BEETHOVEN String Quartets – Concert IV

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 BRENTANO

Formed in 1992, the Brentano String Quartet has appeared throughout the world to popular and critical acclaim.

In addition to performing the entire two-century range of the standard quartet repertoire, the Brentano Quartet has a strong interest in both very old and very new music. It has performed many musical works pre-dating the string quartet as a medium, among them Madrigals of Gesualdo, Fantasias of Purcell, and secular vocal works of Josquin. Also, the quartet has worked closely with some of the most important composers of our time, among them Elliott Carter, Charles Wuorinen, Chou Wen-chung, Steven Mackey, Bruce Adolphe, and György Kurtág. The Quartet has commissioned works from Wuorinen, Adolphe, Mackey, David Horne and Gabriela Frank. The Quartet celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2002 by commissioning ten composers to write companion pieces for selections from Bach’s Art of Fugue, the result of which was an electrifying and wide-ranging single concert program. The Quartet has also worked with the celebrated poet Mark Strand, commissioning poetry from him to accompany works of Haydn and Webern.

The Quartet has been privileged to collaborate with such artists as soprano Jessye Norman, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, pianist Richard Goode, and pianist Mitsuko Uchida. In 2015-2016, they collaborated with pianist Jonathan Biss on a project centered around late works of great composers.

The Quartet has recorded the Opus 71 Quartets of Haydn, and has also recorded a Mozart disc for Aeon Records, consisting of the K. 464 Quartet and the K. 593 Quintet, with violist Hsin-Yun Huang. In 2010-2012, the Quartet recorded all of Beethoven’s late quartets, which were also released on Aeon. In the area of newer music, the Quartet has released a disc of the music of Steven Mackey on Albany Records, and has also recorded the music of Bruce Adolphe, Chou Wen-chung and Charles Wuorinen. Upcoming releases include a recording of Schubert’s Cello Quintet, recorded at Amherst with Michael Kannen.

“As profound as a listener could want.”  — Houston Chronicle

In 1998, cellist Nina Lee joined the Quartet, succeeding founding member Michael Kannen. The following season the Quartet became the first Ensemble-In-Residence at Princeton University, where they taught and performed for fifteen years.

In the fall of 2014, the Quartet became the Resident String Quartet at the Yale School of Music, succeeding the Tokyo Quartet in that position. At Yale, they perform in concert each semester, and work closely with the students in chamber music contexts.

Artists
Brentano Quartet
Mark Steinberg, violin
Serena Canin, violin
Misha Amory, viola
Nina Lee, cello

Program
Complete BEETHOVEN String Quartets – Concert IV
Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4, “Lobkowitz”
Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95, “Quartetto serioso”
Quartet No. 12 in E-flat major, Op. 127

Saturday, February 1st 2020 at 8:00pm
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