Photo: Fine Arts Quartet - fineartsquartet.com
The Fine Arts Quartet
The Fine Arts Quartet: Ralph Evans, Efim Boico, Gil Sharon, and Niklas Schmidt
The Fine Arts Quartet will return to Milwaukee to perform March 11 at UW-Milwaukee’s Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts. The 7 p.m. concert, free and open to the public, will feature Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 18, No. 3 and Glazunov’s String Quintet, Op. 39.
Even though that Beethoven quartet is numbered number 3, it is actually Beethoven’s first complete one, written at the end of the 18th century and published in 1801. It is intensely lyrical and lies solidly in the classical tradition, although the theme of the final movement, with its similarity to the Mexican Hat Dance, may bring some smiles.
During 1891-1892, Alexander Glazunov, at the age of 26, composed a richly romantic string quintet. His addition of a second cello to the string quartet adds color and depth to the music which displays tonalities similar to Borodin's and in parts uses folk-like melodies reminiscent of Tchaikovsky.
When I asked first violinist Ralph Evans why this particular piece was selected, he replied, “Glazunov is a masterful composer who is sadly underrated. Like Saint-Saens, another of my favorites, Glazunov is sometimes considered to be a lightweight composer and with the exception of a handful of works, unjustly underperformed. Much of his output is utterly charming, among them, two chamber works of great beauty: his Five Novelettes for string quartet and his String Quintet. In fact, I’m so enamored of both of those works that we recorded them for the Naxos label some years ago. On March 11 we are delighted to be performing the Quintet with the wonderful cellist Madeleine Kabat from the MSO. I sincerely hope this relatively unknown Quintet will give as much pleasure to our audience as it has to me.”
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It goes without saying that lovers of chamber music in the greater Milwaukee area are delighted to have the Fine Arts Quartet back with us again. And it’s nice to know the feeling is reciprocated. Evans commented, “We are always very happy to return to Milwaukee and are most grateful to our donors and the Friends of the Fine Arts Quartet for making that possible.”
Further information can be found at fineartsquartet.com.
Here's a video of the Fine Arts Quartet:
