69. Crespo Series

This concert features two deeply emotional works played without a break. The Ninth is totally uninhibited, the first movement played at a relentless fortissimo as though the world had just ended, bizarrely morphing into a graceful pizzicato Allegretto as though the explosive opening movement had never happened. The overwhelming Andante mourns some unbearable loss that leaves you gasping for air. The A minor Tenth Quartet opens with a powerful long-breathed Adagio that is countered by a shadowy muted Scherzo followed by a short-lived but passionate Adagio and an ultimately inscrutable Finale.