This will be an unusually rich summer for string quartets, but Music Mountain will send it into the stratosphere with a schedule in which every concert but one will feature a string quartet, in some cases augmented with a piano, an extra stringed instrument, or winds. The St. Petersburg Quartet, which has been a mainstay of Music Mountain for some years opened the season with a benefit concert including Beethoven Op. 18, no. 4, Tchaikovsky, and the Brahms Piano Quintet with Misha Dichter. The Arianna Quartet followed this with Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Op. 30, and the Franck Piano Quintet with Tanya Bannister.
This coming Sunday, July 1, the St. Petersburg will return with Robert Stallman, flute, in an all-Schubert program including the A Minor and G Major Quartets. On Sunday July 8, they will play an all-Russian program with Shostakovich’s First and Fifteenth Quartets and Glinka’s Grand Sextet for Piano, String Quartet, and Double Bass. All-French, All-Dvořák, and All-Beethoven programs will follow, played by the Cassett, the Amernet, and the Juilliard String Quartet respectively, which will be making its Music Mountain debut (!), playing the C Sharp Minor, Op.131, and the A Minor Op. 132. (Didn’t I discuss those just recently?). The rest of the programs will be the usual, nicely balanced arrangements of repertoire from Haydn through Dohnányi, played by a succession of outstanding quartets: Colorado (joined by the distinguished violist, Roger Tapping), Haussmann, Voxare, Avalon, Dover, Shanghai, and Daedalus.
Nicholas Gordon, President of Music Mountain, will give a series of three lectures on The String Quartet Literature through the Lens of the Music Mountain Repertory (June 24, July 29, and August 19).
There couldn’t be a better time to immerse onself in the classic string quartet repertory. I plan to attend as many of these as I can and to make the summer of 2012 a string quartet orgy.
Sunday, June 17, 3:00 p.m.
The 83rd Season Opening Benefit Concert & Reception
The St Petersburg String Quartet
Misha Dichter, Piano
Beethoven – String Quartet in C Minor, Opus 18#4 (1798-1800) (22)
Tchaikowsky – String Quartet in B Flat Major, Opus Post.1865) (1)
Brahms – Piano Quintet in F Minor, Opus 34 (1864) (43)
Sunday, June 24, 3:00 p.m.
Arianna String Quartet
Tanya Bannister, Piano
Mendelssohn – Andante and Scherzo for String Quartet, Op. 81. (1847) (2)
Tchaikowsky – String Quartet # 3 in E Flat Minor, Opus 30 (1876) (3)
Franck – Piano Quintet in F Minor (1878-9) (39)
Post Concert Discussion:
Nicholas Gordon, president, Music Mountain:
“The String Quartet Literature through the Lens of the Music Mountain Repertory” (First of three)
Sunday, July 1, 3:00 p.m.
St. Petersburg String Quartet
Robert Stallman, Flute (Music Mountain Debut)
All Schubert Program
Schubert – String Quartet in A Minor, Opus 29, D.804 “Rosamunde” (1824) (16)
Schubert-Stallman:Piano Sonata # 13 in A Major, D. 664, Opus 120(1819) (1)
Transcribed for Flute and Strings by Robert Stallman (2005)
Schubert – String Quartet in G Major, Opus 161, D 887 (1826) (10)
Sunday, July 8, 3:00 p.m.
St. Petersburg String Quartet
Victoria Schwartzman, Piano
Peter Askim, Bass
All Russian Program
Shostakovich – String Quartet # 1, Opus 49 (1938) (9)
Shostakovich – String Quartet # 15, Opus 144 (1974) *2)
Glinka – Grand Sextet for Piano, String Quartet & Bass (1832) (1)
Intermission Feature – Performance by the students of the St. Petersburg International Music Academy
Sunday, July 15, 3:00 p.m.
Cassett String Quartet
Ursula Oppens, Piano
Mark Peshkanov, Violin
All French Program & each composer’s only work in this genre
Franck – Sonata for Violin & Piano (1886) (8)
Debussy – String Quartet in G Minor, Opus 10 (1893) (35)
Chausson – Concerto in D for Violin, Piano &
String Quartet, Opus 21 (1891) (13)
Sunday, July 22, 3:00 p.m.
Alexander Fiterstein, Clarinet
Steven Beck, Piano
Nicholas Canellakis, Cello (Music Mountain Debut)
Beethoven – Clarinet Trio in B Flat Major, Opus 11 (1796) (2)
Schubert – Sonata for Arpeggione & Piano, D. 821, (1824) (1)
Transcribed for Clarinet & Piano by Alexander Fiterstein
Beethoven – 7 Variations on ‘Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen’
for cello & Piano from Mozart’s Magic Flute, WoO 46 (1801) (1)
Brahms – Clarinet Trio in A Minor, Opus 114 (1891) (6)
Sunday, July 29, 3:00 p.m.
Colorado String Quartet
Roger Tapping, Viola (Music Mountain Debut)
Mozart – String Quartet in C Major, K. 157 (1772) (3)
Beethoven – String Quartet in F Major, Opus 59 # 1 (1806) (25)
Brahms – Viola Quintet in G Major, Opus 111 (1890) (15)
Post Concert Discussion:
Nicholas Gordon, president, Music Mountain:
“The String Quartet Literature through the Lens of the Music Mountain Repertory” (Second of three)
Saturday, August 4, 6:30 p.m.
Amernet String Quartet
Yizhak Schopten, Viola (Music Mountain Debut)
All Dvorak Program
String Quartet in E flat Major, Opus 51 (1878-9) (5)
String Quartet in A Flat Major, Opus 105 (1895) (5)
Viola Quintet in E Flat Major, Opus 97 (1893) (4)
Pre-Concert Czech Dinner*
at the Falls Village Inn (limited to 70)
*Dinner (5pm) & Concert – $60
Concert only – $35 at the door, $30 in Advance
Must reserve for dinner by August 3.
Sunday, August 5, 3:00 p.m.
Hausmann String Quartet
(Music Mountain Debut)
Lydia Artymiw, Piano
Haydn – String Quartet in F Major, Opus 50 # 5 “The Dream” (1787) (1)
Beethoven – String Quartet in E Minor, Opus 59 # 2 (1806) (21)
Schumann – Piano Quartet in E Flat Major, Opus 47 (1842) (12)
Saturday, August 11, 6:30 p.m.
Voxare String Quartet
William Compton, Tenor (Music Mountain debut)
Victoria Schwartzman, Piano
Haydn – String Quartet in C Major, Opus 20 # 2 (1772) (4)
Mendelssohn – String Quartet in A Minor, Opus 13 (1827) (9)
Beethoven – Scotch, Irish, Welsh Songs (1809-1816) (3)
Sunday, August 12, 3:00 p.m.
Avalon String Quartet
Jonathan Yates, Piano
Mozart – String Quartet in C Major, K. 465 “Dissonance” (1785) (21)
Beethoven – String Quartet in F Major, Opus 135 (1826) (25)
Brahms – Piano Quartet in C Minor, Opus 60 (1875) (17)
Sunday, August 19, 3:00 p.m.
The Dover String Quartet
(Music Mountain Debut)
Pamela Mia Paul, Piano
Ravel – String Quartet in F (1903) (42)
Schumann – String Quartet In A Major, Opus 41 # 3 (1842) (12)
Dohnanyi – Piano Quintet in C Minor, Opus 1 (1895) (21)
Post Concert Discussion:
Nicholas Gordon, president, Music Mountain:
“The String Quartet Literature through the Lens of the Music Mountain Repertory” (Third of three)
Sunday, August 26, 3:00 p.m.
The Juilliard String Quartet
(Music Mountain Debut)
(Underwritten by an Anonymous Donor)
All Tickets – $50
All Beethoven Program
String Quartet in C Sharp Minor, Opus 131 (1826) (14)
String Quartet in A Minor, Opus 132 (1825) (20)
Saturday, September 1, 6:30 p.m.
Shanghai String Quartet
Beethoven – String Quartet in G Major, Opus 18 #2 (1798-1800) (19)
Beethoven – String Quartet in F Major, Opus 95 “Serioso” (1810) (31)
Smetana – String Quartet in E Minor “From My Life” (1876) (14)
Sunday, September 2, 3:00 p.m.
83rd Season Anniversary Celebration
Concert & Reception
All Tickets – $75
The Shanghai String Quartet
Haochen Zhang, Piano
Van Cliburn Gold Medalist
Haochen Zhang Plays Chopin
Mozart – String Quartet B Flat Major, K. 589 (1790) (15)
Dvorak – Piano Quintet in A Major, Opus 81 (1887) (42)
Sunday, September 9, 3:00 p.m.
Daedalus String Quartet
Soyeon Lee, Piano
Naumburg Award Winner
Haydn – String Quartet in E Flat Major, Opus 33 # 2 “the Joke” (1781) (9)
Mozart – String Quartet in F Major, K. 590 (1790) (14)
Brahms – Piano Quartet in A Major, Opus 26 (1861) (14)
