Evening star., 1936-12-19
Fine "Strad"
Instruments
Heard Again
Gordon String Quar-.
tet Plays Works of
3 Composers.

TINE second concert Of the Cor
don String Quartet at the liz
brary of Congress yesterday
afternoon, sponsored by the
Gertrude Clarke Whittal Foundation,
gave another opportunity to hear the
famous Strad instruments played by
Jacques Gordon and David Sackson,
violiniSts; William Lincer, violiSt, and
Naoum Benditzky, violoncellist.
The group presented: "Quartert in
c, op. SO, No. g." by Beethoven;
"Sonanta in F, op. 90, for violoncello
and piano." by Brahms and Quintet
in E fat, op. A." by Schumann.
A belief prevails that string in
strument player shows himself to
disadvantage whenever he uses an in
strument which Is not his own.
Whatever the cause may have been,
Jacques Gordon. of all the group, was
not at his best on the Belts" His in
tonation suffered frequent lapses OF
pitch and his tone lacked roundness.
Quartet in C" Exacting.
Beethoven's Quartet in C" is ex-
acting as all Beethoyen's works are.
1t gives an opportunity to display
vibrant quality of tone in slow pas
Sages, the precisions of entries as in
the squence of scales, taken up by
different instruments in turn, and in
the fugue of the final movement. In
all these details the group acquitted
itself with honor, even the fact that
the music fell to the floor from the
first stand in the middle of the finale
did not alter the course Of the per-
formance, as Mr.. Gordon, the able
leader that he is, continued without
break until a long hold relieved the
situation permitting readjustment
of the music.
However, in spite of the mechanical
accomplishment the presentation
lacked little points of flneSse and
character and that purity of intona-
ton which is part of Beethoven's
style. On the whole the rendition
was not very convincing.
The performance of the Cello So
nata was far more satisfying, Naoum
Benditzky displaying talent and abil-
ity of q virtuoSo of no mean order.
He handled his instrument with the
ease of a. violinist and seemed per-
fectly at home and in accord with one
of the most perfect specimen of the
famous Stradivarius in existence.
Ably supported at the piano by Frassk
Sheridan, he gave a notable rendi-
ton of the Brahms work. Both art
lists played with gusto and with an
ing. Especially pleasing was the elo-
quent beginning, the adagio with its
ringing low notes on the cello and
the form of Scherzo (allegro pas
sionato).
Sheridan Plays Confidently.
Frank Sheridan's tone blended well
with the cello. but better still with
the entire ensemble in the Schu-
mann's quintet, the concluding num-
Der on the program, in which the
variety of dynamics at his command
came more to the fore. Mr.. Sheri-
dan is at his best when the nature
of the composition permits him to
lead, as in the quintet; he is thor
oughly dependable, plays with security
and elegance and extracts a tone
which gives fine background to the
strings. He lends vitality to the
performance, carrying his associates
and his audience along by his MASTER
full stroke.
Robert Schumann's brilliant work
in four parts, a favorite with prac.
tically every chamber music organi-
zation, requires virtuosity on the part
of the performers to do the work JUS
tice. A most uncomfortably written
Scherzo fo' the strings, as the title
suggests, calls for adept fingers and
agility of the bow, not to speak of
the piano part which races at neck
breaking speed. The quintet was a
fitting climax of the performance
bringing the recital to a successful
end.
The ensemble found favor with the
distinguished audience which filled
every available seat of the Coolidge
Auditorium. The artists were re-
called many times to bow their &C.
knowledgment. e deS.