Taneyev: String Quintet in G, Op. 14
Stefan Jackiw, violin
Augustin Hadelich, violin
Cynthia Phelps, viola
Ronald Thomas, cello
Efe Baltacigil, cello
This quintet is in the Schubert configuration, which means that the fifth instrument is a cello, not a viola. Taneyev was a contemporary of Tchaikovsky, and he was a superb craftsman. But while the perspiration is evident, the inspiration isn’t.
Adams: “Hallelujah Junction” for 2 Pianos
Orion Weiss, piano
Adam Neiman, piano
John Adams is a modern minimalist composer, best known for his opera “Nixon in China”. I’m not sure what this will be like.
Beethoven: Sonata for Piano 4 Hands in D, Op. 6
Adam Neiman, piano
Orion Weiss, piano
This is early Beethoven attempting to channel Mozart.
Ravel: String Quartet in F
The Ehnes String Quartet:
James Ehnes, violin
Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin
Richard O’Neill, viola
Robert deMaine, cello
Do not miss this piece! It’s beautiful, and it’s fun. The scherzo, with its pizzicato work, is beguiling.
This is the story of the Ehnes String Quartet and how I became the Forrest Gump of classical music.
In 2003, I got six of my requested pieces scheduled, and one of them was this quartet by Ravel, which had never before been programmed by the festival. Jimmy, Richard and Robert were three of the musicians who played that night, and I forget who played second violin. Musicians know when something amazing happens, and as soon as he stepped off the stage, Jimmy Ehnes knew that he had helped create magic.
In 2008, I was asked by a long time patron, a retired publisher, why the festival programmed so few pieces of the string quartet literature. He already knew the answer: the repertory is different, and it has tougher requirements for ensemble and rehearsal. The pick up groups that perform at the festival every summer lack the time for the kind of rigorous rehearsal required for the quartet literature.
I asked the question of both the artistic director and the executive director, and I got the same answer. We all knew the answer ahead of time. But the artistic director suggested I lobby individual musicians. I told the executive director that my dream quartet was Jimmy on first violin, Richard on viola and Robert on cello. I had three or four candidates for second violin.
When I tossed the quartet idea at violinist Ida Levin, who has played in quartets, she almost bit my head off. “No way, no how!” When I tossed the idea at violinist Erin Keefe, I got the same strong negative reaction.
But Jimmy was intrigued. So was Richard.
Then I took cellist Robert deMaine out for our annual dinner at our favorite Szechuan Chinese restaurant, and I tossed him ideas for various quartets. His eyes lit up. Some of them were so simple that they could be handled in as few as three rehearsals. Then I told Robert about my dream quartet. (I also passed the dream quartet idea on to Richard and Jimmy.)
I continued lobbying through 2009. In 2010, the festival began programming a goodly number of quartets, and who should show enthusiasm but Ida and Erin!
What I didn’t know was that the seed had been planted in 2008. Jimmy had approached Robert and Richard, and they had agreed on Amy for second violin. Amy was pregnant with her and Steve’s second child, else the quartet would have debuted at the festival in 2010. They actually debuted in Macon in March 2011 with a Beethoven and Bartok program. They made their Seattle debut last summer with the same Beethoven quartet, and this is their quartet contribution for 2012. I hope they get a recording contract soon because they set the place on fire last year with the Beethoven Opus 74.
Enjoy this Ravel quartet. Now that the Guarneri Quartet has retired and the Emerson Quartet is getting a bit long in the tooth, I’m convinced these guys will emerge as the next “power quartet”.
And I was there.
Congratulations, Publius, on making good waves...and having your goal make it to fruition.