To London, to see the Pavel Haas Quartet at St. John’s, Smith Square. First, Beethoven Op. 127 (with, in particular, an absolutely magical performance of the great Adagio). And then, after the interval, the most joyful performance of Dvořák’s Piano Quintet No.2 with Denis Kozhukhin. The audience was totally delighted, especially when the broadly smiling players responded to the prolonged applause by playing the Scherzo-Furiant for us again. A wonderful evening.
The PHQ were also on the radio the day before and you can listen here. From 1.17, they play the first movement of Op. 127. And from 1.37, there is a short but very charming interview with Veronika Jarůšková and Peter Jarůšek, and then the quartet play the opening moving of Shostakovich’s second quartet (which they promise to record next year).