CALLINO GIVE REAL PLEASURE
The grass in always greener on the other side of the fence. Middle-aged performers sloping in to do their umpteenth Trout this year wonder where they will find the enthusiasm to present it fresh and exciting to a new audience. Young performers usually want critics to say they are mature players as if maturity itself is desirable. So let us immediately reward them for a super evening: the Callino gave a most mature performance of Haydn, Ravel and Beethoven in the library of Bantry House on the opening night of their second Irish tour in only a few weeks. What was even more impressive was the fresh enthusiasm of their playing. Too often when we speak of maturity we mean nothing more than technical proficiency and a non-variant performance. Today technical excellence may be presumed in the graduates of good schools, which Ioana Petcu-Colan, Sarah Sexton, Samantha Hutchins and Sarah McMahon all are. That the Dutch, never forgiving about technical lacunae, have called the Callino back for a second tour tells us all about their technical skills we need to know. The Callino chose Haydn's String Quartet in D major opus 76/5, Ravel's String Quartet in F major, and Beethoven's String Quartet no 7 in F major opus 59/1, the first Razumovsky. Considering that they recently gave the world premiere of a Raymond Deane quartet commissioned for them, and that Shostakovich, an unsuitable composer for the young performers, is a big favourite with an influential segment of the Callino's fans, that shows great restraint and good judgement. It also made for an evening of unalloyed pleasure for the audience. Taste is an element of maturity that those making their mark often exchange for fleeting notoriety. Even the mysterious Ravel Quartet, like umpteen mock-meaningful car commercials interspersed with the buzzing of bumblebees and dragon-flies, did not tempt the Callino to excess. Their verve in playing this difficult piece put a smile on my face. Their Haydn was cheerfully up tempo, so I suspect that dignified gentleman would have smiled benignly at what they refreshingly did with the masterpiece of his old age. Haydn, young or old, is precisely the composer one doesn't want to play with measured tread. The Callino's first Razumovsky brought together the fresh enthusiasm of youth with the fine discrimination of mature performers, high-lighting Beethoven's humour, a matter often overlooked by those who have staled on this super entertainment . It was in precisely the right style for the chosen compositions, with open fires at the end of the Library in Bantry House, and a candle-lit chandelier over the players.
Andre Jute, Irish Examiner, 16th October 2002