Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-01-25
NEWS OF MUSIC
BY IRVING LOWENS
Contrihuting Critic

ouartetto d Roma (Arriso Pei
liectA, violin: Bruno oturanna, viola:
nAsstmo Amntheatrof, cello, Guido
sIsss Tosssn ou slpsaiy IN q G Sss
OPUS AZ. Schumann. Quartet IN c /
ninor; OPUS y: strauss: Quartet In
The Quartetto di Roma. an
excellent chamber music en-
semble. made its first American I
appearance last night at the
Library of Congress in q con- |
cert sponsored by the Coolidge |
Foundation. In view Of the |
heavy snow warnings issued |
throughout the day and the |
threat Of icy streets, a sur
prisingly large audience at
tended.
For its initial offering in the |
United States. the Quartetto |
chose q trio Of l9-century works
Of Germanic origin. OF these.
the most interesting was Q
youthful piano quartet by Rich
ard Strauss. q piece this re-
viewer does not recall having /
heard before.
In his latter years. Strauss
himself was not especially fond /
Of his chamber music. He con-
sidered it an aspect Of his i'm
maturity he would have pre-
ferred forgotten. but ne did
make an exception for the c
minor quartet. according to
authoritative sources. This was
a work ne liked to play and Il
Is not difficult to see why.
Despite the fact that It was
written in the composers 10th
year. 1t foreshadcws his future
greatness and originality with
amazing success: The indebted
ness to Brahms and Schumann
in technique and architectonic
sense Is plain. but it neverthe-
less frequently breaks out Of
the orthodox formal and tonal
molds and sings boldly. as did
the mature Strauss. Especially
effective was the spirited
scherzo "a movement requiring
an exceptional degree Of virtu-
osity on the part Of all the
players). and the Schuman-
Mosque finale.
The evening began with the
Schumann E fiat piano quartet. |
the baby brother of the great |
piano quintet composed in the |
same year. 1t is. in almost every |
sense. a smaller and less dis
tinguished work than the quin-
tet. with which it must in
evttably be compared.
Schumann's sense Of efiec-
tive Instrumentation seems to
have failed him here-the tes-
situra Of the string instruments
lies too low. generally speak
ing. The lack Of the extra
fiddle makes q world Of Diff
ference; the combination has q
dull sound not at all similar
TO the brilliance and excite
ment Of the quintet. Then. too,
the themes and their develop
ment are lacking in grandeur
and breadth-but it is worth
hearing, II only to more effec.
lively set on its better known
brother.
The concert closed with the
familiar Brahms A major quar-
tet In q sturdy reading.
For an Italian organizat ton.
! found the Quartetto di Roma
surprisingly lacking In that lush
lyrictsm. 90 rich and 90 moving,
Of such groups a. the Quartetto
Italiano and the Virtuosi di
Roma. The sound was rather
coarse and hard-not unpleas-
antly 30. but characteristically
masculine.
Also evident was Q sort Of
diffuseness which enabled each
instrumentalist TO stand out as
an individual. This IL some
what unusual in 90 small q
group-one would expect q
more unitary approach. The
total effect was perhaps similar
to that Of q good. sound win
ordinaire when one was expect
ing a great wine.
Much of this. however NAV