Cal Performances presents the Tetzlaff Quartet
Hertz Hall
U.C. Berkeley, Bancroft Way at College Ave, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
3:00 PM, Sunday, November 12, 2017

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2017 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2017 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

• Mozart: Quartet No. 16 in E-flat Major, K. 428
• Berg: Quartet, Op. 3
• Schubert: Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D. 887

[3:03 PM lights down, performers out, sans CT, who has misplaced his music, and arrives after another minute's wait]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791): String Quartet No. 16 in E-flat Major, K. 428 (K. 421b) (1783)

1. [3:04 PM] Allegro non troppo
2. [3:12 PM] Andante con moto
3. [3:19 PM] Menuetto & Trio
4. [3:25 PM] Allegro vivace
   [work ends 3:30 PM; pause for a breather]

Alban Berg (1885–1935): String Quartet, Op. 3 (1910)

1. [3:33 PM] Langsam
2. [3:43 PM] Mässige Viertel
   [set ends 3:52 PM; all off after a minute or so, and I dash outside for fresh air!]

[4:11 PM lights down, performers out]

Franz Schubert (1797–1828): Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D. 887 (1826)

1. [4:12 PM] Allegro molto moderato
2. [4:31 PM] Andante un poco moto
3. [4:43 PM] Scherzo: Allegro vivace – Trio: Allegretto
4. [4:50 PM] Allegro assai
   [set ends 5:01 PM; all off after a few minutes of applause; no encore today]

Tetzlaff Quartet

• Elisabeth Kufferath: violin;
• Christian Tetzlaff: violin;
• Tanja Tetzlaff: cello;
• Hanna Weinmeister: viola.

My initial assessment: double plus good on the Mozart; the members of the quartet are certainly well versed in the expression of taste and refinement. And they played the heck out of the Berg work too, but I had a much harder time appreciating it. Perhaps a lecture on what to listen for would help me out!

At break I was guessing that the second set wouldn't be anywhere near so fierce as the Berg, but I'd forgotten that the program was for Schubert's last quartet: an exceptionally tempestuous and long-winded work. Drat! No easy listening there! Like the first set, the Tetzlaff Quartet turned in a fine performance, but it certainly tried my patience. Did my attention wander? Yes. Did I snooze? Hmm. I don't think so… That was the old guy next to me snoring and wheezing. Reminds me that I need to do a better job getting the programs to make sure I skip buying tickets for shows I don't need to hear.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2017 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2017 event list! ☸ On to the next event!