String Quartet No. 1, “Kreutzer Sonata”, Janacek; String Quartet No 2, in D Minor, Smetana: Fibonacci Quartet
The Fibonacci String Quartet was formed in September 2019 and consists of students of David Takeno and Louise Hopkins at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, UK. It is an international ensemble, bringing together Czech, Belgian, Swedish and Montenegrin nationalities. The quartet is coached and mentored by Krysia Osostowicz, a renowned violinist and chamber musician. They stepped in at short notice to replace another covid-struck quartet.
They sounded mature and confident and this was an enjoyable 50 minutes or so. Neither work do I know well, though I have a recording of the two works. The Smetana I would want to come back to and listen again – Schoenberg apparently called it the ‘first piece of modern music’ ever created; I am not sure on what grounds……But it is certainly a substantial interesting piece of music. So, is the Janacek of course, but – maybe the performance, maybe the fact that I was having to walk everywhere because of the train strike, I wasn’t as gripped by the Janacek, and, sadly, drifted off to sleep at one or two points. I am sure that’s my problem, not the players………..
John's musical journey 