Julliard String Quartet. March 30, 2025.

Town Hall, New York City.  Orchestra ($15).

Program

Selections from Cypresses, B. 152 (1865/1887) by Dvorak (1841-1904).

String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters" (1928) by Janacek (1854-1928).

String Quartet in E Minor "From My Life" (1876) by Smetana (1824-1884).

Quartet members

Areta Zhulia, violin; Ronald Copes, violin; Molly Carr, viola; Astrid Schween, cello.

This concert would be the last in the series of Peoples' Symphony Concerts subscription I got for this season.  Attendance was a lot better than usual.  As usual, I sat in one of the last rows so I could make a swift exit after the concert.

All the composers were Czech.  Dvorak of course still has a huge repertoire performed often.  I know a couple of compositions by Smetana, most notably Ma Vlast, and other than the opera Janufa, I can't recall a single work of Janacek's.  (Well, I can find a couple of additional entries in this blog.)

Sure enough, Dvorak was quite easy to get, Smetana was okay, and Janacek was a bit puzzling.  Particularly if one bears in mind the titles given to the compositions by the composers themselves.

Dvorak wrote 18 love songs for the voice and piano under the collective name "Cypresses" in 1865 (there is a story there) and arranged twelve of them for a string quartet in 1887.  The ones selected for today's performance are V. The Old Letter in My Book; II.  Death Reigns in Many a Human Breast; VII.  I Wander Often Past Yonder House; XII.  You Ask Why My Songs; and III.  When Thy Sweet Glances Fall on Me.  I guess one can use one's imagination to associate the music with the titles, but I found it quite difficult.  Perhaps if I had read up on the lyrics I would have appreciated it more.  As far as I could tell, the string players played close to the bridge (sul pontecello) to produce an eerie sound.

Smetana's "From My Life" has four movements: I.  Allegro vivo appassionato; II.  Allegro moderato a la Polka; III. Largo sostenuto; and IV. Vivace.  Perhaps a biography?  Indeed the Wikipedia entry on this work describes it as an autographical work with nationalistic elements, and premiered with Dvorak as the violist.  The third movement was specifically written in memory of the composer's first wife.

Per Wikipedia, Janacek wrote his second string quartet to reflect his relationship with a married woman 38 years his junior.  The two exchanged over 700 letters, so Janacek probably had a lot of "source material" to draw on.  The love was unrequited, yet Stosslova was by his side when Janacek died.  Someone probably could compose an opera based on this story.

In any case, all three pieces have significant viola solos, which the violist Molly Carr brought out beautifully.  Overall the concert was very enjoyable.  The second violin was a substitute for Ronald Copes, who was sick.

I did left right after the concert, the train downtown pulled up just as I got to the subway station, and caught the 4:07 pm train back to South Amboy with a couple of minutes to spare.