Concert Report

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a concert by the Takacs quartet , a world renowned string quartet . The program included Haydn 's sting quartet in G , opus 74 No 3 , Rider , Beethoven 's String Quartet in C , opus 59 No 3 , Rasumovsky and the premier of a work by New Zealand composer John Psathas entitled A Cool Wind . The concert was held in at the James Hay Theatre . I can honestly say that I have never sat through a concert in which the music was so well played and evoked emotion from

the audience . I was completely caught up and much disappointed that the concert had to end . The venue itself was ideal for a classical concert as the acoustics were fantastic with a lot of wood panelling focusing the sound out towards the audience . Many times cushions and other stage props absorb the sound

The Takacs quartet is known for playing Beethoven string quartets and their excellence in playing his music is prevalent . The Beethoven was played in the second half of the concert right after intermission . This quartet has four movements , Andante con moto - Allegro vivace (C major Andante con moto quasi Allegretto (A minor , Menuetto (Grazioso (C major , and Allegro molto (C major (Kermann 1966

1 - Melody

The main melody of this quartet is very reminiscent of a European or Russian folk song . The melody is mainly played by the first violin but it is cleverly passed throughout tall the instruments , though not completely played each...