By Daniel Buckwalter
If we must have the end of Daylight Savings time — if darkness must descend by 5 o’clock — then the grace and elegance of the Delgani String Quartet is much needed to usher in those long nights to come.
Such was the case Sunday when the Eugene-based quartet (Jannie Wei and Wyatt True on violin, Kimberlee Uwate on viola and Eric Alterman on cello) came out with Sublimely Schumann before a deeply appreciative, capacity audience.
Sunday marked the opening concert of Delgani’s fifth season and its first in the spacious sanctuary of the Christian Science Church in downtown Eugene near 13th and Pearl streets.
The four-movement, playful String Quartet in E-flat Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart started the show,
followed by the String Quartet No. 12 by Portland-based composer Tomas Svoboda.
Delgani searches far and wide for living composers to work with, be they local, statewide or in the Northwest. The quartet has a long-standing relationship with Svoboda, and will help him celebrate his 80th birthday in December with a small concert at Tsunami Books in Eugene.
The Svoboda piece played on Sunday also was playful, and I was particularly struck by the third and final movement. It had slow phrases mixed with quick phrases. It lent the sense of traveling on a highway with rolling hills.
It had the tenderness of a person on the lonely trail home, but you know the person is getting closer to home with every measure played because the quick phrases become quicker. Finally, there is the joyful, exuberant flurry at the end, and everyone knows the journey is done.
After intermission, Delgani came out with Robert Shumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat Major. The quartet was accompanied by pianist Asya Gulua, who was born in Russia and has played throughout the world.
She now is based in Salem, and, like Delgani, has an interest in teaching young people and working with living composers through Cascadia Composers, a Portland-based group of composers whose works Gulua has often premeired.
As the five musicians carved into Shumann’s quintet, I closed my eyes and let the music come to me.
Others may have insight as to why Delgani is so special, but as I listened with my eyes closed it occurred to me just how tight their playing is. Nothing seems wasted. These four, along with Gulua on this day, belong together. It sounds easy, but everyone knows it’s not.
This is why it’s good to have the Delgani String Quartet back to start a new season.
Delgani String Quartet’s Sublimely Shumann continues on Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 7:30 p.m. at the Christian Science Church, 1390 Pearl Street in Eugene. The group then then plays Saturday, Nov. 16, at 3 p.m., at Willamette University’s Hudson Hall and Sunday, Nov. 17, at 3 p.m., at the Lincoln Recital Hall at Portland State University.
Individual tickets are $28, with student tickets at $10. For information, go online to delgani.org
