The “battle” of the string quartets at the ARD competition is considered particularly attractive. 17 of 21 registered ensembles from all over the world performed in Munich, seven met in the semifinals in the Prinzregententheater. In the finale, also in the Prinzregententheater, it was two wonderfully different ensembles, the Japanese Quartet Integra and the international Barbican Quartet, which fought for first or second place. And if there was the possibility, both could have been awarded first place. The third, the Chaos Quartet, which had already been successful at other competitions, apparently did not have its best phase in Munich, even though it put in a lot of effort and even offered Ludwig van Beethoven’s op. 130 with the big final fugue. But as with Béla Bartók’s 4th Quartet, the Chaos group turned too far into a scabrous grey-brown with very little light. The effort was commendable, but the intensity and loudness alone did neither Bartók nor Beethoven justice.
Of course, every string quartet competition is worthwhile simply because of the unique repertoire, which ranges from Joseph Haydn to the most modern modern, each with the highest standards. This literature demands absolute professional ability, neither Haydn nor Wolfgang Rihm, neither Beethoven nor Jörg Widmann, neither Antonin Dvořák nor Arnold Schönberg ever thought of amateurs or occasional musicians. In the semifinals is the most dangerous hurdle, Wolfgang Amadé Mozart’s quartets. Added to this is the commissioned work, this time the slightly kitschy “The Ear Of Grain” by Dobrinka Tabakova. All seven also offered the five movements op. 5 by Anton Webern, whose radical brevity requires the most concentrated realization. The Eden Quartet, the already well-known Arete Quartet, both from South Korea, and the Korean-American Risus Quartet played with great skill, but with an all too flat range of expression, which could not satisfy either Webern’s dramatic brevity or even Mozart’s overwhelmingly complex demands in each of his quartets.
The international Chaos String Quartet offered a Mozart covered in mildew and a rough Webern. On the other hand, the not quite mature quartet Hana, who have only been playing together for a good year, surprised with their communicative spontaneity and infectious joy of playing, which was immediately transmitted to the audience. Nevertheless, the somewhat disappointing chaos people were allowed into the final.
The Integra group was only runners-up – but still won the audience award
But here the multi-award-winning Barbican Quartet, who made music as if from a juicy mould, had their big evening. Bartók’s 2nd Quartet was finely structured and balanced with virtuosity, while the Barbicans for Beethoven’s op. 59, 2 brought up the intensity and sincerity that the slow movement molto Adagio needs just as much as the other movements delight in speed and punchlines. Rightly thunderous applause. However, the Integra group, which has also won several prizes, showed what an enormous wealth of colors can be possible in deeply structured quartet playing: with Beethoven’s op. 131 they were able to cope with all attacks of contrast, elegiac suddenness and ironic unpredictability and were impressively on guard. In Bartók’s 6th Quartet they demonstrated a quartet playing full of transparency, sparkling rhythms and a slim variety of tones. ovation. It’s difficult to decide and has to do with the imponderables of different tastes. The jury decided on the “Barbicans”, the “Integras” will still appreciate the 2nd prize after they also won the audience award.