In the full summer season our area flourishes with a plethora of very varied events. Last Friday, for example, we attended a concert given by the winning quartet of the Adolfo Betti prize. Betti, a Scion of the same family which runs Bagni di Lucca’s Pharmacy was a violinist at the turn of the last century and founded a string quartet which, judging by the recordings they have left us, deserved all the praise that was given them. In memory of Adolfo an annual international competition is held which last year was won by a Japanese quartet.

This year it was a foursome from Mexico who stole the prize and for their performance chose Haydn’s Sunrise quartet and Shostakovich’s 8th.

With such a difference in musical language the Mexicans showed absolute poise, dynamic control, precision and virtuosity. Haydn’s little masterpiece from his late op 76 set was played with both lyricism and wit. The Russian’s war-echoing work was heart-rendingly played. A third piece by Silvestre Revueltas, a Mexican composer born in 1899 who died of pneumonia complicated by alcoholism in 1940, received an equally idiomatic performance.

Here is the programme for this captivating concert:

The only criticism I had about the evening’s concert was that to have a string quartet playing in Bagni di Lucca’s Town hall garden without any canopy hardly does the sound any justice. Furthermore there were snitches of background noise coming from another event in our town’s Friday night entertainment. This quality of playing deserves better. I hope that by next year the organisers will have realized this.