Talich Quartet Shuns Sentiment

The focal point of the Talich Quartet’s Sunday afternoon concert at Sunny Hills High School consisted of works by composers from their native Czechoslovakia--a good thing because errant map-reading caused me to miss the first piece in this Fullerton Friends of Music concert, Mozart’s String Quartet in D, K. 575.

Because the remaining agenda consisted of Leos Janacek’s String Quartet No. 2, subtitled “Intimate Letters,” and Dvorak’s String Quartet in A flat, Opus 105, which offers many chances for effusiveness, I expected plenty of tender, singing moments. But in Janacek’s very personal statement--inspired by the composer’s hopeless love for a much younger married woman--violinists Jan Talich Jr. and Vladimir Bukac, violist Jan Talich Sr. and cellist Petr Prause disclosed lean-toned tragedy even where others have found lyricism. The foursome adopted a single-minded approach fraught with brutality and suspense born from an emphasis on rhythm, not contrasting colors or moods.

Neither did sentimentality hold any allure for the musicians. During their reading of Dvorak’s work, they left little room for poignant pacing or tentative cantabiles. Instead, they chose a more straightforward path--exciting in its contrapuntal precision, engaging for its rhythmic energy, eloquent and understated in its quieter moments but wanting more passionate discourse.

As an encore, the ensemble pulled out its full bag of technical tricks for an uncompromising whirlwind performance of the third movement of String Quartet No. 1 by Czech composer Ervin Schulhoff (1894-1942).