Last night, Britain’s finest quartet came to Vancouver to perform at the Vancouver Playhouse. The four talented musicians of the Endellion String Quartet have received accolades the world over and continue to impress audiences from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to music lovers in Italy, Portugal, Spain, Mexico, Ireland, India and beyond.
My husband and I watched as the players inspired one another and passionately performed three Beethoven quartets: String Quartet No.3 in D major, Opus 18, No.3, String Quartet No.10 in E-flat major, Opus 74 “The Harp”, and after a 20-minute intermission, String Quartet No.9 in C major, Opus 59 No.3. The three were selected from a cycle of 16 quartets that span Beethoven’s early, middle, and late creative periods.
The Endellions recently performed the complete cycle of Beethoven’s quartets—performed in six concerts over the course of 10 days—at the Metropolitan, surely a highlight of their fascinating, globe-trotting career to date.
The three pieces chosen for the Vancouver concert were each a bit different, allowing the tempo and mood of the music to shine through. Cellist David Waterman is especially passionate about the music as can be seen through his facial expressions and the pure joy he derives from playing with violinists Andrew Watkinson and Ralph de Souza, and violist Garfield Jackson.
Especially enjoyable were the third and fourth movements of the final quartet, as the Menuetto gently filled the room with its charms, while the final Allegro was simply a treat to watch as the musicians splendidly build up towards the final climactic notes to close the evening on a high note.
Back home, The Endellion Quartet continues its Residency at the University of Cambridge (now in its 20th year). They’ve also had the opportunity to both perform and coach for Montreal’s prestigious MISQA quartet academy.
