Journées Musicales de Dieulefit - All-Schubert - 07/18/24

Franz Schubert: String Trio D. 471 

Franz Schubert: String Quintet in C Major (D. 956) 

Lara Dormeau: Violin 

Rachel Koblyakov: Violin 

David Louwerse: Cello 

Jennifer Rio: Viola 

Manfred Stilz: Cello 

Another summer evening in Dieulefit, another chamber music concert in the lovely Église Saint-Pierre as part of the Journées Musicales de Dieulefit (Musical Days of Dieulefit), and not just any concert either, as last Thursday’s performance concluded the concert series itself with a bona fide masterpiece. For the occasion, François Daudet was taking the evening off as a pianist, but not as artistic director, in which capacity he was welcoming a bunch of carefully selected friends and colleagues to make sure that the music would go on. 

Fact is, the list was as impressive as eclectic, with cellist David Louwerse, who needs no introduction to Journées Musicales de Dieulefit’s regulars, globe-trotting German cellist, flutist and teacher Manfred Stilz, French violinist, violist and long-time teacher Jennifer Rio, American-born and French-residing violinist Rachel Koblyakov, and Dieulefit-born and raised, and by far the most junior member of the ensemble, violinist Lara Dormeau. 

Therefore, it was with extremely high confidence that my mom and I went back to downtown Dieulefit after a thankfully much less hectic afternoon than the day before and took our seats, in the surprise company of our neighbours Setha and Philippe behind us, and the probably less surprise company of Dieulefit’s mayor in a nearby section, for one of chamber music’s most towering achievements in Franz Schubert’s awe-inspiring String Quintet in C Major (Yes, the one with the two cellos). 

Before we got to indulge in the program’s big draw though, our appetites were pleasantly whetted with another work by Schubert that, for all its less ambitious scope and unusual combination of violin, viola, and cello, was a totally appropriate opener to the bigger and better thing to come. In fact, as performed by Koblyakov, Rio and Stilz, the one movement constituting the String Trio D. 471 was so refined and light on its feet that it immediately recalled Mozart himself at his very best, which was very good indeed. 

And then, after our delightful appetizer, we all eagerly moved on to the almost one-hour main course that is Schubert’s “Cello Quintet,” the stunning study in sunny euphoria and dark torment that he completed only two months before his untimely death at 31, and which astonishingly enough was not published until 25 years later. Since then, it has quickly made up for lost time, and is now rightfully one of the most admired and popular pieces of the repertoire. 

Thursday night was no exception, as the capacity crowd got to enjoy a deeply heart-felt performance of the epic quintet thanks to the combined talents and palpable camaraderie happening on the stage, where all five musicians remained remarkably focused and collaborative. As predicted, the undisputed highlight was the transcendental, exquisitely contrasted Adagio, a not so common occurrence in Schubert’s œuvre to begin with, which gorgeously blossomed in all its romantic glory, stunning everybody into respectful and grateful silent. 

Sooooooooooo, what do you play after Schubert’s Cello Quintet? Well, you play it again, of course. Not the whole thing maybe, although I can’t imagine anybody in the audience objecting. In the end, another round of the first section of the refreshingly earthy Scherzo ended up being the perfect choice for audience and ensemble, concluding this last concert of the year with a resoundingly thrilling bang.