Music review: Guarneri String Quartet provides fitting, profound farewell thoughts

Before it plays its final concert Tuesday in Florida, the Guarneri String Quartet had some final musical thoughts to convey in Huntsville.

If not as refined as they've been known to be, these illustrious musicians were as profound as ever in their Alabama farewell Friday.

Even after 4,000 concerts and 45 years together, the cavernous sanctuary of Trinity United Methodist Church proved challenging. Mozart's Quartet in D minor, K. 421, began the concert with uneven tempos, intonation flaws and a few bow strokes that didn't quite speak. Glimpses of what made this quartet one of the finest in the last 100 years surfaced in the Andante and finale, its organ-like blend and unison swells compensating for a general lack of robustness.

These minor maladies disappeared with Ravel's String Quartet in F major. Sonic refinement and blend have always been hallmarks of the Guarneri sound, but this reading was transcendent. The warmth of first violinist Arnold Steinhardt's solos in the opening movement complemented cellist Peter Wiley's dulcet strains in the second. Violist Michael Tree's meaty sound propelled a warm, nostalgic solo in the "Tres lent" third movement. The quartet surged with nearly orchestral fullness in the broad arpeggios in the finale.

Dvorak's Quartet in F major ("American") retreated briefly to the unsettled ensemble of the Mozart but recovered nicely. Sparked by second violinist John Dalley's second movement solos, the work gained momentum, ending in a propulsive finale driven by the quartet's greatest strengths - a suave blend, unanimity and expressive freedom.

With the encore, the poignant Andante from Mozart's Quartet in F major, K. 168, these four stellar musicians were left with two more performances together - today in Conway, Ark., and its final farewell Tuesday in Amelia Island, Fla. They will be sorely missed.

E-mail: mhuebner@bhamnews.com

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