Looking around the City Recital Hall at Vision String Quartet’s opening Sydney performance on Saturday, the audience seemed what you’d expect an afternoon of classical music to look like. Tweed jackets, oversized spectacles, and bright cashmere shawls dotted the room. The crowd had gathered to hear the world-renowned quartet perform pieces from Bloch, Bartók, and Dvořák. However, opening the program booklet to a photograph of the four musicians standing together in a pastel pink ball pit, it was clear that we’d be in for something a little more playful than what we had anticipated.
Composed of Florian Willeitner and Daniel Stoll on violin, Sander Stuart on viola, and Leonard Fidselhorst on cello, the Vision String Quartet is best known for its technically superb yet inventive performance of chamber music. The quartet — or band as they prefer to be called — completed their music studies at the University of the Arts in Berlin and with Günter Pichler of the Alban Beth Quartet at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid. The band has won numerous international music competitions since its formation in 2012, including the 2016 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdi Competition in Berlin. In 2021, Vision String Quartet released their 2021 album Spectrum, which combines chamber, folk, and soft pop genres to create a wholly original sound.
The performance opened with Bloch’s 1925 Prelude 63. With its rich Romantic harmonies and catchy lullaby-like viola melody, the piece perfectly illustrated the band’s vision that classical music, despite its air of bourgeois exclusivity, can (and should) be enjoyed by everyone.
“We want to show our audience that chamber music — and especially a string quartet — is not necessarily for serious conservative musicians”, the band has previously stated. This idea was also communicated through the way they interacted with the audience, offering cheeky grins and nods of appreciation when some audience members clapped between movements, much to the disapproval of the more conservative concertgoers.
In past interviews, the band has talked extensively about the importance of performing without sheet music. “Playing from memory allows you to connect even deeper with the musical flow,” violinist Willeitner has said. The group’s connection with this “musical flow”was perhaps most obvious in their performance of Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4 in C major. Over the five contrasting movements, the band effortlessly brought Bartók’s playful energy to life. This was especially true in the fourth movement where the band cast aside their bows and played only pizzicato, plucking and strumming their instruments like guitars. The audience couldn’t help but smile along with the players.
The final piece of the concert was Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 13 in G major. Known for its raw material and rhythmic complexity, Dvořák’s four-movement piece permitted the band to show off their technical musicianship across the contrasting movements. This was perhaps most evident in the quartet’s playing of the second movement, Adagio ma non troppo (Slow but not too slow); the players effortlessly shifted dynamics to let the rich harmonies of the piece sing effortlessly around the City Recital Hall. Throughout playing the piece’s four movements, the band managed to find pockets of lightness with the often heavy darkness that infused Dvořák’s String Quartet.
As would be expected at a classical music concert, the band was greeted to wild applause from the audience, and, having walked off and on stage twice, the concertgoers were treated to an encore of the band’s original piece ‘Sailor’ from their most recent album, Spectrum. A style quite contrary to the three preceding classical pieces, this encore piece incorporated elements of folk and even jazz in its strong syncopation, making for a playful, improvised feel. The piece also included some interesting techniques, most prominently from the viola, who played the instrument for a section of the piece like they were plucking a guitar. This jaunty encore highlighted the band’s capacity to play a multitude of musical styles while maintaining their technical poise. It was a joy to listen to.
Overall, Vision String Quartet was a delight to watch. The band displayed immaculate musicality in the performance of some of classical music’s most challenging works while imbuing a strong element of playfulness and enjoyment of such music to their concert. This is something that can be lacking in classical music performances. The musicians’ energy was infectious, with even those donned in tweed jackets stamping their feet — an animated way of applauding musicians in the music world — at the end of the show. The concert ultimately highlighted the possibilities of playing classical music in the modern world; while often deemed as “uncool” or “nerdy” by many today, Vision String Quartet showcased that classical music is in fact highly playful, fun, and perhaps even cool.
Vision String Quartet’s latest album, Spectrum, is available now to stream on Spotify.