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A full house packed the Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel in Parkville last Saturday night to hear Quartet Accorda, resident string quartet of Park University, perform works by Schubert and Mendelssohn.  The evening began on a high note as music critic Paul Horsley shared his program commentary with an audience that has sorely missed his erudite voice in the pages of The Kansas City Star.  By way of introducing the artists, Horsley proclaimed the Accorda to be his "favorite string quartet in America," a sentiment that resonated true as an evening of sublime music-making unfolded.

Mendelssohn's Capriccio for String Quartet in E minor, Op. 81, No. 3, written in two sections, opened with tender expressiveness from first violinist, Ben Sayevich.  His dolce tones sang the haunting melody of the melancholy Andante section to the accompaniment of the Quartet, which featured Kanako Ito on second violin, Chung-Hoon Peter Chun on viola, and Martin Storey on cello.  The Quartet rendered a marvelously impassioned second contrapuntal fugue section, and ended that short work in a firestorm of energy.

Although the program began splendidly, nothing could have prepared us for the heart-wrenching beauty expressed by cellist Martin Storey and pianist Lolita Lisovskaya in Schubert's "Arpeggione" Sonata in A minor, D. 821.  From the first notes of its dreamy, introspective piano introduction, brought to life by an extraordinarily sensitive interpretation by Lisovskaya, the performance was pure magic.  Storey seems to have tapped into the very soul of Schubert and brought forth a profoundly moving expression of this work, and Lisovskaya, ever attentive to maintaining a supportive balance, collaborated with rather than accompanied Storey - it was chamber music at its finest.  In the second Adagio movement, Storey played from his heart in what could only be called an expression of pure beauty, or the essence of love.  Cello and piano played as one instrument, with nuance and depth of expression that revealed the divine.

Schubert wrote the sonata in November 1824 for his friend Vincenz Schuster, a virtuoso of the arpeggione, a fretted, bowed guitar-like instrument that was only in use for about ten years.  By 1824, the year that both the sonata and the quartet performed on the Accorda's program were composed, Schubert's health had significantly deteriorated due to two years of progression of his infection with the syphilis that would eventually end his life in 1828.  While Schubert was in the throes of grappling with the mortality of his body and the immortality of his soul, he also recorded that struggle in the transcendental language of his music.  Storey and Lisovskaya realized Schubert's musical intent with such insightful beauty that, in this ciritc's opinion, their interpretation deserves to be recorded for posterity.

The String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810, Death and the Maiden was composed in March 1824, and takes its name from a song by the same title that Schubert wrote in 1817.  The lengthy second movement of the quartet is based on the song's accompaniment.  In March 1824, Schubert wrote a letter to his friend, Leopold Kupelweiser voicing his anguish:
In a word, I feel myself to be the most unhappy and wretched creature in the world.  Imagine a man whose health will never be right again, and who, in sheer despair over this, ever makes things worse and worse, instead of better... I go to bed hoping never to wake again, and each morning only tells me of yesterday's grief.

The pathos and despair that underlie and unite the movements of this quartet performed as it was Saturday night by the Quartet Accorda, revealed music as vital and daunting today as it was the day it was written.

The Accorda's opening unison exclamation set the tone for an intense and soulful realization of this masterpiece.  With Ito leading on first violin, a shift into a slightly darker, warmer blend of sonority arose from the ensemble, fitting well with the character of the work.  Notable in the second movement was the beautiful violin solo by Ito in the first variation, and a soaring cello solo by Storey in the second variation.  The galloping rhythmic obbligato of the third variation built relentlessly and showcased the Quartet's superb ensemble, and a violin obbligato glimmered sublimely above sustained chords in the fourth variation.

Violist Chun brought the deep liquid beauty of his lyrical tone to enliven the viola solo line in the trio of the third movement scherzo.

The moto perpetuo finale, with its driving rhythm and thrilling unison arpeggio jabs at the end of phrases, seemed to convey relentless death, the horseman, savagely riding home with his prize.  The Accorda kicked into a pounding accelerando for the ending measures that propelled the audience to its feet in rapturous applause.

REVIEW
Park University presents
Quartet Accorda
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel


Schubert is the featured composer in the remaining Quartet Accorda concerts this season at the Graham Tyler Chapel at Park University.  Mark your calendars for these exciting programs, free of charge.  
Friday, March 6, 2009, at 7:30 pm with Quartet Accorda and Friends, guests Jeff Kail, bass and Lolita Lisovskaya, piano - Schubert 'Trout' Quintet in A Major, D. 667.  
Sunday, April 19, 2009, at 3 p.m. with Quartet Accorda and Guests, Laurence Lesser, cello and Hae-Sun Paik, piano: Schubert String Quintet in C Major, D. 956.  
Saturday, February 7, 2009, at 7:30 pm.  with the Park Piano Trio with Stanislav Ioudenitch, piano, Ben Sayevich, violin, and Martin Storey, cello will include the Schubert Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, D. 898.

For more information visit www.park.edu/ata .

By Gayle G. Hathorne

Classical and Vocal Contributor (Past writer)

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