•

This, simply, was a marvellous exhibition of the art of string quartet playing.

The Vogler Quartet...demonstrated all the qualities one hopes for, but rarely encounters, in a chamber group: an extraordinary unanimity, a rich sound and impeccable balance...

in Berg's Lyric Suite...the quartet's command of idiom, of form and, importantly, of the emotional sway of the music was well nigh absolute. The fleetness of the faster movements held no terrors-light bowing at subdued dynamic levels never entailed a compromise in the refinement of the sound- while always the quartet moulded phrasing carefully, enabling the passions of the work to emerge seemingly unbridled by considerations of form.

Beethoven's great B-flat Quartet, Op 130, was treated in a similar fashion.

Stephen Pettitt, The Times

•

In each work the players were hugely impressive- above all because of their sound: super-rich, communicatively forward and muscular, and yet laden with the players seperate characters, without which the glories of western chamber music would remain mere shadows of themselves...The splendid Vogler sound bespeaks a rare musical unanimity, one which leaves plenty of room for distinct personalities.

David Murray, Financial Times

 

•

The Vogler Quartet belong in the highest category of contemporary string quartets. They play with a wonderful expressive ease and warmth and possess the unteachable knack of being able to communicate everything they do directly and unaffectedly. Their performances are marvels of eloquent phrasing and subtle co-ordination, instinctive music-making of the very highest class.

The Guardian

•

ESB Vogler Spring Festival 2002
St Columba's Church, Drumcliffe,
Co Sligo,
Douglas Sealy

May bank-holiday weekend saw some of the most halcyon weather ever to strike the western shore and a generously inclusive series of eight concerts built around the talents of the Vogler String Quartet and the Vienna Piano Trio. The little church of St Columba in Drumcliffe, Co Sligo, has seating for around 170 people and the acoustic is quite resonant so there is not only the intimacy proper to chamber music but an uncommon richness of sound. One might be in a composer's brainpan with the music coming from every corner of the cranial walls. The first work in the first concert was Debussy's String Quartet in G minor (1893). This was not the Debussy of the evanescent veils of sonic wizardry but a young man's sturdy declaration of independence presented with the same dynamism that marked all the performances during the weekend. The Voglers had discovered a spirit present in the music but often brought to the fore. Even more dramatic was their reading next day of Janacek's Quartet No 2, Intimate Letters, (1928). The rapid transitions of mood were forcefully expressed. Moving further into the 20th century, there were equally passionate performances of K.A. Hartmann's Quartet No 1 (1933-35) and Wolfgang Rihm's Quartet No. 2 (1970), this last replacing an unavoidably postponed new work by Stephen Gardner. The Vienna Trio's contribution was a little further back in time, with piano trios by Schubert and Haydn. These players share the whole-hearted involvement of the Voglers so the Schubert Trio in E flat (1827) and the Haydn Trio in E flat minor (1795), for all their comparative restraint, were as excitingly alive and compelling as the more recent works. Of course the Vienna is not limited to works of earlier vintage; joined by the clarinettist Jörg Widmann they gave a heart-stopping performance of Messiaen's Quatour pour le fin du temps. The acoustic was particularly favourable not only to the Dance of Fury for the seven trumpets but also to the Abyss of the birds for clarinet solo in which the most piercing bird-call diminishing to the merest wisp of sound could be heard without ear strain in either direction. One of the pleasures of the festival was the way in which the various players regrouped. Stephan Fehlandt, violo player of the Vogler Quartet, joined the Vienna Trio for an extraordinarily lively performance of Brahms Piano Quartet in G minor. Stefan Mendl, pianist of the Vienna, was joined by Bruno Schneider (french horn) and Catherine Leonard (violin) for a colourful reading of Brahms's Horn Trio. Jörg Widmann joined the Vogler in a happily restrained journey through Mozart's Clarinet Quintet. These settings of Alexander Blok's darkly symbolist poems communicated vividly in Pescová's plangent yet seductive interpretation. Pescová, accompanied by the Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov, also sang five songs by R. Strauss, somewhat too operatically for my liking and gave a wonderfully sympathetic and unemphatic presentation of Berg's Four Songs Op 2. Here she seemed to get right to the heart of the composer's intentions. Melnikov is a pianist with a temperament which demands expression. In Beethoven's Op. 109, there were times when there was more Melnikov than Beethoven: the selection of six of Rachmaninov's Preludes suited him better for here temperament and music seemed to coincide. Of great interest was Gubaidulina's Dancer on a Tightrope, played by the violin and piano of the Vienna Trio. The pianist struck the strings of his instrument with what appeared to be a drinking glass, producing a medley of sounds which would arouse the envy of the electronic boys. It has not been possible to mention every work, but a coruscating performance of Schubert's Octet, in which the Vogler were joined by Jörg Widmann, Bruno Schneider, Gareth Newman (bassoon) and Ronan Dunne (double bass), was enough to justify the whole Festival. Eight minds united in a single purpose, speaking as much with as to the audience. It was a shared experience that made one resolve to go home and burn one's CDs.

 

•

Their combination of technical and intellectual command reigned sovereign: in terms of lucidity, dramatic intensity and propulsive urgency, these Performances showed a mature mastery that was quite breathtaking.

Max Loppert, Financial Times

•
VOGLER QUARTET WINS RAVES FROM SEASONED CHAMBER MUSIC LOVERS

Their playing of the quartet in F-Major (Schumann) was full-blooded and brimmed with variety, impetous energy and songful phrasings. The slow-movement variations were like a series of sighs.

The Vogler players are sensitive musicians, so equally voiced that there is no picking of favourites, but even so, I've rarely heard such an expressive viola or second fiddle.

The Vancouver Sun

•
REVELATION D'UN TR‘S GRAND QUATUOR: LE VOGLER

Les mots me manquent pour decrire ce que tous-si j'en juge par le lourd silence qui pesait sur la salle-ont ressenti, comme moi, pendant le mouvement lent du Quintette en do majeur de Schubert.

...Et quel indicible niveau de spiritualite y a atteint le jeune Vogler!

Quelle emerveillement, surtout, de decouvrir des musiciens à peine dans la trentaine possedant deja la distinction et la maturite d'interpretes de longue experience.

La Presse, Montreal

 

•
LE VOGLER TOUJOURS AU SOMMET

• Son retour hier appelle les meme superlatifs et nous fait meme nous demander si nous ne nous trouvons pas, tout simplement, devant le plus parfait quatuor au monde actuellement.

Quels musiciens exceptionnels. Quelle entente parfaite dans les departs, dans le deroulement du discours, dans la conservation entre les instruments. Quelle constante beaute dans la sonorite. Et quelle approche humble et totale devant la musique. Une veritable lecon de style pour tous ceux qui font du quatuor...et de quoi les decourager dans leur quete d'ideal!

Car je ne connais actuellement aucun quatuor qui joue aussi bien...

Claude Gingras, La Presse, Montreal