San Francisco Classical Voice

Stoltzman's musicianship and his positive effect on the other players were notable early on, in the development of the first movement, where the theme becomes an energized conversation among the instruments. In contrast, the exposition seemed a little sluggish in places, owing to a tendency to over-interpret. Though this movement was elegant and the sound of the group secure and rich, there were moments that might have benefited from a more delicate approach. That said, their exploitation of dissonances was deliberate and telling. In the Trio of the Menuetto, the viola line was brought out, despite being an ‘inner voice,' a nice touch. Such moments, when the interpretation was unusual and carefully delivered, were unexpected little gems.

Three individual movements, labeled “Stoltzman's Favorites”, following the Mozart, were all delightful and well-chosen. The first half of the program then ended on an exciting note with Paul Hindemith's cacophonous Schneller Landler from his Clarinet Quintet, op. 30. These pieces highlighted one of the group's clearest strengths, maintaining continuity of line between players. They kept interest level high during the first half, and overall. Despite a tendency toward finding their ‘comfort zone' in terms of sound, their interpretations were appropriate, if not a little bit predictable.

The problem of the ‘comfort zone' was most problematic in Ravel's String Quartet in F Major, with its particular impressionism, colors and effects achieved by layering patterns underneath the expression of a motif. Though there were moments where the group would start a passage in a certain way, say without vibrato, and continue this effect until the end of that section, these were unusual. The tendency instead was to begin with an effect, then gravitate toward their typical warm, rich sound within a few notes. For musicians listening, this would have been disappointing. Maintaining a ‘nice' sound all the time tends to leave things sounding a bit uniform, even if it is uniformly chocolaty and rich. As a result, the American String Quartet did not even come close to exploiting the possible colors available to them, and there were few character changes between sections.

This concert was risk-free for the quartet, as it did not go out on a limb artistically or technically. There were no controversial decisions, nothing innovative to marvel at. For the most part, it was comfortable and un-spontaneous, even if competent and well rehearsed. The success of the group is somewhat mysterious to me, though my cynical side thinks it may have something to do with cellist Margo Tatgenhorst looking fabulous in an evening dress. She is a competent cellist, but gives an impression of holding the group back musically while furthering their visual appeal. While the program was diverse and interesting, interpretation did not push far enough beyond the notes themselves.