It felt like a royal visit. The Takács Quartet’s Melbourne performance was a hugely anticipated event, and Elisabeth Murdoch Hall was buzzing well before the Quartet appeared on stage.
The Quartet, now in its fiftieth year, comprises founding cellist András Fejér, leader Edward Dusinberre (since 1993), Háarumi Rhodes (2018), and violist Richard O’Neill (2020-21).
Melbourne was the Quartet’s first stop in its 2025 tour, and the stage for the world premiere of Sonnet of an Emigrant (2025) for narrator (Angie Milliken) and string quartet by the Australian composer Cathy Milliken.
The program opened with Haydn’s opus 74 string quartet in G minor, nicknamed “The Rider” for the cantering rhythm of the opening theme. The Quartet infused the faster movements of this lively work with energy, while holding the audience in thrall with the simple beauty of the slow movement.
Commissioned by Musica Viva Australia’s Paul Kildea, Sonnet of an Emigrant is a setting of eight poems written by Bertolt Brecht between 1940 and 1942 in Denmark and the United States.
Milliken’s program notes describe how the work “moves through an exile’s emotional landscape”. The poems depict the exile’s longing for the home and simple pleasures they have lost, the pain of a hasty departure, and their urgent need for letters (“Schreib mir”). But, whereas Brecht frequently sought to create an emotional distance between the audience and his characters, in Milliken’s work the audience is drawn into the poet’s world, with the music amplifying the emotional state described in the text.
Actress Angie Milliken (the composer’s sister) said in an interview that she saw the narration as a fifth instrument. The poetry is woven into the music. At some moments the strings create a supportive sonic bed for the text; at others – such as “Schreib mir” – the text and music rub up against each other.
Angular phrases from the strings provoke the narrator to urge their distant ones to “write to me”, the music and text gradually reaching a feverish intensity. But despite the trauma of dislocation, the final episode is positive, set to the poem ‘‘Alles wandelt sich” / “Everything changes”, with the inspirational thought: “You can begin again with your last breath”.
For Dusinberre, Beethoven’s “Razumovsky” String Quartet, Op. 59 No. 3 has special significance; in an online presentation he discloses he played it to audition for the Quartet.
The music is guaranteed to please and this performance did not disappoint. Highlights included the portentous opening, the slow movement, punctuated by the cello’s resonant pizzicato passages, and the gracious minuet. The frenzied exuberance of the final movement proved – if more proof were needed – why this Quartet is so revered. It was one of those breathtaking high-wire performances, with the musicians hurling themselves at the score with no thought for their own safety! It was a truly exhilarating conclusion to a much anticipated evening.
While some ensembles choreograph their performances to blend their individual identities, this ensemble seemed to feature their differences. They sat well apart, employing theatrical gestures to accentuate the musical dialogue between them. O’Neill presented a soloistic personality, sometimes playing square to the audience with his back to the cellist.
Yet, the four players combined impeccably; they gave the impression they were so well acquainted with each other’s playing they were completely free to take the music wherever it needed to go in the moment.
The audience was determined to hear more, and the Quartet gave a scintillating performance of the second movement of Ravel’s String Quartet as an encore.
Photo credit: Cameron Jamieson
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Sue Kaufmann reviewed “Takács Quartet with Angie Milliken”, presented by Musica Viva Australia at the Melbourne Recital Centre, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall on August 14, 2025.
