Quatuor Ébène, Cool as Ebony

The actual program was identical to their outstanding maiden recording for Virgin Classics, an all-French combination of quartets by Ravel, Debussy, and Fauré. Making a switch from the printed program, the Ébène opened with the best performance of the three, the Ravel F major quartet -- which they also played at the Corcoran two years ago. As they relate in the video, it was the first quartet they rehearsed as a group; they wanted to give it the "performance of the century," and that is exactly what they did last night. It was a viscerally exciting performance: tonally varied, not overly sweet, but luxuriating in the decadent chords at the end of the first movement. The group showed a free sense of rubato that never made one seasick -- just the right amount of elastic stretch, giving a fierce, athletic daring to the accelerandi. The quartet's experience with jazz informed their breezy take on the scherzo, with its fizzy pizzicati and elegant rhythmic disjunctions, never exaggerated. A certain dark, breathy reediness in the long lines of the third movement recalled the timbre of the accordion.

The other two works seemed less confidently under the fingers, especially after the Ravel, which so clearly belongs to this group now. The Fauré quartet (E minor, op. 121) is a somewhat dry, overly classicized work that did not suit the Ébène's theatrical style quite as well, revealing more strident intonation problems. The second and third movements were the best, especially the rhythmic complexities of the Allegro. Ironically, this is the most recent work of the three, produced by the composer only in 1923. Debussy's quartet (G minor, op. 10) also received a driven, dramatic performance, shaken slightly by a cello peg incident in the second movement. These four musicians have a nearly ideal unity of ensemble, helped considerably by the fact that their primarius, Pierre Colombet, is not at all a showboat. Also exemplary is their range of dynamic shades, with time appearing to stand still in the almost whispered pianissimi, as in the idyllic conclusion of Debussy's third movement.

The next free concert at the Library of Congress will feature the New Zealand Quartet playing Schubert and Mendelssohn, as well as a piece by Whitehead with Richard Nunns playing traditional Maori instruments (March 27, 8 p.m.).