Festival Theatre, Malvern – 15th March 2026
Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau
5*****
It was a cold, blustery night that made one question if it was worth going out. Since it was Malvern Theatre for a Malvern Concert Club appearance of the Doric String Quartet I forced myself. And boy was I glad!
First up was Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 1. I love it when musicians give us a talk from the stage, perhaps with a little anecdote to illuminate our understanding – and tonight Cellist John Myerscough did just that with several fascinating introductions. The first of these highlighted the similarities between this quartet and the Beethoven later, complete with the quartet playing the first sections of each. Very much enhancing our enjoyment.
From the Beethoven inspired opening sighs to the crushing chords and surprising key centre of much of the last movement, the Mendelssohn piece was a revelation. I had always thought this composer to be a bit conservative, even boring and predictable. But this was nothing like that. Inspired work and playing.
Janáček’s String Quartet No.1 The Kreutzer Sonata was next up. John had described the piece as an intense 15 minutes and he wasn’t wrong. Or exaggerating. The piece was inspired by a novel regarding a rehearsal of Beethoven’s Kreutzer Quartet. If you like early 20th Century music you will love this piece as it is full of that era’s drama, outbursts and use of modes. It reminded me of a Hitchcock or melodramatic silent movie film score – I will certainly be searching out the piece again!
After the interval, during which we got the opportunity to thank two of the musicians in person at the Merch stand (yes, I did buy a CD), it was the Harp String Quartet (No 10) by Beethoven. The piece got its nickname due to the harp like effect as the tune is shared around the Cello, Viola (Emma Wernig) and second Violin (Ying Xue) – and what a miraculous effect was wrought by those three; truly awe inspiring. The Violin cadenza (from first Violinist Maia Cabeza) was also a thing of wonder to thrill the senses – and that’s not even mentioning the frenetic end to the opening movement with the Violin racing along like a runaway train hurtling downhill.
With a gentle lullaby of a 2nd movement, a 3rd movement showing echoes of his 5th symphony and a last movement of variations for various instruments and combinations giving each musician a chance to shine, it was a stunning performance throughout – displaying a breadth of emotion and depth of musicianship that is hard to surpass.
The Doric’s are incredibly tight unit musically, often sounding like one person doing double stops (playing two strings at once) rather than 2 separate musicians. Though technically dazzling it was also the physicality that held my attention. This was a visceral performance with everyone off their chairs, in the air and digging into their instruments when the music demanded it. Don’t get me wrong though – the tone and balance of the group was absolutely first class too.
In short, it was an evening of wonderful music played to the highest calibre! I cannot wait for their return (or the next concert in the series). Bravo to all concerned.