The delight tipping point: Artemis Quartet at the Wigmore Hall
Artemis Quartet
Wigmore Hall
Stalls M7, £5 under-35s
14 February 2018
Wigmore page
Programme:
Mozart String Quartet in F major K590 'Prussian'
Bartók String Quartet No. 2 BB75
Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 3 in D major Op. 44 No. 1
Encore: Bach Chorale: Des heiligen Geistes reiche Gnad BWV295
I'd heard of the Artemis Quartet but not heard them before this my first live exposure; I have no memory of the context of that initial familiarity, even if it was positive or negative. Having heard them I can now fib that they lived up to my expectations, that the hype is justified, that their fame preceded them.
Whatever. The real thing is the delight of going along to a concert with zero preparation and being only delighted by the high level of accomplishment on display. More than that: Artemis seemed to do everything I would want from a quartet: they played good music; they had beautiful ensemble, and communicated well a satisfying joint vision of each piece; and, within that, each player was an individual virtuoso, ideosyncratic and opinionated in lovely ways.
And their violist looks a bit like a chubby Mozart. I was thoroughly pleased.
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