Monday was the 14th time that the Orion String Quartet has performed in the Chamber Music Pittsburgh series. What has led the presenting organization to engage the group so often?
One reason is the group’s violinists, Daniel and Todd Phillips, brothers whose late father performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for nearly 40 years until he retired in 1987. The quartet also has a strong national reputation and has been booked by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and the Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival. The group has also appeared on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today.”
Their recent Pittsburgh appearance — the second concert of Chamber Music Pittsburgh’s annual series at Carnegie Music Hall — included music by Mozart with Grammy-nominated flutist Tara O’Connor, Dvorak and Leon Kirchner. The concert had some standout moments, but these were overshadowed by technical issues.
The evening began with Ms. O’Connor performing Mozart’s Flute Quartet No. 3 in C major, in which the flute replaces the first violin of a standard quartet. Her sound had the perfect balance of warmth and elegance, and she was a delight to listen to, breathing life into the music from the first phrases.
Kirchner’s String Quartet No. 2 featured tight, well-rehearsed playing from all four members of the quartet. Violist Steven Tenenbom anchored the first movement with impeccable rhythm throughout even the snarliest passages. The playing in the first two movements was a bit sluggish, though they sold the final movement with gusto.
The Dvorak, likewise, was generally satisfactory, but lacked enthusiasm and energy until the finale. Here, cellist Timothy Eddy shone, giving the drama of the movement’s solo gambit a jaunty flair. Intonation proved inconsistent in the quartet’s second movement, and some of the more virtuosic violin licks in the finale weren’t clean. Occasional intonation slips aren’t worth quibbling about—but when these slips distract from the feeling of the music, they have an effect on the concert as a whole.
For the sake of variety, it may be time to bring some new blood into Chamber Music Pittsburgh’s series.
Jeremy Reynolds: jreynolds@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1634; twitter: @Reynolds_PG.
First Published: October 3, 2017, 8:56 p.m.