Emerson String Quartet
MOZART String Quartet in B-flat Major, K 458
Friday, October 2, 2009
8:00 p.m.
Mead Memorial Chapel
Emerson String Quartet
Eugene Drucker, violin
Philip Setzer, violin
Lawrence Dutton, viola
David Finckel, cello
The Campus’s February 1981 review of the Emerson’s Middlebury premiere was titled “Emerson Quartet leaves crowd spellbound.” The Quartet—named after New England’s Ralph Waldo Emerson—plays its 31st Middlebury program, beginning with New Englander Charles Ives’s first quartet and followed with quartets by Beethoven (The Harp) and Mendelssohn. This free Performing Arts Series concert is made possible with generous support from the Institute for Clinical Science and Art, established by the late Dr. F. William Sunderman of Philadelphia.
Free; no tickets required. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
Middlebury College press release available here.
Program:
IVES Quartet No. 1 “A Revival Service” (1896)
Chorale: Andante con moto
Prelude: Allegro
Offertory: Adagio cantabile
Postlude: Allegro marziale
BEETHOVEN Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 74 "Harp" (1809)
Poco Adagio; Allegro
Adagio, ma non troppo
Presto
Allegretto con variazioni
Intermission
MENDELSSOHN Quartet in F Minor, Op. 80 (1847)
Allegro vivace assai
Allegro assai
Adagio
Finale: Allegro molto
Ensemble Biography:
Emerson String Quartet
Eugene Drucker, violin
Philip Setzer, violin
Lawrence Dutton, viola
David Finckel, cello
The Emerson String Quartet stands alone in the history of string quartets with an unparalleled list of achievements over three decades: thirty acclaimed recordings produced with Deutsche Grammophon since 1987, eight Grammy Awards (including two for Best Classical Album, an unprecedented honor for a chamber music group), three Gramophone Awards, the coveted Avery Fisher Prize and cycles of the complete Beethoven, Bartók, Mendelssohn and Shostakovich string quartets in the world's musical capitals, from New York to London to Vienna. The Quartet has collaborated in concerts and on recordings with some of the greatest artists of our time. After more than 32 years of extensive touring and recording, the Emerson Quartet continues to perform with the same integrity, energy and commitment that it has demonstrated since it was formed in 1976.
The 2009-2010 season comprises more than ninety worldwide engagements, with a three-concert series at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London's South Bank Centre, two concerts at Wigmore Hall, and performances in Prague and at the Edinburgh International Festival. European tours feature multiple stops in Spain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and France. North American engagements are highlighted by a three-concert series entitled Adventures in Bohemia in the recently-renovated Alice Tully Hall at New York's Lincoln Center. A correlated 3-CD set for Deutsche Grammophon of Dvorák's late quartets, Cypresses and the viola quintet will be released in 2010. Additional concerts include Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Diego, Boston, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Houston, Salt Lake City, Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver, among others. In 2010, the Emerson embarks on a rare tour of Asia, visiting Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Taipei. The Quartet continues its residency at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, now in its 30th sold-out season.
The Emerson is Quartet-in-Residence at Stony Brook University, where, in addition to a concert series, teaching and chamber music coaching throughout the academic year, it has conducted intensive string quartet workshops in 2004, 2006 and 2008. The Quartet has also overseen three Professional Training Workshops at Carnegie's Weill Music Institute. In the 2006-2007 season, Carnegie Hall invited the Emerson to present its own Perspectives series, a nine-concert exploration titled Beethoven in Context, held in Isaac Stern Auditorium. No other quartet has had the opportunity to present such an expansive series at Carnegie. In March 2004 the Emerson was named the 18th recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize - another first for a chamber ensemble.
Formed in 1976, the Emerson String Quartet took its name from the American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer alternate in the first chair position and are joined by violist Lawrence Dutton and cellist David Finckel. Since January 2002, Messrs. Drucker, Setzer and Dutton have stood for their performances; Mr. Finckel sits on a podium. The Quartet is based in New York City.
Artist website:
http://www.emersonquartet.com
Other links:
The Emerson String Quartet appears by arrangement with IMG Artists and records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon.
Middlebury College press release available.
Press Quotes:
"America's greatest quartet."--Time Magazine
"The Emerson has the traditional string-quartet virtues; each player is a strongly characterized individual, but the ensemble is temperamentally as well as sonically in balance. The four minds play upon each other, and upon the work, in perfect harmony; the players are in tune in all senses of the phrase."--The New Yorker
"The Emerson gives us playing of exceptional technical accomplishment and an unusually wide expressive range. They continually offer new insights into some endlessly enthralling music. Do hear them." --Gramophone