BEETHOVEN String Quartets – Concert III

To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Arte Musica presents the great composer’s complete String Quartets in 2020.

QUATUOR ESCHER

The Escher String Quartet has received acclaim for its expressive, nuanced performances that combine unusual textural clarity with a rich, blended sound. A former BBC New Generation Artist, the quartet has performed at the BBC Proms at Cadogan Hall and is a regular guest at Wigmore Hall. In its home town of New York, the ensemble serves as Season Artists of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where it has presented the complete Zemlinsky Quartets Cycle as well as being one of five quartets chosen to collaborate in a complete presentation of Beethoven’s string quartets. Last season, the quartet toured with CMS to China.

Within months of its inception in 2005, the ensemble came to the attention of key musical figures worldwide. Championed by the Emerson Quartet, the Escher Quartet was invited by both Pinchas Zukerman and Itzhak Perlman to be Quartet in Residence at each artist’s summer festival: the Young Artists Programme at Canada’s National Arts Centre; and the Perlman Chamber Music Programme on Shelter Island, NY. The quartet has since collaborated with artists including David Finckel, Leon Fleischer, Wu Han, Lynn Harrell, Cho Liang Lin, Joshua Bell, Paul Watkins and David Shifrin, as well as jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman, vocalist Kurt Elling, legendary Latin artist Paquito D’Rivera and Grammy award-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux. In 2013, the quartet became one of the very few chamber ensembles to be awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.

The Escher Quartet takes its name from Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, inspired by Escher’s method of interplay between individual components working together to form a whole.

Artists
Escher Quartet
Adam Barnett-Hart, violin
Brenden Speltz, violin
Pierre Lapointe, viola
Brook Speltz, cello

Program
Complete BEETHOVEN String Quartets – Concert III
Quartet No. 2 in G major, Op. 18, No. 2, “Lobkowitz”
Quartet No. 10 in E-flat minor, op. 74 “The Harp”
Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131

Saturday, February 1st 2020 at 2:30pm
Duration: 1 Hrs 30 Min

Subscribe to the series by phone: 514-285-2000, option 4, or 1-800-899-6873
Every day from 9 am to 5pm or in person at the ticket booth of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
For tickets and information: www.mbam.qc.ca/en/concerts 514-285-2000

Bourgie Concert Hall, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) complex, is a 444-seat venue located in the restored Erskine and American Church (designed in 1894 in Neo-Romanesque style by architect Alexander Cowper Hutchison). Designated a national historic site in 1998, the transformed setting is now graced with high-quality acoustics and an exceptional décor incorporating 20 historic Tiffany stained glass windows. Ideal for performances by chamber-music ensembles, string orchestras, and other groups, Bourgie Concert Hall offer music lovers an auditory repertoire as diverse as the MMFA collections.

Bourgie Concert Hall
1339 Sherbrooke Street West