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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

The Friends of Chamber Music’s International Chamber Music Series began this past weekend with the Kopelman Quartet. Having joined forces in 2002, the Quartet’s musical chemistry could have listeners believe these four reputable experts have been together for decades. The small crowd was treated to style and substance in a mostly Russian program Saturday night at the Folly Theater.

The Kopelman Quartet satisfyingly captured the mix of sweet lightness and fiery passion in Borodin’s String Quartet No. 1 in A Major. The first movement featured every instrument beautifully, separately and as a unit. Its delicate opening allowed the group to display its impeccable vibrato and internal communication with perfect entrances and well-balanced dynamics. First violinist Mikhail Kopelman and violist Igor Sulyga enjoyed a pleasant duet in the beginning of the second movement, with cellist Mikhail Milman having some impressive sustain and tone in the high register of his instrument. The work’s Scherzo movement showed off the Quartet’s spry spiccato and rapid bowing and picking ability, all rhythmically tight and together. Its harmonic section was slightly out of tune, but that issue was resolved the second time through.

Two Pieces for String Quartet by Shostakovich followed: "Elegy" and "Polka." "Elegy" was highly controlled, with a dark intensity and biting harmonies that the Quartet performed with muted profundity. With this piece in particular the Quartet made me feel that they were not simply playing notes on a page but rather recounting a melancholy story. The dramatic and exaggerated "Polka" was an excellent example of Shostakovich’s famous mocking sense of humor. Its glissandos, well-projected pizzicatos, and traded half-step melodies elicited occasional appropriate giggles from the audience. These were my favorite works of the evening, not only because they were most varied in style, mood, and tempo—they were also all the more interesting to experience knowing these gentlemen studied with the composer himself decades ago.

Brahms’ String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51, No. 2 completed the program. The Quartet emphasized the piece’s highlights with their emotive physicality, moving with the musical swells. Their rich, dense sound and good balance easily gave the listener the illusion of more instruments on stage. Although they each played a tad aggressively at times, their collective precision, expression, and passion were overwhelmingly remarkable.

For its encore, the Quartet played the "Nocturne" from the third movement of Borodin’s Quartet No. 2. This charming, soothing piece featured second violinist Boris Kuschnir with a prominent melody, which he performed with poise and sensitivity. If I have one major criticism about the concert, it lies with the programming. While I have no complaints about the Kopelman Quartet itself, the works they performed were all of similar tempo and style, and I would have liked more variety. However a Quartet as individually accomplished and cohesive such as this—veterans of the “golden age” of the Russian school—can play anything they wish and it will still make for an enjoyable and lovely evening.

REVIEW:
The Friends of Chamber Music
The Kopelman Quartet
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Folly Theater
12^th and Central, Kansas City, MO
For more information visit www.chambermusic.org

By Kristin Shafel Omiccioli

Editorial Assignments Executive Editor; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Kristin Shafel Omiccioli, a native of Madison, WI, holds composition degrees (M.M., B.M.) from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. Kristin's compositions have been performed at national and regional new music festivals and conferences throughout the United States. During her time at UMKC, Kristin also focused on double bass performance and arts administration. She was a student leader and performer in many of the Conservatory's student organizations and ensembles, including Musica Nova, Composers' Guild, the Conservatory Student Association, the orchestras, and Wind Symphony. Her composition instructors were James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, Zhou Long, and Chen Yi, and her bass instructor was Sue Stubbs. Formerly a guitarist, Kristin performed with big bands and her own jazz combo in Madison, WI, having studied jazz guitar and theory with Roger Brotherhood in Madison and jazz voice and theory with Hal Melia in Kansas City at UMKC.

Kristin enjoys being active in the performing arts community. She has volunteered with the Chamber Music Society of Kansas City and Charlotte Street Foundation, and has played in the bass section of the Northland Symphony Orchestra, among other bass gigs around the metro. Kristin currently serves as principal bass for the Kansas City Civic Orchestra and Heritage Philharmonic, and is a section bassist for Kinnor Philharmonic. She joined the writing staff of KCMetropolis.org in February 2010 and has been KCM’s executive editor since July 2011. Read her blog at mylittleheartmelodies.com.