May 12th Competition Section I : String Quartet 1st round Highlight

全参加団体が来阪し、6年ぶりの「大阪国際室内楽コンクール＆フェスタ2023」が開幕しました。

まずは第1部門弦楽四重奏、全10団体が1次予選で演奏を披露しました。

カナダから取材に来てくれているジャーナリストRobert Markow氏が、初日のレポートを寄せてくれました！ Markow氏は後日、イギリスの名門音楽誌The Stradにも、コンクール記事を執筆予定です。

Greetings to Music Lovers in Japan,

First of all, let me say how happy I am to be back in Japan after a Covid-induced hiatus of over three years. The Osaka International Chamber Music Competition is held every three years, and I am grateful to the Japan Chamber Music Foundation for inviting me to the competition 2023 being held this year from May 12 to 19. I will attend every performance over the course of the next week or so, and look forward to providing you with periodic updates.
The first day was devoted to half-hour presentations from ten string quartets from six countries: two each from Japan, China, Germany, and the U.S., plus one each from Switzerland and Italy. For those who like statistics, five quartets consist exclusively of Asian members, and every quartet but one (from Italy) includes at least one Asian. Three quartets consist exclusively of women, but not one exclusively of men.
The repertory required for Round 1 includes any one of the six Opus 18 quartets by Beethoven, plus either Webern’s Five Movements for String Quartet or Kurtag’s Quartet Op. 1. It was interesting to note that five of the ten ensembles chose Beethoven’s C-minor quartet (No. 4) and three chose the F-major (No. 1). As for the twentieth-century work, all ten quartets chose Webern, yet every quartet found different ways to interpret it, and all were convincing in their own ways. Perhaps best of all was the Moser Quartet’s performance, which brought terrifying ferocity to the fast movements and dark mystery to the slow ones. The best Beethoven, to my mind, also came from the Moser Quartet (from Switzerland), which turned in thoroughly polished playing, a full range of expressive gestures, and a homogeneity of sound and balance rarely found in quartet ensembles. If they continue to play like they did today, I’m putting my money on them for first prize.