dissonance), were written between 1783 and 1785.

Alan Kriegsman says that the “first quartet in the series [which we are to hear in
this concert] is a boundlessly effusive creation that, for all its spill of emotion, is yet
contained within absolutely ideal proportions. [. . .] The very first phrase is an octave-spanning upward spring, bold and memorable in outline”.The minuet, with its attendant trio section, are placed second in this work. In this case, a contrast to the first movement’s upsweep is provided by the gently falling phrases of the opening bars. The slow movement, placed third, has four separate themes.

In the final movement, which opens with a four-note theme, the instruments imitate each other in close succession, but this is not a fugue even though one may be superficially suggested. After a false ending consisting of loud chords, Mozart brings
the work to a quiet close, still using the four-note theme that has pervaded the whole
movement.

BEETHOVEN – Quartet in F major, op 59, no 1, First Razumovsky

Allegro / Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando / Adagio molto e mesto / Thème Russe: Allegro

Along with the Eroika symphony, the first string quartet in the set that Beethoven
composed for Count Razumovsky marks the beginning of his so-called second period. A remarkable newness in the writing occurs. Each of the four movements of the work is constructed in sonata form. The first movement may be seen as a résumé of all Beethoven’s acquired technique, polished with scholastic perfection. The scherzo is a masterpiece of melodic and rhythmic invention; it is in a world of its own, having no apparent psychological link to the preceding allegro. Just as the scherzo is remarkable for its abundance of patterns and the great variety of their combinations, so is the adagio for its simplicity and broadness of construction. Joseph Kerman, in his book, The Beethoven Quartets, says that the “last movement [. . .] besides being the only Beethoven movement to engage seriously with a Russian tune, ranks as one of the most elegant, spirited, and forthright of his finales [. . .]”.