Music Review from The Columbus Dispatch

FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Published: October 22, 2007
Edition: Home Final
Section: News
Page: 02A

A group of diligent devotees gathered at the Southern Theatre on Saturday night to celebrate 60 years of fine music in central Ohio. Members of Chamber Music Columbus and other patrons marked the special occasion with -- what else? -- a concert, in this case featuring the St. Lawrence String Quartet, an unusually compelling ensemble of young players making its second trip to Columbus via this presenter.

The program seemed fitting: the Quartet in C Major, Op. 54, No. 2 by Haydn, who virtually invented chamber music as most of us know it today; a bold work by a leading contemporary composer, Osvaldo Golijov; and (sigh) Mozart -- the beloved Quintet in A Major for Strings and Clarinet. The St. Lawrence does not play with a big, opulent sound like some older, more famous quartets such as the Guarneri. It's a lean quality that the group uses with measured agility.

One had to admire the way the foursome -- violinists Geoff Nuttall and Scott St. John, violist Lesley Robertson and cellist Christopher Costanza -- approached Haydn, with gloves decidedly off. The vitality and spunk with which the group imbued this music, which, in truth, can die on the vine without a little work on the part of the performers, made Haydn what he really is -- the true precursor of Beethoven in spirit as well as style.

The Mozart quintet introduced clarinetist Todd Palmer, who proved an ideal match for the St. Lawrence in its lively yet sensitive interpretation. Palmer -- playing five clarinet cousins -- also starred in the Golijov, The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind. The piece alternated between mystic suspensions of time and frenzied outbursts in a klezmer style, and it reminded that men of deep spirituality often have walked the fragile line between wisdom and madness.

Chamber Music Columbus represents the spirit of volunteerism at its best, which, if it keeps renewing itself, will assure the organization's continued success for another six decades.

Reprinted with permission.