Mozart — Quartet No. 3 in G major, K. 156
Hindemith — Quartet No. 4, Op. 22
Schumann — Quartet in A minor, Op. 41, No. 1

Thomas Zehetmair, one of the most significant violinists of his generation and one of the most acclaimed Schumann interpreters in the world, leads his exceptional quartet through three eras in German music: the classical optimism of Mozart, the romantic passion of Schumann, and the daring modernism of Hindemith. Playing from memory, the Zehetmair successfully integrates aspects of solo playing into ensemble works, giving them an utterly unique quartet sound.

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Recently I've had chances attend several live concerts, which made me thinking. First I listened to the live broadcast of the season premiere of Pittsburgh Symphony, which features a guest pianist playing the Tchaikowsky piano concerto in b-flat minor. Then a concert at New York Lincoln Center for the performing arts, a young American pianist playing Beethoven piano concerto no.2 in B-flat major with the New York Philharmonic. Then this Wed the Zehetmair quartet at Carnegie Music Hall of Pittsburgh. Plus I attended the Annual International Jazz Seminar at Pitt, features a presentation/performance by renowned guitarist Yotam Siberstein and bassist Abraham Laborial, a favorite of the jazz seminar.

At first three concerts, including the world-class performance of New York Philharmonic, I felt somehow disappointed. Pittsburgh Symphony is among the best in America; but the pianist isn't exactly performing his best.The same with the pianist of Beethoven concerto.And the conductor of that concert of NY Philharmonic was not Lorin Maazel, but the music director of the Los Angeles Opera. I guess their collaboration, along with the too-young spirit and speed of the pianist, was not exactly satisfying.

However the concert at Pittsburgh was fascinating, and strictly world class. I was having doubt of whether it's because I have used to the recording too long that I cannot stand for any imperfect live performance? But the string quartet proved me wrong.Their performance is just as perfect as their recording. First a quartet by Mozart, very smooth. Then a Hindemith work, which is fairly chromatic in harmonic experimentation, and I actually fell asleep. Then its "authoritative" interpretation of Schumann, I felt that their capacity of bring only four tiny string instrument to a level that is comparable to a small string ensemble or orchestra is amazing. This is the pure beauty of the string quartet, which is I believe to be the most pure musical form that explores only musical possibilities in terms of pitch, rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, instead of the rich contrast of tone color.

Chamber music is so far the most complicated form for me to comprehend even now. I need to look at the score to grasp its essence. On the other hand, the form opera, which I strive to understand, is eventually unaccessible to me. I couldn't stand the hour-long presentation of the musical phrases over a story that can be told in a minute, unless the music is really appealing.The music director of LA Opera disclosed a forgotten piece by Austrian composer a hundred years ago, Zemlinsky, and I found his opera called The Tragedy of Florence totally tedious, although I could recognize the good performance of the orchestra and the vocalists. They are excellent performers. But opera, maybe rooted in the structure of drama, like Shakespeare, is something that I'll never appreciate to a good level as instrumental music.