03. Friday 1st May 2009 at 8pm - The Rastrelli Cello Quartet

“They are men on a mission. The Rastrelli Cello Quartet, four Russians living in Germany, is out to cross all genres. The Rastrelli runs the gamut from classical to polkas, tangos to rags.” – Strings Magazine

PROGRAMME

Marin Marais La Folia
Sergei Rachmaninoff Vocalise
Mendelssohn Scherzo from “A midsummer night’s dream”
Alfred Schnittke “Suite in Old Style”
Modest Mussorgsky Gopak
David Popper Tarantelle
Sulchan Zinzadze “Georgian Folk Suite”

Euday L. Bowman 12th Street Rag
Nikolay Sokolov Melody
Dave Brubeck Blue Rondo A La Turk
Astor Piazzolla Milonga del Angel
Billy Strayhorn Take the A train
Jimmy Forrest Night Train

For tickets (e18, music students e5) please ring Kate on 042 9380836 or email vere@iol.ie. You can pay at the door but please ring or email to reserve your ticket.

If it is a fine evening you are most welcome to come early and walk round the garden

REVIEW IN THE IRISH TIMES OF THE FIRST CONCERT OF THIS TOUR

This refreshing first concert in a 10-venue Music Network tour introduced a different kind of string quartet, for the Rastrelli Quartet consists of four cellos. Like many others hearing them for the first time, I was not sure what to expect.

It was great! Inevitably, the programme consisted almost entirely of arrangements. The earliest work was La Folia , by the great French baroque player-composer for the viol, Marias. The latest was written by a member of the quartet, Sergio Drabkine. In between, the majority of works came from the early to middle years of the 20th century, with stylistic variety in abundance, including jazz, ragtime and theatre music.

There was never a dull moment. The range of pieces and the way the programme was ordered helped; but, above all, it was because of the players’ abilities as musicians and as showmen. Hailing from Russia and Germany, each is a virtuoso in his own right, and together they play with a sense of musical purpose and personal camaraderie that is infectious.

The cello’s inherent versatility – its ability to be a low bass, to sing a high melody and everything in between – was called on in most of the arrangements. Some of these were so effective that they sounded as if they were originally for this combination. Among those were the six short movements from Zinzadze’s Georgian Folk Suite – full of subtle changes of colour and texture, and ranging from melodiously sweet to fast and furious. Many of the jazz arrangements worked particularly well too, especially Jimmy Forrest’s Night Train and pieces made famous by Dave Brubeck.

It was these, in the second half, that roused the already keen audience to whoops of delight. Tours to Tipperary town tonight, Kilmallock tomorrow, Kilworth on Sun, Castlebar on Tues, Ballina on Wed, Navan on Thur and Dundalk on Fri

MARTIN ADAMS