Takács Takes on Beethoven
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
If you haven't seen the Takács Quartet at Lincoln Center this month performing the complete series of Beethoven String Quartets, you've got just two chances left. Or, you can also hear this highly acclaimed ensemble on tonight's program.
The Takács Quartet has garnered critical and audience buzz alike for their interpretation of Beethoven's String Quartets, which they have recorded and also have been performing all this month at Lincoln Center. In our second hour tonight, we'll hear them take on Beethoven's Opus 74 (also known as the "Harp" Quartet). While it got mixed reviews at its premiere in 1809 - critics weren't pleased with Beethoven's foray into passing dissonances - the Quartet No. 10 is notable for its inventiveness in the use of pizzicato (plucked strings), which is what inspired the nickname "Harp."
Before we delve into Beethoven, however, we'll dip into the brass. The Philip Jones Brass ensemble invokes Jolly Old England in Henry VIII's "Rose Without a Thorn" Suite, while the Academy of Ancient Music under Iona Brown bring us Telemann's Concerto for 3 Trumpets in D (with a few other instruments thrown in for good measure). We'll also hear a truly interesting work for Brass Choir by Eric Ewazen, the "Fantasia for Seven Trumpets," which the composer describes as a "celebration of varied and intense colors."
The last hour of our program accentuates the voice and the cello respectively. We'll hear Gabriel Fauré's beautiful and touching "Requiem," in a performance from the Saint Cecilia Orchestra featuring star singers Cecilia Bartoli (no relation to "Saint" Cecilia of course) and Bryn Terfel. Finally, well finish out the evening with a recording from 1965 of Sir Edward Elgar's last major work, the Cello Concerto in E minor, featuring the London Symphony with soloist Jacqueline Du Pré.
The Takács Quartet has garnered critical and audience buzz alike for their interpretation of Beethoven's String Quartets, which they have recorded and also have been performing all this month at Lincoln Center. In our second hour tonight, we'll hear them take on Beethoven's Opus 74 (also known as the "Harp" Quartet). While it got mixed reviews at its premiere in 1809 - critics weren't pleased with Beethoven's foray into passing dissonances - the Quartet No. 10 is notable for its inventiveness in the use of pizzicato (plucked strings), which is what inspired the nickname "Harp."
Before we delve into Beethoven, however, we'll dip into the brass. The Philip Jones Brass ensemble invokes Jolly Old England in Henry VIII's "Rose Without a Thorn" Suite, while the Academy of Ancient Music under Iona Brown bring us Telemann's Concerto for 3 Trumpets in D (with a few other instruments thrown in for good measure). We'll also hear a truly interesting work for Brass Choir by Eric Ewazen, the "Fantasia for Seven Trumpets," which the composer describes as a "celebration of varied and intense colors."
The last hour of our program accentuates the voice and the cello respectively. We'll hear Gabriel Fauré's beautiful and touching "Requiem," in a performance from the Saint Cecilia Orchestra featuring star singers Cecilia Bartoli (no relation to "Saint" Cecilia of course) and Bryn Terfel. Finally, well finish out the evening with a recording from 1965 of Sir Edward Elgar's last major work, the Cello Concerto in E minor, featuring the London Symphony with soloist Jacqueline Du Pré.
