Chamber concert delivers seasoned talent

Spoleto Chamber Music Series X, featuring very difficult and very beautiful music by Haydn, Dvorak and Schumann, was a delight to the packed audience at Memminger Auditorium.

Charles Wadsworth introduced his "hair" violinist, Geoff Nuttall, and the other members of the St. Lawrence String Quartet: Scott St. John, violin; Lesley Robertson, viola; and Christopher Costanza, cello. Nuttall gave a witty introduction to Haydn's String Quartet Op.77 No.2, which won applause from the audience, indicating that even though Nuttall lacks Wadsworth's gift for comic improvisation, he will be a worthy heir.

Although, the exuberant quartet is in the standard three-movement pattern, Haydn filled it with subtle musical surprises: odd juxtapositions of theme, dance music too fast for the dancers, and one musical climax after another. The quartet played the piece with the sort of unity only possible when the players have performed together for years.

As a graying Daniel Phillips, violin in hand, came onstage, to perform Dvorak's "Four Romantic Pieces," Wadsworth noted that while the concerts in the 1960s and 1970s featured young musicians, the current concerts feature fully mature performers in the middle of successful careers.

Phillips's exquisite rendering of Dvorak's lushly romantic music clearly showed the upside of using mature musicians who no longer just play the music, but instead add to the music a unique interpretation. Each of the first three movements featured expressive melodies, while the final largo, filled with romantic yearning is a fitting conclusion.

Pianist Stephen Prutsman provided an elegant accompaniment to Phillips's tour de force.

Hsin-Yun Huang, viola; and Alisa Weilerstein, cello; joined Phillips and Prutsman for the final offering of Schumann's "Piano Quartet in E major, Op. 47" in four movements.

The "Finale: Vivace" moves with pulsating power and is filled such dramatic fervor it brought the audience to its feet in a standing ovation.

This outstanding concert is repeated today at 11 a.m. See why the Chamber Music Series is always a sellout event at the festival.