‘A triumphant balance of playfulness and prowess’
Sir Willard White’s rich bass tones can lend gravitas to even the most lighthearted music. Combined with the Brodsky Quartet’s deft, ludic playing, the pairing is formidable.
This concert is part of the ‘Memory Unwrapped’ season at Kings Place, a classical series exploring, in various guises, the past and how it is remembered. For the Brodksy Quartet, the concert is a retrospective in several ways: they spent a decade as the resident ‘Artistic Associate’ at Kings Place and the occasion is peppered with fond reminiscences; the programme’s American theme pays homage to the Hollywood Quartet, whose 1950s recordings, including those with Frank Sinatra, were formative for the Brodsky Quartet in their youth; and it offers a chance to reflect upon their two-decade-long collaboration with Sir Willard White, and the quartet’s own fifty-year history, with half of them still original members.
The auditorium was packed and exuberant, and the concert had a convivial atmosphere, like a gathering of old friends. With informal introductions to some pieces and light-hearted banter between players, the musicians extended their warmth and camaraderie to the audience. It felt like we, too, were old friends, laughing together as White, with a flair for dramatic pause, tells us the song ‘P.S. I Love You’ is about his own romantic experiences, which is met with a snicker from Paul Cassidy, the quartet’s violist.
The quartet left their signature on much of the music, and not only because so much of it was arranged by them, for them. Opening with Aaron Copland’s lively Hoedown, they set a witty, rambunctious tone for the evening, with their expressions mock-chastising the audience for prematurely clapping at the music’s joke ending. They are consistently playful and their sheer sense of fun is palpable in every piece, but never to the detriment of the music. The strings are absolutely together and run the gamut of expression with the ease of experience – it is clear we are watching musicians at the absolute top of their game really enjoying themselves. And the joie de vivre is totally infectious.
The first half of the concert features lieder, from Schubert’s profound Death and the Maiden paired with his lighthearted The Trout, to excerpts from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and two traditional songs arranged by Britten. White brings his legendary operatic voice to each with distinction, expressing tragic longing and grave drama in Jules Massenet’s Élégie and Samuel Barber’s Dover Beach, whilst bringing a buttery charm to the Gershwin and two traditional songs arranged by Benjamin Britten.
The delightful charisma which exudes from the performers is on full display for the second half, which kicks off with Britten’s exquisite Poème: ‘Genius!’ marvels Cassidy afterwards. The bulk of this half includes songs associated with Hollywood’s Golden Age, with Cole Porter’s Blow, Gabriel, Blow and Jerome Kern’s They Didn’t Believe Me.
The concert closes with a resounding rendition of My Way, after which we are obliged with two encores, where the talent of the musicians meets with pure silliness. Here, the two make for an irresistible match.
Brodsky Quartet & Sir Willard White was performed on Friday 20 February 2026 at Kings Place, London, as part of their ‘Memory Unwrapped’ series.