Chamber Music Society a Philadelphia paragon:  In a wide-ranging piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer (May 15th), Music Critic Peter Dobrin praises PCMS as “a parable of what’s possible when you’re doing everything right.”

   In advance of Mitsuko Uchida’s sold out April 10th recital, Dobrin blogged about what a hot ticket her Perelman Theater performance was and called it a “transcendent night” in his subsequent Inquirer review.

   Distinct stylists, dynamic sharing:  Dobrin on the mother/son pairing of Miriam Fried, violin and Jonathan Biss, piano (April 14th at the Perelman Theater).

   And then there are three:  parting from a quartet. In advance of the Emerson Quartet’s April 24th concert, the Inquirer’s David Patrick Stearns looked at transitions in the string quartet world, including changes for the Emerson, Tokyo, Juilliard and more.

   Chamber Music America‘s spring issue featured an in-depth retrospective on the legendary Tokyo String Quartet, which made its last Philadelphia appearance on May 5th at the Seaport Museum.

   A feast before the famine:  The Broad Street Review‘s Robert Zaller on the third and final 2013-13 appearance of Musicians from Marlboro (May 8th at the Perelman Theater).

   PCMS closes season with Guarneri players:  Peter Dobrin reviews the final concert of the season with Ida Kavafian and the former Guarneri Quartet members at the Philosophical Society (May 17th).

Richard Woodhams, principal oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 1977, is a 1968 graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music. Mr. Woodhams’s tenure has included solo appearances with The Philadelphia Orchestra in Philadelphia, as well as in New York, Boston, and other cities throughout the United States and Asia in collaboration with its four previous music directors. Since 2000 Mr. Woodhams has taught and played annually at the Aspen Music Festival, where he performed Christopher Rouse’s Oboe Concerto in 2009 with David Robertson; he has also participated in the Marlboro and La Jolla music festivals, among others. He began his musical studies in his native Palo Alto, California, with Raymond Dusté and started his orchestral career with the Saint Louis Symphony under Walter Susskind at the age of 19.

Juliette Kang is the first associate concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra. She holds a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Dorothy DeLay and Robert Mann. A native of Edmonton, Canada, Juliette Kang came to Philadelphia from the Boston Symphony, where she served as assistant concertmaster from 2003 to 2005. Prior to that she was a member of the first violin section of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra from 2001 to 2003. Ms. Kang has been actively involved with chamber music since studying quartets at the Curtis Institute of Music with Felix Galimir. Festivals she has participated in include the Bravo! Vail Valley, Bridgehampton, Kingston Chamber Music, Marlboro, Moab (Utah), Skaneateles (New York), and Spoleto USA. In New York she has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, at the Mostly Mozart Festival with her husband, cellist Thomas Kraines, and at the Bard Music Festival.

Violinist Lisa-Beth Lambert joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2001, following six seasons as a member of the National Symphony in Washington, D.C.  An active chamber musician, she has appeared at the Marlboro Music Festival, on Marlboro’s 50th Anniversary recording, at the White House, and with the Brandenburg Ensemble, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, and the 20th Century Consort.  Ms. Lambert has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, including the National Symphony and the New World Chamber Orchestra of Mexico City.  A graduate of the Curtis and Cleveland institutes of music, her major teachers have included Jaime Laredo, Yumi Ninomiya Scott, Donald Weilerstein, and Ronda Cole, with whom she began studying at age three.

Yumi Kendall joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2004 as assistant principal cello after graduating from The Curtis Institute of Music. While at Curtis she studied with the late David Soyer and Peter Wiley, both of the Guarneri Quartet. Ms. Kendall began studying cello at the age of five following the Suzuki method. She made her recital debut at age seven, and, upon completion of the Suzuki method, continued to study for seven years with the National Symphony’s principal cello, David Hardy. Ms. Kendall’s participation in summer festivals includes Music from Angel Fire, the Verbier Festival, the Marlboro Festival, touring with Musicians from Marlboro, the Taos School of Music, the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, and Carnegie Hall’s Emerson String Quartet Workshop. Ms. Kendall has served on the faculties of the New York State School for Orchestral Studies, the Philadelphia International Music Festival, the University of Pennsylvania chamber music department, the Brevard Music Center, the National Orchestral Institute, and as mentor in the Curtis Institute’s new Community Artist Program.

Violist Che-Hung Chen has been a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra since the spring of 2001, when he was hired by then-Music Director Wolfgang Sawallisch, becoming the first Taiwanese citizen ever to join the Orchestra. He has also served as acting associate principal viola under former Music Director Christoph Eschenbach. Mr. Chen was the first-prize winner at the Seventh Banff International String Quartet Competition as the founding member of the Daedalus Quartet; he was also awarded the Pièce de concert prize for the best performance of the commissioned work and the Székely Prize for the best performance of a Beethoven quartet. A three-time top-prize winner at the Taiwan National Instrumental Competition, Mr. Chen began his studies at the age of six with Ben Lin in his native Taipei, and he later entered the Curtis Institute of Music at age 14, where he studied with Joseph de Pasquale, retired Philadelphia Orchestra principal viola. Mr. Chen currently serves on the faculty of Temple University’s Esther Boyer College of Music and its Preparatory Division.

Kiyoko Takeuti joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as pianist in 1985 and is heard frequently in recitals and chamber music concerts in the Philadelphia area and elsewhere on the East Coast. She has been the pianist of the Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble since its inception, with which she has introduced to the public many unknown chamber music works, both old and new. Born in Tokyo, Ms. Takeuti began playing the piano at the age of three. Among her early teachers in Japan and the United States were Tanya Ury, Max Egger, and Soulima Stravinsky. Ms. Takeuti’s formal musical training culminated in studies with renowned artists Rudolf Serkin and Mieczyslaw Horszowski at the Curtis Institute of Music. At Curtis she also studied chamber music extensively with Misha Schneider and the members of the Guarneri Quartet.

Tokyo String Quartet

Looking back, the signs are all there.  Even if the Tokyo String Quartet hadn’t announced its forthcoming breakup, the group just finished recording the late Beethoven quartets—for the second time.  Then came a Schubert Quintet in C major recording—another piece that quartets want to do one last time.  Concerts included the last quartets of Schubert and Bartók.  On the cover of the quartet’s latest recording, a Dvořák/Smetana program, the players are standing with their coats on, getting ready to leave.  And they are.

The Tokyo Quartet is winding down its final tour before going their separate ways.  But before making a stop in Philadelphia one last time to perform at the Independence Seaport Museum, the quartet was interviewed by David Patrick Stearns for the Chamber Music America magazine (opening quote above).  In speaking about their retirement, Martin Beaver (first violinist since 2002) said, “A good adjective would be bittersweet, especially when we visit places where we really felt at home…we’re very close to the people involved.”

Sure enough, after 38 PCMS performances since 1989, the Tokyo has appeared on our stages more than any other ensemble.  The relationship they have built with our audiences over the years was best described by Clive Greensmith (cellist since 1999) in another interview.

We would not hesitate to claim [Philadelphia] as being one our favorite concert series, anywhere in the world. We always feel a strong rapport with the PCMS public, no matter how esoteric or demanding the repertoire might be, and this series seems to cultivate particularly strong artistic relationships with a wonderful cast of guest artists. Some of our happiest musical memories are all thanks to PCMS and there’s always an energy that emanates from the PCMS public—a distinctive blend of attentiveness, respect and passionate enthusiasm for the music. We will certainly miss you all!

The Tokyo Quartet is making its last appearance in Philadelphia on Sunday, May 5^th at 3pm.  With a program of works by Beethoven and Mendelssohn in the first half, the quartet finishes with Bartók’s Quartet No. 6, written to express the feelings of hesitation and uncertainty the composer felt in leaving his home in Hungary—an apt conclusion for the Tokyo’s final PCMS performance and their feelings about parting from the musicians they have made music with for so long.

Their presence on the PCMS stage will certainly be missed.

Erik Petersons: You will be performing an all-Beethoven recital with PCMS in May.  Describe how this program came about and your interest in performing all five sonatas on one program.

Efe Baltacigil: Benjy and I performed this very program twice before, the first time in Istanbul, Turkey and again last year in NY. It is my personal Mount Everest. It is one of the best ways to get into Beethoven’s inner world for a cellist, other than of course playing all nine symphonies in a short period.

EP: Tell me about your relationship with pianist Benjamin Hochman and what it is like to work together.  Where did your artistic collaborations have their beginning?

EB: I had the pleasure of meeting Benjy at Curtis soon after I started studying there in 2000 and fondly remember performing Brahms F Major Sonata with him at the good old Curtis hall in 2001. Since then we performed often in recitals and chamber music including a recital in Amsterdam’s famous Musikverien.

EP: You have held orchestral positions for many years now as well appearing in both chamber and solo performances.  With such diverse settings and repertoire, how do you adjust your performance for a more intimate recital like this one?

EB: I find it very nice to have a balance between solo, chamber and orchestral playing. As Mr. Silverstein put it so eloquently, “one must perform always as if playing a solo recital,” giving attention to detail and delivering the message from the composer to the listener in the best way we can. I am trying to be the best musician I can be rather than a soloist or orchestral player.

EP: You spent many years in Philadelphia between your time at Curtis and your position with the Philadelphia Orchestra.  What are some of your memories of Philadelphia, and what is it like for you to return here?

EB: Philadelphia has been very generous to me for over twelve years. Going to finest music school, then joining to the finest Symphony orchestra down the street, was a special experience. I have great friends and fantastic memories. And of course I sometime miss all this, but as an artist one has to try to improve and learning new things like being principal cellist in the Seattle Symphony offers me a lot. I have already recorded my first CD with them and my solo debut last season was very exciting. Next year I’ll be performing the famous Dvorak Cello concerto, which is very much a highlight.

EP: We certainly miss seeing you around town and hearing you with the orchestra.  How are things going in Seattle?

EB: I am very much looking forward to playing all five Beethoven’s Piano and Cello sonatas in one concert to the always warm and welcoming Philadelphia audience. And I would like to dedicate this concert to the memory of the man who hired me at the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2002, dear Maestro Wolfgang Sawallish.

Efe Baltacigil appears with pianist Benjamin Hochman on Thursday, May 2nd at 8 PM at the American Philosophical Society’s Benjamin Franklin Hall (427 Chestnut Street).  For tickets and information, visit our website or call the PCMS Box Office at 215.569.8080.

 An unexpected thrill from Stephanie Blythe:  The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s David Patrick Stearns reviews the mezzo-soprano’s all-American song recital with Warren Jones at the Perelman Theater (March 5th).

 Angular rhythms, harmonic oddities:  The Inquirer’s Peter Dobrin discusses Jonathan Biss’s March 6th piano recital at the Perelman Theater.

 Kimmel concert a starting point for Curtis Chamber tour:  David Patrick Stearns explores Curtis 20/21′s performance with violinists Jennifer Koh and Jaime Laredo at the Perelman Theater (March 11th).

Two x Four Equals Sublime:  Dario Sarlo of LocalArtsLive reviews the March 11th performance.

 Shostakovich, by those who knew him well:  Robert Zaller of The Broad Street Review writes about the Borodin Quartet’s March 28th program of Shostakovich and Beethoven at the Perelman Theater.

I can’t thank you three enough for coming to Freire to play for the kids and PCMS’ support in making it happen. All of the kids were buzzing about your visit Thursday and Friday and it is the boost that our kids needed to put their hard work into perspective. I am not sure if you’ll ever know the long-term impact you have made on these kid’s lives, but interactions like yours is often the inspiration our kids need to devote themselves to something other than trouble or get drowned out with all of the stress they face in their lives. You turned on a lot of light bulbs Thursday – including our teachers and staff. Please keep on visiting these schools and keep up the great work.

Here is a clip from this event.

 Range, strength, intensity of soprano Susanna Phillips:  The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Peter Dobrin reviews Phillips’ Feb. 1 recital with Myra Huang at the Philosophical Society.

 Safe to say, one of this year’s best concerts:  The Inquirer‘s David Patrick Stearns praises the Feb. 5 all-Wolf recital with Angelika Kirchschlager, mezzo; Ian Bostridge, tenor; and Julius Drake, piano.

This composer was depressed?:  The Broad Street Review‘s Peter Burwasser also weighs in on the Kirchschlager/Bostridge/Drake performance at the Perelman Theater

 At the Perelman, Emanuel Ax demonstrates sensitivity to tone:  Peter Dobrin discusses the celebrated pianist’s Feb. 7th appearance at the Kimmel Center.

 A traveling town hall meeting for musicians:  Robert Zaller of the Broad Street Review shares his thoughts on ECCO’s Feb. 10 matinee performance at the Perelman Theater.

 Pianist portrays nuances of Schubert:  Peter Dobrin reviews Imogen Cooper’s Feb. 20 all-Schubert recital.

 Violinist Soovin Kim redefines familiarity in his PCMS recital:  David Patrick Stearns on Soovin Kim’s Feb. 27th recital with pianist Natalie Zhu.

In news that was just announced yesterday, Jonathan will teach the first course in a new partnership between Curtis and Coursera, a leading provider of “massive online open courses” (MOOCs).  He will be offering a classical-music-performance course focused on Beethoven’s piano sonatas, available to the worldwide online community.  Biss will give video lectures, and students will engage in interactive homework assignments and peer review workshops.

Additionally, Jonathan continues to produce a series of Kindle e-books.  His first, back in 2011, was entitled “Beethoven’s Shadow“—an inquiry into the creative processes from the vantage point of the composer and the performer.  His second, just released at the end of 2012, reflects on his life-long, intense, multi-layered relationship with Schumann.  In “A Pianist Under the Influence,” Jonathan writes, “Most of what I know about myself, I have learned from playing Schumann.”  Both e-books are a great read for anyone interested in the experience of making music from one of the premier pianists of the next generation.  Both have excerpts online here and here.

This past fall, NPR interviewed Jonathan on Performance Today and included the audio of him playing Schumann at the NPR studio.  The three-day series included the following:

• Shooting Down the Schumann Detractors
• Meet the Schumanns (and their Cryptic Communications)
• Schumann’s Culture of Musical Nostalgia

Jonathan also started a decade-long project of recording all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas.  The first CD of the project with four sonatas was released by Onyx Classics early in 2012.  His second—including Sonatas 4, 14 and 24 as well as the Fantasy in G Minor, Op. 77—comes out on March 12.

But performing is still the centerpiece of Jonathan’s career.  Having just returned from a ten-concert tour in Europe, he will begin a three month US tour, starting with none other than a Perelman Theater recital on Wednesday, March 6th at 8 pm.  He’ll begin with Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 12, interspersed with selections from Janácek’s On the Overgrown Path.  Then, after a Minuet and Adagio by Mozart, he’ll circle back around to finish with Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6.  If you are attending this nearly sold-out concert, make sure to come early for a pre-concert lecture with David Dubal at 6:45 pm.

Erik Petersons: After your performance with pianist Shai Wosner in January, you will appear a second time on our series with Jaime Laredo and the Curtis Chamber Orchestra in March with a program entitled “Two x Four.”  Describe how this program came about and what inspired it.

Jennifer Koh: I am very happy to return to Philadelphia with Jaime and the Curtis Chamber Orchestra for “Two x Four” because my years living in Philly, studying with Jaime at Curtis inspired this project!  (Jaime and I first began playing the Bach Double together while I was still his student at Curtis.)  The idea that would become “Two x Four” began to take shape after that initial experience because the Bach became a conversation between two different generations of violinists.  We were speaking the same language because Jaime was my teacher and mentor, but there was also the sense of transformation from one generation to the next. “Two x Four” was about continuing the thread of musical conversation between different generations of composers and also expanding that idea of time through this process. So basically “Two x Four” is about mentorship but also is about transcending time through music.

EP: What is the process like in commissioning and working with your close friend, David Ludwig, and then also with Anna Clyne as well, to compose new works for two violins and orchestra?  How much of a role do you take in the compositional development?

JK: I initially spoke with both David and Anna about “Two x Four” over 3 years ago. Raising funds for commissions and finding the right partners can literally take many years!  I’ve know David since our days together at Marlboro many years ago and I got to know Anna through her music three years ago and since then we have become close friends!  I was less involved in working with David on his piece. Anna and I worked very closely together after her first draft. We both trust each other implicitly and I think that has led us to work closely together in all ways!

EP: Tell me about your relationship with Jaime Laredo.  What is it like to work with your former teacher, now colleague on this project? 

JK: I love Jaime. I will always be grateful to him.  When I was his student, he believed in me and supported me as a musician and human being before I believed in myself.  And now, as partners in “Two x Four,” he still inspires me through his incredibly generous music making.

EP: Having studied at Curtis, what are your thoughts about performing this work with the Chamber Orchestra?

JK: I cannot wait!  First of all, I am thrilled to meet and hear the next generation of Curtis musicians! I am very happy that Jaime and I (both Curtis graduates) will be playing another Curtis graduate’s piece—David Ludwig’s “Seasons Lost”.

EP: You have a strong commitment to education through your “Music Messenger” outreach program which has taken you into classrooms all over the country to share you music with students who have little opportunity to hear classical music.  What drives your interest in working with students?  What do you hope they take away from the experience?

JK: I feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to be exposed to music by my parents. I cannot imagine my life without music and it literally has become a metaphor for how I live my life. I want to share this very visceral and personal form of communication with as many people as possible and that includes people that do not necessarily know about it!  For me, children should have every possible opportunity to discover everything in the world that can make life more beautiful. Music has given my life great meaning and I just wanted to share the love I have of it with them.

Jennifer Koh appears on Monday, March 11^th at 8 PM at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater.  For tickets and information, visit the concert page or call the PCMS Box Office at 215.569.8080.

Click here to view the embedded video.

David Patrick Stearns, the Classical Music Critic of The Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote about the appearance of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle three time in Philadelphia this year—twice in February and again in April.  ”Like a blue moon,” he writes, the work is seldom-heard because of the challenges one has to overcome…namely that of acquiring a harmonium.

…the harmonium [is] a first cousin to the organ that was ubiquitous in the 19th century but is almost unknown in the 21st. Since the instrument was built to settle into Victorian homes and churches, some current owners don’t like to let their instruments travel. At the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Cohen searched four states before renting one from Kenneth Pratt in Charles Town, W. Va., for both the Choral Arts and Philadelphia Singers performances.

The instrument, a 1906 Estey made in Brattleboro, Vt., arrived amid light snow in a pickup truck, wrapped in eight blankets. “She’s made of walnut on the outside and the best obtainable white pine, cherry, and spruce on the soundboard,” Pratt said in an e-mail. “It sold for $875 at the time . . . that’s $26,000 today.”

But with this now in place, PCMS’ presentation of the “little solemn Mass” will be the second performance to appear in Philadelphia, just nine days after the Choral Arts Society undertakes it.  On our series, the Philadelphia Singers Chorus will be led by David Hayes and joined by artists from the MET Lindemann and Juilliard Opera Programs.  Performing on the harmonium will be Michael Stairs; Ken Noda and Cecile Licad will take their places at the piano in this rare performance on Monday, February 18th, 8 PM, at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater.

The full preview article online.

Below, Stephanie tells the story of her program for her Carnegie Hall solo recital debue on March, 11th, just six days after her appearance on our series in Philadelphia.

On the importance of Art Song and recitals in a singer’s career.

On the effect of audience reaction on a performer.

Stephanie Blythe appears on Tuesday, March 5^th at 8 PM at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater.  For tickets and information, visit the concert page or call the PCMS Box Office at 215.569.8080.

“For a recital, a violinist gets a big help from her sister“:  David Patrick Stearns of the Philadelphia Inquirer reviews the Hagner sisters’ January 6th recital at the Curtis Institute.

“Pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute at Settlement Music School“:  David Patrick Stearns shares his thoughts on the Lithuanian pianist’s New Century: New Paths program (January 10th).

“Classical guitarist, with soprano as guest“:  Stearns on the January 13th duo recital with Jason Vieaux, guitar and Sarah Shafer, soprano at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

“Ricardo Morales in clarinet recital“:  The Broad Street Review‘s Robert Zaller on the Philadelphia Orchestra principal clarinetist’s January 14th performance at the Philosophical Society with frequent recital partner Natalie Zhu.

“Clarinetist Ricardo Morales and pianist Natalie Zhu in recital“:  David Patrick Stearns on the Morales/Zhu recital.

“Going out in style“:  The Broad Street Review‘s Robert Zaller on the Tokyo String Quartet’s penultimate Philadelphia appearance on January 20th at the Perelman Theater.

“Richard Goode plays late Beethoven“:  Zaller on the legendary pianist’s January 23rd Perelman Theater recital.

“St. Lawrence Quartet at the Perelman“: Peter Dobrin of the Philadelphia Inquirer discusses the Stanford-based quartet’s January 29th appearance at the Perelman Theater.

“Chamber recital was murky“:  Dobrin on violinist Jennifer Koh’s Perelman Theater debut with pianist Shai Wosner (January 30th).

This could have very well been the Parker Quartet which performed on our series last Friday.  But what you don’t know by looking at your ticket stub is that hours before their concert, they were on the other side of the city, working with students at West Catholic High School. Many of our artists take time to hold master classes with students around Philadelphia during their time here.  While these events don’t appear on our brochures, they are an integral part of our mission to bring students in contact with master artists from around the world.

As an ongoing component of our partnership with Play on Philly!, we connected the Parker Quartet with students at West Catholic High School for a master class.  The quartet proved their commitment and energy for inspiring students in an engaging exchange between the quartet and their ensembles.  To close their time at the school, the Parker performed the first movement of the C Major Britten Quartet that they were scheduled to perform that evening on our series.

The Imani Winds also made an appearance to work with Play on Philly! students the day after their concert with PCMS in November.  Here they are performing at the end of their master class at St. Francis de Sales school.

Erik Petersons: Your program features the Philadelphia premiere of a quartet by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.  Describe your collaboration with her.  What inspired this piece and what is its greatest challenge? 

Christopher Costanza: The inspiration for the piece was Felix Galimir and the fabulous and groundbreaking work of the quartet he formed in 1927 with his sisters, the Galimir Quartet.  Felix’s nephew, Richard Hurtig, and his wife, Judy, had an idea to honor Felix and the Galimir Quartet on the centennial of the birth of the youngest of the Galimirs by commissioning Ellen Zwilich to write this work, “Voyage,” for the SLSQ.  We premiered the piece at South Mountain Concerts in Pittsfield, MA on October 7, 2012, and we brought the piece to the University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium series on November 16, 2012 (Judy Hurtig was the director of Hancher for many years, and Richard is a University of Iowa Professor).  We were thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to pay tribute to the amazing Galimir family in this way; we worked extensively with Felix over the course of many years, at Marlboro and Curtis, and Felix’s brother-in-law, Louis Krasner (Louis was married to Adrienne Galimir, Felix’s sister) was one of my most treasured chamber music coaches at the New England Conservatory in the 80′s.  We’ve worked with Ellen on the piece, a most pleasurable and productive collaboration, and we’ve enjoyed getting to know the one movement work over the past few months.  It’s an inspired piece, one that honors the Galimirs in many ways, filled with references to old Vienna and European folk and dance-like energy while musically illustrating the history and plight of the Galimirs as they enjoyed a flourishing European career for a time, followed by their inevitable flight from Europe at the onset of the Second World War.  The piece presents interesting challenges to the performers, mostly involving the need to identify with various character and mood shifts so prevalent throughout the work.

EP: How did the rest of the program come together?  Are there connections between the premiere and the two works that surround it?  

CC: The rest of the program, Haydn Op. 76, No. 2 (known as the “Quinten” or “Fifths” Quartet because of Haydn’s extensive use of the interval of the fifth throughout the 1st movement) and Beethoven’s third “Razumovsky” Quartet, Op. 59, No. 3, consists of very well known masterpieces of the quartet literature.  I think it would be a bit of a stretch to say that there are connections between the works.  In fact, the program emerged as a balanced presentation of pieces old and new: a quartet by Haydn, the father of the string quartet; a premiere, commissioned for us and keeping with our commitment to work with composers through their creation of new quartets; and one of the iconic and brilliant Beethoven quartets, perhaps significant in this program because Beethoven studied with Haydn and in many respects developed his approach to quartet composition as a direct extension of the work of Haydn.

EP: You have a strong commitment to expanding the works of living composers.  What drives your interest in performing new works, and what do you hope audiences will take away from the experience?  

CC: We have always been inspired by musicians and devoted funders—commissioners—who maintain a strong commitment to the creation of new works.  Without the creation of new pieces and the encouragement of living composers, our art will become stale, antiquated, and, over the long term, lose its luster and appeal.  Not to downplay the greatness and importance of works from the past, by such composers as Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Dvorak, and hundreds of others; their works will live on forever, I believe.  But those great composers were encouraged and supported by committed musicians and commissioners of all sorts, and without that type of support, who knows if they would have created many of the great masterpieces they were inspired and energized to create.  So I think we as musicians should all feel a strong desire and drive to continue the creative process through work with composers, and we should develop meaningful relationships with presenters and commissioners, always professing the importance of fostering the creation of new works.  We have no way of knowing which of these composers and what works will stand up to the test of time or who will be the next Bach, Beethoven, or Brahms, but the only possible course of action is to continue to encourage composers to compose.  For us specifically, we’re always excited and inspired to receive, study, and perform a newly created work, and we gain great artistic insight through our direct work with composers.  As for audiences, they gain much from hearing new pieces: in the case of a premiere, they’re literally hearing the first public performance of a new creation, a privilege and opportunity for certain; they have a chance to experience sounds, textures, and musical shapes without any sort of bias, since the new material is fresh and untested; and, whether they end up liking the piece or not, audience members will be moved by the sounds they hear, giving them a new and adventurous perspective on music created by a living, breathing human who has chosen to forge ahead in life as a composer.

EP: You recently released a recording of Haydn and Dvorák quartets through a partnership with ArtistShare.com.  What was that experience like and how was it different than other recording projects?   

CC: It has actually been a few years since the ArtistShare project came to life, and in fact that recording is no longer available through ArtistShare (although we frequently sell copies at our concerts).  It was a pretty straightforward project from our end: we chose to record pieces we were interested in recording at the time, we engaged our great friend and fabulous producer Judith Sherman to produce the recording, and we transformed the final master into our ArtistShare release (we engaged a designer for the CD packaging and directly ordered the mass production of discs).  ArtistShare generally presents recording projects to potential supporters through their website prior to the creation of the recording.  Artists upload video updates about their projects as a way to garner financial support for the recording.  Ours was one of the first “classical” projects on ArtistShare, and it was in interesting experiment.  I think the model is a good one and can work particularly well if the artists are diligent about posting video clips about the project, during its creation and afterward.  Ultimately, it’s the type of system that really needs regular attention and continuous artist self-promotion.

EP: The members of the Quartet were influenced by the Juilliard, Tokyo and Emerson Quartets during your early years.  As you mentor younger quartets now, what are some of the guiding principles you now find yourselves passing on?  

CC: We’re committed to passing on the great ideals and inspirational direction we’ve gathered from the great quartets of the past, including those mentioned in your question as well as groups such as the Guarneri, Budapest, Amadeus, Galimir, Kolisch, and may others.  I think the best thing we can do for younger groups is to encourage and inspire them to delve deeply into the music they pursue, on all levels.  Sure, quartets need to learn to play together and in tune, and basic chamber music playing skills must be developed for any group to be successful.  But ultimately what matters the most is an unwavering, passionate, intense, and complete devotion to the music, the energy and direction of the music, and the complete and total greatness of the music.  Groups must feel 100% commitment to these ideas and must also feel equal devotion to works old and new, prominent and obscure, so that the future of our great art is assured.

The St. Lawrence String Quartet appears on Tuesday, January 29^th at 8 PM at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater.  For tickets and information, visit the concert page or call the PCMS Box Office at 215.569.8080.

Erik Petersons: How did this program come together? Why did you choose these particular pieces?

Alexander Fiterstein: We usually like to play solo and duo pieces in addition to trios in our concerts. We feel it gives the program a nice variety and also creates endless possibilities of repertoire.

EP: Tell me about your relationships as a trio.  What is it like to work together, and what are some of the strengths each person brings to the table?

AF: The three of us are really good friends and enjoy spending time together. We try to really listen to each other’s playing during rehearsals and we get inspired from the unique style and energy that each of us brings to the trio.

EP: You each enjoy busy solo careers.  With all the various demands you each have, how do you balance your time between these careers and with the trio?

AF: When we play as a trio we usually have a few concerts in a period of several days so it’s usually pretty intense and concentrated. The three of us play many concerts individually throughout the year and it’s really nice to get together and talk about our different experiences and at the same time have a lot of things in common (all three of us grew up in Israel). When we’re on stage it’s always very exhilarating, I would say we definitely enjoy playing together, and playing for people.

The Fiterstein-Peled-Goldstein trio appears on Friday, January 25^th 8 PM at the American Philosophical Society.  For tickets and information, visit the concert page or call the PCMS Box Office at 215.569.8080.

Erik Petersons: Having announced that this will be your last season together as a quartet, how did you decide on the programs you will be performing?  Were there pieces you particularly wanted to revisit, or alternatively, play together for the first time?

Clive Greensmith: Well in advance of our final season together, we took care to set aside ample time in which to discuss the many complicated issues affecting our choice of repertoire. Knowing that this would be our final season certainly made the task more meaningful, and I think there were undoubtedly mixed emotions as we began to put programs together. We always strive to find a good balance between works of contrasting style and for this season we made a conscious decision to include works by Haydn and Bartok. These two masters of the string quartet medium happen to be right at the top of our list of favorite composers, and indeed, they really sit marvelously well together on any concert program. With a clear theme for our final series as the resident quartet at the 92nd Street Y in New York, we happily set about finding three interesting programs built around these two composers. Of course, we are playing a large number of other programs throughout the year, but there’s certainly a good chance that works from either one of these composers will turn up every night. One lovely discovery for us has been the vividly colored second quartet of Kodaly, a piece none of us have ever played before. We will also be learning the last, and incomplete quartet by Haydn, opus 103 in D minor—a rather dark and dramatic work that comes to an abrupt end after the minuet. We all have our favorite quartets by Bartok and it’s almost impossible to find a clear winner. However, you can’t help marveling at the superb architectural form of number four, with its tersely dramatic style and astonishingly original and captivating slow movement. There again, the profoundly noble sentiment of number six seems to transport the listener to such a personal place, and perhaps carries more emotional weight than the earlier quartets do. We will perform number six in our final concert together on July 6th at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. Two major works of Schubert seemed impossible to ignore—the string quintet and the G major quartet, both pieces which we felt we needed to reexamine.

EP: Looking back at your time with the Quartet, what are some of your favorite performances together? 

CG: I clearly remember my first concert with the quartet in Tokyo, and it was meaningful on many levels. My wife is from Tokyo and was in attendance that night, alongside many old friends and colleagues. I always feel a certain sense of excitement and at the same time, deep humility, when we perform in Japan and looking back now, fourteen years later, this is pure nostalgia. I recall a performance of the Schubert G major quartet here for PCMS several years ago in the Perlman Theater. We had invested a good deal of time in the piece and I had waited many years for the chance to perform the work. The piece can sometimes feel overdone and repetitive, but on this occasion, it felt fresh, spontaneous and overwhelming—in a good way! Several years ago, a truly inspiring performance of the Brahms piano quintet with Leon Fleisher at Duke University convinced me that I had been wrong to find the work less persuasive than the piano quartets. Moreover, the rehearsals with Leon were just as memorable as the final performance. Another favorite memory also involves the music of Brahms, when I spied a couple in the front row of the Hercules Saal in Munich turning pages, as we began the final movement of the third quartet op 67. I at first worried that we must have been boring them so much that they had resorted to reading a magazine, but when I saw that they were passing knowing glances between themselves that seemed to fit perfectly with the slightly quirky final movement of the work, I realized that in fact they were following along with the score! Another memory involving erudite listeners was in 2009, a year when we performed cycles of Haydn string quartets in various European cities. Immediately after a performance of the six quartets, Op 76, at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, I opened the door of my dressing room only to be confronted by Alfred Brendel, holding the score of the complete set of quartets opus 76! Most recently, we performed two Bartok quartets in the same evening at London’s Wigmore Hall, his fourth and sixth. I have rarely experienced such a feeling of sustained tension, and it seemed as if the group was really firing on all cylinders. By the time we reached the end of the sixth quartet, we were quite literally, a spent force. Afterwards, I remember thinking that even if we never managed to play at that level again, it would have been ample reward just to have been part of that performance.

EP: The Quartet performs on a set of four Stradivarius instruments, dubbed the “Paganini Quartet.”  What will happen to these instruments after you retire? 

CG: The instruments will be returned to the Nippon Foundation and will then be lent to another quartet.

EP: As you begin to think a little more about the end, can you put into words the Quartet’s relationship with PCMS and Philadelphia?  Our audience is very much going to miss your annual concerts with PCMS.  Can you also tell us a little more about the plans for next season and beyond with each of the four members of the Tokyo?

CG: We first performed for PCMS in 1989 and would not hesitate to claim this as being one our favorite concert series, anywhere in the world. Though we have had our own fair share of personnel changes within the ensemble, Tony Checchia and Philip Maneval have been loyal supporters and great friends for 24 years. We always feel a strong rapport with the PCMS public, no matter how esoteric or demanding the repertoire might be, and this series seems to cultivate particularly strong artistic relationships with a wonderful cast of guest artists. We have been fortunate enough to join forces with wonderful musicians such as the Guarneri Quartet, Emanuel Ax, Michael Tree, Peter Wiley and Roberto Diaz. Some of our happiest musical memories are all thanks to PCMS and there’s always an energy that emanates from the PCMS public—a distinctive blend of attentiveness, respect and passionate enthusiasm for the music. We will certainly miss you all!

Yes, there certainly will be life after the Tokyo Quartet! Kikuei and Kazu will remain very active as both players and teachers in the chamber music scene. Kikuei will join the faculty of Senzoku University in Tokyo and Kazu will do likewise at the Toho School. They will both participate in freelance projects, both here in the US and also abroad. In July, Martin and I will be moving to Los Angeles to join the faculty of the Colburn School where we will serve as co-directors of the string chamber music program. We will continue to play together often, and have plans to form a piano trio.

The Tokyo Quartet appears on Sunday, January 20^th at 3 PM at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater and on Sunday, May 5^th at the Independence Seaport Museum.  For tickets and information, visit the concert page or call the PCMS Box Office at 215.569.8080.

Erik Petersons: Your program is entitled “New Century: New Paths”. What drew you to the idea for this concert, and how did you decide on the works you will perform?

Ieva Jokubaviciute: There were several aspects that came together as I was thinking about this program. On a practical level, my first CD, centered on Alban Berg, was released in 2009, and since I have designed a variety of programs in which I include Berg’s piano sonata.  As I was doing research about Berg’s opus one sonata, I came to realize how fascinating and revolutionary the start of the 20th century was throughout European creative life.  The first decade or so of the 20^th century saw the ‘end’ of tonality in music and the ‘end’ of representation in the visual arts.  Shortly thereafter, Europe erupted into WWI.  It is as if these composers anticipated the crisis that resulted in Europe breaking into pieces.  All of the works in my program were composed during a span of ten years before WWI.  How did these very different musical minds react to crisis and to the dissolving of what was at the center of music for centuries?

The music of Debussy and Janacek had always interested me in their unique personal languages whereas the Viennese masters and the Russian eccentric Scriabin aimed to reach and to portray the ultimate. The selection of these works is rather personal and intimate, but I think that the voices of these composers speak of several new and very different paths which were being paved during the same period of time but independently of each other.  I hope that the listener will find the connections and sound worlds as fascinating as I do.

EP: You have performed on our series with four different artists, but your appearance in January will be your recital debut with PCMS. How does the preparation and performance of a solo recital differ from that of a collaborative recital? What about your playing might our audience hear for the first time now that you are no longer sharing the stage?

IJ: It has been a privilege to share the stage with a number of inspiring artists on the series, and each time it has been a great experience for me musically and personally. As I am getting ready to share my own program, I am looking forward to a very different experience—one which requires singular concentration. Since I am not partnering on stage there won’t be the “give and take” or two-way communication dynamic which makes collaborative performance so unique.  What I hope for in my solo recital performances is to bring forth the music with conviction so that the communicative link is direct from the stage to the audience.

EP: You lived in Philadelphia when you were a student at Curtis. What are some of your memories of Philadelphia, and what is it like for you to return here?

IJ: I came to Philadelphia in 1996, new to this country, new to how one lived, talked, carried oneself. My student years in many ways were more than just being a piano student; they were studies in how to adapt, how to find solutions, how to make things my own. It will always mean more than just a visit when I come back to Philadelphia to travel through memory as I walk what used to be my daily path between the Drake Tower and the Curtis Institute. I will always get a nervous shiver walking on that street as I did in my student years rushing to a lesson, or will fill up with the excitement near the Academy of Music as I used to go home after orchestra performances inspired beyond my own understanding.

EP: You have spent multiple summers at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont. How did your experience there shape you as an artist?

IJ: Through my years in school I have been incredibly lucky to learn from many wonderful artists and teachers. My summers at Marlboro were like daily concentrated doses of that kind of study from morning rehearsals to evening concerts. There are a few places where one can be totally immersed in that type of dedication to an art form, and Marlboro is certainly one of the few places in the world where this happens. I think that these experiences are still shaping me as an artist as I reflect on them. I simply cannot wait to return to Marlboro this summer, since it will be great to return to a place which inspired me with its contagious need to search and understand, to listen, to respond, to create.

Ieva Jokubaviciute appears on Thursday, January 10^th at 8 PM at the Settlement Music School.  For tickets and information, visit the concert page or call the PCMS Box Office at 215.569.8080.

Shafer and Goode in recital:  The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Peter Dobrin reviews the December 7th joint recital with Richard Goode and Sarah Shafer at the American Philosophical Society.

Clarinetist shines in latest chamber music offering:  Dobrin reflects on the Dec. 11th Perelman Theater concert with the Brentano Quartet and Anthony McGill

Zukerman rises above mishaps:  David Patrick Stearns of the Philadelphia Inquirer reviews our December 12th concert with violinist Pinchas Zukerman, cellist Amanda Forsyth and pianist Angela Cheng.

Recital does justice to Bach, Schumann:  Dobrin discusses pianist Jeremy Denk’s December 18th performance at the Perelman Theater.

Jason Vieaux

Erik Petersons: For this concert, you will be performing solo and with Sarah Shafer. Where did your artistic collaborations with her originate? 

Jason Vieaux: I believe she was suggested by PCMS! We haven’t worked together yet, so I look forward to a new collaboration.

EP: You will present a set of continuous variations by Benjamin Britten based off a song, written for voice and lute, by the English composer John Dowland. Following this, you and Sarah will perform four songs by Dowland himself.  What can the audience listen for between these two works?

JV: I’ll do a short spoken intro for Britten’s solo work, “Nocturnal, Op. 70″, where I’ll demonstrate a couple examples of how every idea or motive in the 17-minute work is derived from the Dowland lute song from which it’s inspired  (“Come Heavy Sleep”). Then Sarah will sing the actual song, with the lute accompaniment, arranged for guitar, of course. We’ll round out our Dowland song set with a few other selections, “Come Again”, etc.

EP: Your program finishes with Devil’s Strum, by Dan Visconti – a piece you co-commissioned with Guitars International in 2010. What was it like working with Dan? What is it like to introduce a new piece like this to an audience?

JV: Well, it’s a piece that definitely breaks the “fourth wall”, if you will. There’s quite a lot of percussion in it, and it is a musical representation of the time-honored American Blues myth of the blues musician who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for magical powers on their instrument, fame, fortune, etc. Dan and I had a couple Skype meetings where we were able to work out some of the logistical details in performing the work.

EP: Can you talk a little about the beginning of your days as a guitarist? Who or what were some of your earliest inspirations?

JV: Musically, I’d say that my first musical exposure was to the Beatles, Seals and Crofts, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Supertramp, and a whole lot of soul and R&B from the 60s, as well as modern jazz. That was when I was 3 years old and a bit after; my parents’ vinyl, basically. It wasn’t until my classical guitar teacher, Jeremy Sparks, started training me at 8 years old that I began to learn the language (not just the technique) of playing and listening to classical music. Performers like Julian Bream, John Williams, and David Russell were big inspirations, and then in high school I really began to lean more towards orchestral music; Beethoven, Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky…but also Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Floyd, Public Enemy, Quest. In college, my love for jazz then really blossomed, and then I was just all over the place after that — the floodgates opened! Between my theory training at the Cleveland Institute of Music and all the jazz I was listening to and playing, I could really get into an avant-garde post-punk group like Shudder To Think and have fun analyzing the chord clusters they were using. I was a total music nerd by that point, still am.

Jason Vieaux appears with soprano Sarah Shafer on Sunday, January 13th at 3 pm  at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. For tickets and information, visit the concert page or call the PCMS Box Office at 215.569.8080.

“Belcea Quartet, on emergency call, delivers fine Beethoven…“:  The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s David Patrick Stearns reviews the European quartet’s November 2nd appearance at the Seaport Museum (in place of the Prazák Quartet).

“Bernarda Fink transports the audience…“:  Inquirer Music Critic Peter Dobrin discusses the Argentine mezzo’s “beautiful sound” in his review of her November 9th Perelman Theater recital with pianist Anthony Spiri.

“Revisionist take on composers“:  David Patrick Stearns hails Pierre-Laurent Aimard as “one of the more fascinating pianists of international stature” in his review of the French master’s November 13th solo recital at the Perelman Theater.

“Quiet fire“:  Lewis Whittington calls Aimard a “sensation” in this piece for Concerto.net.

“Takács Quartet at Kimmel Center“:  Peter Dobrin reviews the quartet’s November 14th performance with pianist Marc-André Hamelin

“More questions than answers“:  The Broad Street Review‘s Robert Zaller delves into the Takács and Hamelin’s program of works by Schubert, Britten and Shostakovich.

“Bring on the hard stuff“:  David Patrick Stearns profiles the ageless wonder that is pianist Seymour Lipkin in advance of his November 20th recital at the Philosophical Society.

Erik Petersons:  For your tour this year, you have put together a program entitled A Virgin Unspotted: Medieval and Traditional Christmas Songs for Mary.  What draws you to the music of the medieval period, and what sets it apart from other eras?

Susan Hellauer:  The voicing of medieval polyphony (12th – 14th century) is ideally suited for an ensemble of nearly-equal voices. The concept of SATB choral writing is much later—late 15th/early 16th century, really, with the advent of music printing.  The harmonic style of medieval polyphony is not completely alien to our modern ears, but it’s not completely familiar either.  For us, this creates an ideal balance of music that is both accessible and surprising or different. And this is the repertoire that Anonymous 4 “grew up” with; it’s the material we used to create our own personal sound and style, which we’ve expanded to Americana, with our American Angels and Gloryland programs, and contemporary music commissioned for us, represented on AVU with “the wood and the vine” from David Lang’s new work love fail. We’ve also included several pieces from our new medieval project, Marie & Marion: Motets and Songs from the Montpellier Codex (c. 1300).

EP:  Your concert in December will be your twelfth appearance with PCMS.  What comes to mind when you think about performing in Philadelphia? 

SH:  What comes immediately to mind is that the Christmas season does not begin, for us, until we’ve sung in Philadelphia. Your audience feels like family to us—they decorate the “house” and invite us over for a conversation of music and love in a venue that is inevitably ideal.

EP:  Anonymous 4 has been performing for over 25 years now and is still going strong, continuing to inspire audiences with your fresh, energetic approach. What do you do as a group in order to stay motivated and inspired?  

SH: Even though we don’t develop programs at the same pace we once did, we still always have programs in various stages of development, and we get excited about all the different stages:  initial bouncing around of ideas; creating a theme and zeroing in on a repertoire; finding and singing the music together; then making the program, learning the program, premiering the program, recording the program, touring the program. It’s like having kids of different ages, going through their different stages of life, and always surprising you. If someone were just handing us music to sing, and we were not in on all the steps of the creative process . . . well, that wouldn’t be Anonymous 4.

Anonymous 4 appears on Friday, December 14^th at 8 PM at the Church of the Holy Trinity.  For tickets and information, visit the concert page or call the PCMS Box Office at 215.569.8080.

Update: Michael Ludwig’s program has changed.  His program is now includes the Debussy Violin Sonata, Fauré’s Violin Sonata in A Minor, Op. 13, and the Violin Sonata in G Major, Op. 78, by Brahms.

After holding the associate concertmaster position with the Philadelphia Orchestra for 14 years, violinist Michael Ludwig struck out on a new path, making a new career as a soloist and chamber musician.  We caught up with him recently to discuss his collaboration with pianist Orli Shaham, the works on his upcoming recital and his instrument.

Erik Petersons: You are performing sonatas by Debussy, Fauré, and Brahms—all composers whose lives overlapped.  Are there any common characteristics between these sonatas that the audience can listen for?

Michael Ludwig: One common characteristic of these three works is the capacity each work has to create sonic color. There is a beautiful lyric quality to each of these works that lends itself to a rich variety of colors. Of course, to me, the violin is the perfect instrument to exploit these possibilities, particularly through the use of creative fingerings that bring out the subtle differences of each string of the violin and the positions of the fingerings on the string. Also equally important, the various bow speeds and bow pressure used that can create special moods and effects. These are part of the tools used, along with creating different speeds and intensity in the vibrato, to project an artistic vision of this extraordinary music. These works are all near and dear to my heart. The Brahms Sonata, I first heard as a child. I remember vividly the beauty and passion with which my dad played it. It is a sublime work of art, beginning with those first magical chords of the piano and the entrance of that first harmonic D in the fiddle part. The entire program is beautiful. We hope the audience will enjoy it!

EP: Tell me about your relationship with Orli and what it is like to work together. How did your artistic collaboration come about?

ML: Orli and I worked together in Buffalo last year, and we spoke about the possibilities of performing chamber music together. This will be our first recital together, but we have a good sense of musical familiarity with one another. She is a brilliant pianist and an incredibly sensitive artist. I am eager to share the works on this program that we have both lived with for many years.

EP: Tell me about your instrument. What sort of violin do you play, and what do you love most about it?

ML: I perform on a violin made by Lorenzo Storioni. He is considered to be one of the last in the line of great Cremonese masters that include Stradivarius and Guarnerius. This violin dates back to the late 1700′s. It is an extraordinarily beautiful violin. What I love most about it is the wide range of colors it is able to produce. To me, this is the essence of violin playing:  to produce the widest palette of color possible that can serve great artistic expression.

EP: You lived in Philadelphia when you were a student at Curtis and during your time as the associate concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra. What are some of your memories of Philadelphia, and what is it like for you to return here?

ML: I was born and raised here in Philadelphia. It is always meaningful to perform in Philadelphia for my many friends and family. I literally have a lifetime of memories here. This concert is particularly special for me, as Tony Checchia and my father Irving were lifelong friends. I am so glad that Tony has invited me to perform on this series. I know my father will be in all of our thoughts. It will be a wonderful opportunity to share beautiful music and celebrate the many years of friendship and closeness of our families.

Michael Ludwig appears with pianist Orli Shaham on Sunday, December 9^th at 3 p, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  For tickets and information, visit the concert page or call the PCMS Box Office at 215.569.8080.

Joseph Lin is beginning his second season as the first violinist of the esteemed Juilliard Quartet.  While he has entered a vibrant tradition of music-making—witnessed in two performances this season—he also brings new energy and commitment to the quartet’s education outreach.  Joe sat down with us to discuss his new role, their two programs this season and his interest in working with students.

Erik Petersons: We have always felt privileged to hear the Juilliard Quartet twice on our series every year.  This year, you will be performing an all-Beethoven concert in November.  Then during your second appearance with PCMS in February, you will be performing the Quintet for Strings by Samuel Rhodes.  How have these programs come about?

Joseph Lin: The Juilliard Quartet’s visits to Philadelphia have always meant a great deal to us because of our close relationship with PCMS and our many good friends in Philadelphia. This season, our two concerts in Philadelphia are particularly significant because Samuel Rhodes is celebrating his 44^th and final season as violist of the Juilliard Quartet.

As we discussed programming over a year ago, Sam expressed his deep desire to play all of the late Beethoven quartets in his farewell season. It wasn’t hard to convince the rest of us that this would be a wonderfully meaningful project. In Philadelphia, we are presenting three of the five late Beethoven quartets: opus 131 and opus 132 in November, and opus 135 in February. We had of course thought about performing all of the late Beethoven quartets in two concerts, as we are doing elsewhere this season; but then another exciting idea came to mind—we could present a concert with our new violist joining the four of us in string quintets, and moreover Sam Rhodes, himself an accomplished composer, had written a string quintet!

Thus we came to the special program that we are presenting on February 24th: opening with the Beethoven Quartet in F major, Op. 135, followed by the Rhodes String Quintet, and concluding with the Mozart String Quintet in D major, K. 593. In fact, that Philadelphia concert will be the first time that we are appearing together with our new violist, Roger Tapping.

EP: Tell us about your last season with Sam and your expectations moving forward when Roger Tapping joins the quartet next year.

JL: We are of course very excited that Roger Tapping will be joining the Juilliard Quartet. Roger is a remarkable violist, chamber musician, and respected teacher. His wealth of experience (as a former member of the Allegri Quartet and the Takács Quartet) and his unique perspectives will no doubt bring new energy to our quartet as we continue to engage in the wonderful process of musical sharing and discovery with each other and with our audiences. At the same time, knowing that this is Sam Rhodes’ last season with us, we are cherishing every moment and each performance with him. Witnessing this momentous and moving transition with both Roger and Sam on stage together in February is a very special opportunity indeed, and we look forward to sharing this with our friends in Philadelphia.

The Juilliard Quartet appears on Friday, November 30^th at 8 PM at the Independence Seaport Museum and on Sunday, February 24^th at 3 PM at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater.  For tickets and information, visit our website or call the PCMS Box Office at 215.569.8080.

To watch the trailer for “A Late Quartet”, just click on the media player below.

I plan to see this movie Saturday or sometime next week, but my friends in New York saw it last Sunday and said they thoroughly enjoyed the film. While none said they expected A Late Quartet to contend for an Oscar, they all agreed they found it a beautiful and heartfelt movie, made with deep love and respect for the music.  I believe those of you who are close to chamber music—whether as players or regular audience members—will find it especially entertaining.

Reviews for A Late Quartet have been largely positive and can be viewed on the film’s website, www.alatequartet.com.  (And just as important my friends said the Brentano Quartet sounds pretty awesome!)

For those patrons who do get to see the movie, I hope you will take a moment and write a brief review below – I’m very curious to hear your thoughts.