Friday, January 11, 2008
8:00 p.m.
Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Takács Quartet
Edward Dusinberre, violin
Károly Schranz, violin
Geraldine Walther, viola
András Fejér, cello
Simply one of the very top world string quartets of our time, the Takács Quartet graces the Concert Hall stage for another much-anticipated concert. Since the mid 90s, they have performed much of the great quartet literature here at Middlebury: Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Bartók, Debussy, and finally, in their most recent concert, Shostakovich. This season’s program consists of works by Haydn, Bartók, and Beethoven (the third of the Razumovsky quartets).
Reserved Seating. Tickets: $15/12/5.
Pre-performance dinner: Rehearsals Cafe, 6:30 p.m. Tickets: $15
http://go.middlebury.edu/tickets
or 802-443-MIDD (6433).
Program:
HAYDN String Quartet in F Major, Op. 74 No. 2, Hob. III 73
I. Vivace
II. Andante grazioso
III. Menuetto
IV. Finale: Presto
BARTÓK String Quartet No. 5
I. Allegro
II. Adagio molto
III. Scherzo. Alla bulgarese – Trio
IV. Andante
V. Finale: Allegro vivace-Presto
***intermission***
BEETHOVEN String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3 "Rasumovsky"
I. Introduzione Andante con moto - Allegro vivace
II. Andante con moto quasi Allegretto
III. Menuetto. Grazioso - attacca:
IV. Allegro molto
For additional program notes, please contact Events and Residency Manager Allison Coyne Carroll at carroll@middlebury.edu
Ensemble Biography:
TAKÁCS QUARTET
Recognized as one of the world's premiere string quartets, the Takács Quartet is renowned for the ability to fuse four distinct, expressive musical personalities into gripping, unified interpretations. Commenting on their latest Schubert recording for Hyperion, Gramophone magazine noted; "The Takács have the ability to make you believe that there’s no other possible way the music should go, and the strength to overturn preconceptions that comes only with the greatest performers."
Based in Boulder at the University of Colorado, the Takács Quartet performs eighty concerts a year worldwide, performing throughout Europe as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Korea. The quartet are Associate Artists at the South Bank Centre in London, performing several concerts there each year. 2007-2008 season highlights include four concerts at Carnegie Hall: "Everyman", inspired by Philip Roth's novel of that name, in which they will perform with the Academy Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, and a three concert series focusing on Haydn and Brahms. In North America, they will perform in over 30 cities, and European tours include performances in Vienna, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Frankfurt, and Brussels. In May 2008 the quartet will perform a new piece by James Macmillan, commissioned by the South Bank.
The Quartet's multi-award winning recordings include the Late Quartets by Beethoven which in 2005 won Disc of the Year and Chamber Award from BBC Music Magazine, a Gramophone Award and a Japanese Record Academy Award. Their recordings of the early and middle Beethoven quartets collected a Grammy, another Gramophone Award, a Chamber Music of America Award and two further awards from the Japanese Recording Academy. Of their performances and recordings of the Late Quartets, the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote "The Takács might play this repertoire better than any quartet of the past or present."
In 2005 the Takács Quartet signed a contract with Hyperion Records, for whom their first recording, of Schubert's D804 and D810 was released in 2006. A disc featuring Brahms' Piano Quintet with Stephen Hough will be released in November 2007. The Quartet has also made sixteen recordings for the Decca label since 1988 of works by Beethoven, Bartok, Borodin, Brahms, Chausson, Dvorak, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Smetana. The ensemble's recording of the six Bartok String Quartets received the 1998 Gramophone Award for chamber music and, in 1999, was nominated for a Grammy. In addition to the Beethoven String Quartet cycle recording, the ensemble's other Decca recordings include Dvorak's String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 51 and Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81 with pianist Andreas Haefliger; Schubert's Trout Quintet with Mr. Haefliger, which was nominated in 2000 for a Grammy Award; string quartets by Smetana and Borodin; Schubert's Quartet in G Major and Notturno Piano Trio with Mr. Haefliger; the three Brahms string quartets and Piano Quintet in F Minor with pianist András Schiff; Chausson's Concerto for violin, piano and string quartet with violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet; and Mozart's String Quintets, K515 and 516 with Gyorgy Pauk, viola.
The quartet is known for innovative programming. The group collaborates regularly with the Hungarian folk ensemble Muzsikas, performing a program that explores the folk sources of Bartok's music. The Takács performed a music and poetry program on a fourteen city US tour with the poet Robert Pinsky. This season they will perform the program "Everyman" with actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Upcoming commissions include works by James Macmillan, Wolfgang Rihm and Daniel Kellogg.
At the University of Colorado, the Takács Quartet has helped to develop a string program with a special emphasis on chamber music, in a small tightly knit community where students work in a nurturing environment best designed to help them develop their artistry. The Quartet's commitment to teaching is enhanced by summer residencies at the Aspen Festival and at the Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara. The Takács is a Visiting Quartet at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.
The Takács Quartet was formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest by Gabor Takács-Nagy, Károly Schranz, Gabor Ormai and András Fejér, while all four were students. It first received international attention in 1977, winning First Prize and the Critics’ Prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France. The Quartet also won the Gold Medal at the 1978 Portsmouth and Bordeaux Competitions and First Prizes at the Budapest International String Quartet Competition in 1978 and the Bratislava Competition in 1981. The Quartet made its North American debut tour in 1982. Violinist Edward Dusinberre joined the Quartet in 1993 and violist Roger Tapping in 1995. Violist Geraldine Walther replaced Mr. Tapping in summer, 2005. Of the original ensemble, Károly Schranz and András Fejér remain. In 2001 the Takács Quartet was awarded the Order of Merit of the Knight’s Cross of the Republic of Merit.
Ensemble Website:
http://www.takacsquartet.com/
Press Quotes:
"The Takács have the ability to make you believe that there’s no other possible way the music should go, and the strength to overturn preconceptions that comes only with the greatest performers." --Harriet Smith, Gramophone Magazine, November 2006
"They are currently the greatest string quartet in the world, and their recordings of the Bartok and the Beethoven quartets for Decca remain the finest to have appeared on disc for many years." --Andrew Clements, London Guardian, September 29, 2006
"...The quartet exuded authority, intensity, and deep musical understanding in a challenging program that, by its end, left the audience emotionally spent." --Diana Burgwyn, The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 6, 2006