One of world's greatest string quartets performs in Seaton

Concert Review by Peter Dawson

For the four members of the Doric String Quartet, the world is their stage – and they are more than 'mere players'.

Their schedule has included concerts in London's Wigmore Hall, in major venues in Denmark, Belgium, the USA, Japan and now – after a delay due to lockdown – also at The Gateway Theatre in Seaton.

Their recent performance on BBC Radio 3 prompted a plug there for their concert in Seaton, where they treated an enthusiastic audience to works by Haydn, Berg and Smetana.

The four players, Alex Redington (violin), Ying Xue (violin), Hélène Clément (viola) and John Myerscough (cello) record exclusively for Chandos Records (co-founded by Seaton Music's late patron Gordon Langford) and are keen to present both well-known and lesser-known pieces of music.

Seaton Music was privileged indeed that such great musicians performed at The Gateway on February 9.

As always, full programme notes gave us an insight into what to expect, and from the opening moments of Haydn's Quartet op.50 no. 6 we knew we were listening to world-class musicians – the subtlety in expression, balance, dynamics was all there in this performance, which must be one of the weirdest of Haydn's quartets.

We may regard his harmonies now as traditional, but perhaps they were not for his audience, and the Doric made the most of the drama, the unexpected turns and range of moods in the piece.

Alban Berg's Quartet no. 3 is something completely different – the composer pushing against the norms of traditional harmony to find more emotional possibilities.

John Myerscough's introduction to the piece, complete with short musical illustrations, helped us find a way into this unfamiliar music – unfamiliar even though it was written over a century ago. This was the first time the Doric had performed it in public – another 'first' for Seaton!

After the interval, the Doric played the romantic Quartet no. 1 by Smetana 'From My Life'. The viola plays a major role here, but there are rich solos for all the instruments, conveying moments of rebellion, passion, happiness, humour from the composer's own life.

When Berg heard a performance of his quartet in 1923, he wrote to his wife that the musicians had played 'indescribably beautifully' and 'It (had been) a glorious evening'.

The same sentiment was expressed for the Doric's performance at SeatonMusic's concert, - expressed by expert musicians and non-experts alike, by young and not-so -young members of the audience.

More top-class music! Seaton Music's next concert is at 7.30pm at The Gateway on Thursday, March 23, when the brilliant and highly entertaining piano Duo B!z'art will play a varied programme from Barber to Bernstein and Ravel to Satie.

Tickets are £17 and can be purchased on the website www.SeatonMusic.org or at the door by cash or card. Admission isfree for under 19s and full-time students.