Music / 30th Anniversary and Farewell, Goldner String Quartet. At Snow Concert Hall, Red Hill, September 28. Reviewed by LEN POWER.

It was a bittersweet evening as this concert was a farewell performance by the Goldner String Quartet.

First formed in 1995 and named after Richard Goldner, founder of Musica Viva Australia, the founding members of the group are still together 30 years later.

Dene Olding, violin; Dimity Hall, violin; Irina Morozova, viola and Julian Smiles, cello, played three masterpieces from the string quartet repertory – works by Robert Schumann, Carl Vine and Franz Schubert.

The concert commenced with Schumann’s Quartet No. 3 in A major, Op.41 No. 3. Composed in 1842 it was the last string quartet he wrote. It was followed by Australian Vine’s 1994 Quartet No. 3 and Schubert’s Quartet in C minor D810, Death and the Maiden, composed in 1824, was the final work on the program.

As expected, the quartet gave each of these very different works a superb performance. The clarity of the playing brought out additional depth and colour in the works and it was almost like hearing them for the first time. The exciting finale of the Schumann was especially well played, as was the well-known third movement of the Schubert work. Their playing of all three parts of Carl Vine’s Quartet was electrifying.

For an encore, they played the second movement of Dvořák’s American Quartet. This work with its exquisite melody was the perfect end for the concert.

Violinist Olding gave short informative introductions to each of the works. With his dry humour he mentioned that, although this was Canberra’s farewell performance by the Quartet, they might “do a Nellie Melba”.

We can only hope!