by CHARLES NOBLE
Portland has a love affair with the Takacs Quartet. It’s not hard to see why. The four players (the two remaining founding members, second violinist Károly Schranz and cellist András Fejér, first violinist Edward Dusinberre, who joined in 1993, and violist Geraldine Walther, who joined in 2005) are all enormously appealing as personalities. Warmth and humor define them in their public appearances, whether they be signing recordings in the lobby after a concert, or giving one of their many masterclasses to students in each city they visit.

The Takacs Quartet performed at Portland State University. Photo: John Green.
The quality of the ensemble is undeniable. They have won countless laurels during their 39-year history. Gramophone magazine recently inducted them into its Classical Music Hall of Fame. These concerts were the first time I’d heard them live since the departure of violist Roger Tapping and the introduction of his replacement, Walther. And while their Friends of Chamber Music concerts this past Monday and Tuesday at Portland State University’s Lincoln Performance Hall were of a very high standard, they raised some niggling doubts about the quartet that I once regarded as almost second to none in the pantheon of great quartets.