r: « V ' . ‘ 
     
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     MAUREEN 
     
    
   
   
    
     By, Alan Bjorndal ~ 
     
     On Feb. 5th, at the " 
     
    

    
     Confederation Centre, 
     
    

    
     one of the finest musical 
     
    

    
     experiences of this year 
     
    
   
   
    
     happened. The Orford String 
     
     Quartet presented, with ‘ 
     
    
   
   
    
     Maureen Forrester, an 
     
    

    
     evening of music that I 
     
     personally won't forget 
     
     for a long time. ‘ 
     
    

    
     _The program opened 
     
    

    
     'with the "Quartet in 
     
     G major, Opus 51+" dating 
     
     from 1788 by Haydn. 
     
    

    
     The opening movement is 
     
     marked Allegretto and 
     
     this sprightly feeling 
     
     flowed throughout the 
     
     entire movement. V 
     
    

    
     The second movement is 
     
     marked Allegretto Gon 
     
     Brio and it nicely 
     
     contrasted the more 
     
     stately'firstu 
     
    

    
     The third was the 
     
     traditional Minuetto, 
     
     and Terence Helmer on 
     
     1st violin shone with 
     
     his warm sensitive play- 
     
    

    
     ing. 
     
    
   
   
    
           
     
        
     
        
     
         
     
        
     
        
     
        
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     (xjgjh51fl3LID 
     
    
   
   
    
     4i  
     
     UV   
     
    
   
   
    
     The final mOVement, 
     
     Finale-Presto, was _ 
     
     played very joyfully. 
     
     Haydn definitely ‘ 
     
     enjoyed himself when he 
     
     wrote this very happy 
     
     ending. ‘ ‘ r ' 
     
    

    
     The next item on the 
     
     program was "La Tentation 
     
     de Sainte Antoine" by the 
     
     modern German composer 
     
     Werner Egk. Ms Forrester ’ 
     
     joined the Orford Quartet 
     
     to sing 8‘of the 13 songs 
     
     of this cycle. 
     
    

    
     gThe 8-songs were 
     
     interesting in the way 
     
     in which Mr Egk tried to 
     
    
   
   
    
     eachieve a balance between 
     
    
   
   
    
     the problems of writing 
     
     atonal music within a 
     
     small structure.’ 
     
    
   
   
    
     Maureen Forrester's 
     
     singing was excallent 
     
     from the start. Her 
     
     concentration was. 
     
     unbroken and flowed 
     
     from one song to the 
     
     next. 
     
    
   
   
    
     , The only criticism 
     
     would be that Ms. 
     
     Forrester's usually very 
     
     intimate rapport with 
     
     her audience was hindered 
     
     by the use of the score 
     
     for the songs. She 
     
     conCentrated more with 
     
     scbre than with the 
     
     audience. 
     
    

    
     The next work was "Il 
     
     Tramonto" by the early 
     
     20th century composer 
     
     Ottorino ReSphigi. His 
     
     work,which was essentially 
     
     a Tone Poem for Contralto 
     
     and String Quartet,echoes 
     
     his great Symphonic Tone 
     
     Poems. , 
     
    

    
     'This performance was 
     
     performed with great 
     
     skill and artistry. 
     
    

    
     The differences in colours 
     
     achieved by the strings" 
     
     alone was incredible. 
     
    

    
     To add to this, the 
     
    

    
     voice of Maureen 
     
     Forrester,which went from 
     
     a flowing Bel Canto to 
     
    

    
     an easily'achieved Dramatic 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Orford 
     
     String Quartet 
     
    
   
   
    
     with 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Maureen Forrester 
     
    
   
   
    
     - 
     
    
   
   
    
     THE UPEI SUN} Thursday, February 28, l980} page 9 
     
     _-—-—-— 
     
    
   
   
    
     FORRESTER, w PERFORMS WELL 
     
    
   
   
    
     presence, made the. effect 
     
     of the work very convincing. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The final offering 
     
     was the Quartet No 8 
     
     from the Rasoumovsky 
     
     cycle, so called because 
     
     they were composed for 
     
    
   
   
    
     a Count Rasoumovsky in 
     
     1806. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Quartet is from 
     
    
   
   
    
     ’Beethoven's middle period, 
     
    
   
   
    
     the latter half of this 
     
     PeriOd, incidentally. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Orford Quartet played 
     
    
   
   
    
     Athis demanding work with 
     
    
   
   
    
     such ease that they made 
     
     it appear simple to play 
     
     that musically. 
     
    

    
     The entire concert was 
     
     an evening of fine music 
     
     being played very well 
     
     by some of the finest 
     
     musicians Canada has to 
     
     offer. It was a concert 
     
     the likes of which we 
     
    
   
   
    
     probably won't ex erience 
     
     1n Char ottetown or 
     
    
   
   
    
     a long time. 
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
        
     
        
     
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
    
   
   
    
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