Word: adagio
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Schumann chose a largely fugal Assai agitato for the second movement, saving his Adagio molto for the third and leaving the piece without a true dance movement. The Quartet navigated the fugue impeccably. By employing a multilayered system of dynamics, the main voice always remained prominent while the others maintained the tension. But before the audience could be thrown into the hysterics usually invoked by middle Beethoven, the Hwang and second violinist Ruggero Allafranchini ushered in a flowing lyrical line that could only be Schumann...
...Adagio molto, Allafranchini supplied enough mugging at the audience for the entire concert. Perhaps this practice, not shared by the Borromeo's other members, prevented the movement from obtaining its proper introspective feel...
...second movement of the concerto highlighted the orchestra's skills, as they played pizzacati remarkably in unison for close to the entire Adagio. Lin's treatment of the cadenza appeared to mention Schumann's Fourth Symphony, though it might have come unconsciously. He and Yoo then led the orchestra jovially through the Presto. The Haydn, though not the flashiest work written for violin and orchestra, benefited immensely from Lin's thoughtful and decorous performance...
...first work on the program, Beethoven's Quartet, Opus 18, No. 1, was the most impressively rendered of the pieces, Its second movement, a theme and variations set labeled "Adagio affettuoso e appassionato," was wrenchingly beautiful, the notes spun out with the refinement of silk. The piece provided a musical tour of each player's attributes, certain themes given from one to another, each adding his or her own carefully-conceived statement to the entirety of the conversation. The faster movements, while not quite as powerfully alluring, were also effectively interpreted and performed...
...melody not sufficiently passionate. Here also the contrasting characters displayed by the different instruments detrimentally affected the Quartet's performance; while in most places these variations added interest, the dryness of the violist's sound in the Brahms grated on the ear. The second movement, "Romanze: Poco Adagio," sounded labored and muddy and the third movement was unmemorable. Only the fourth movement, again "Allegro," displayed the requisite character of intensity and dramatic excitement, rising momentously to its climax...