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10-15-1997 The hS anghai Quartet with The hesC ter String Quartet Department of Music, University of Richmond

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Recommended Citation Department of Music, University of Richmond, "The hS anghai Quartet with The heC ster String Quartet" (1997). Music Department Concert Programs. 655. https://scholarship.richmond.edu/all-music-programs/655

This Program is brought to you for free and open access by the Music at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Music Department Concert Programs by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. October 15, 1997 at 8pm Modlin Center for the Arts Camp Concert Hall Booker Hall of Music

The Shanghai Quartet with The Chester String Quartet

String Quartet in G major, K.387 Mozart Allegro vivace assai Menuetto: Allegro Andante cantabile Malta Allegro

String Quartet, Opus 11 Samuel Barber Malta allegro e appassionato Malta Adagio Malta allegro (con prima)

INTERMISSION

Octet for Strings, Opus 20 Felix Mendelssohn Allegro moderato ma con fuoco Andante Allegro leggierissimo Presto

The Chester String Quartet is currently Quartet-in-Residence at Indiana University-South Bend

The Chester String Quartet is represented by: Baylin Artists Management 2210 Mt. Carmel Ave., #202, Glenside, PA 19038 About the Artists

Arnold Steinhardt, and cellist Carter Brey. The ensemble has also made several tours of Europe, giving concerts throughout Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom. The Shanghai Quartet may be heard on Delos International compact discs. Its 1994 debut release, featuring works of Grieg and Mendelssohn, received excep­ tional critical acclaim. Recent releases feature quartets by Alan Hovaness and the "Song of the Ch'in" by Chinese com­ poser Zhou Long, as well as works for strings and flute with Eugenia Zukerman. Since 1989, The Shanghai Since its New York debut at Town Quartet has been Ensemble-in-Residence Hall in the spring of 1987, The Shang­ at the University of Richmond. hai Quartet has been hailed by the press and the public alike as one of the lead­ ing quartets of its generation. It now per­ A native of Shanghai, Weigang Li be­ forms annually to exceptional critical ac­ gan violin studies with his parents at age claim in major music centers through­ 5 and went on to attend the Shanghai out the United States and abroad. Conservatory at age 14. He came to the Formed at the Shanghai Conservatory United States in 1981 to study at the San in 1983, the quartet took second place Francisco Conservatory. He has been a representing its country at the Ports­ soloist with the Shanghai Conservatory mouth International Quartet competi­ Orchestra, the Shanghai Symphony, the tion. In 1987 the ensemble won the pres­ BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC tigious Chicago Discovery Competition Scottish Symphony. Upon graduating and embarked on an extensive touring from the Shanghai Conservatory in 1985, career. It has been Ensemble-in-Resi­ he was appointed assistant professor of dence at the Tanglewood and Ravinia violin there. Shortly thereafter he left Festivals and has appeared on three oc­ China to continue his education at North­ casions at Lincoln Center's Mostly ern Illinois University. From 1987-1989, Mozart Festival. Mr. Li studied and taught at the Julliard The quartet has played at Lincoln School as teaching assistant to the Julliard Center in the "Great Performers" series, Quartet. His other teachers have in­ in addition to appearing in Washington, cluded Shmuel Ashkenasi, Pierre D.C., Los Angeles, Detroit, Toronto, and Menard, Shu-Chen and Isadore many other cities. Its annual appear­ Tinkleman. ances in New York City have included a sold-out three-concert series with pianist Born in Beijing, Yiwen Jiang began his Ruth Laredo at the Metropolitan Mu­ violin studies with his father at age 6. In seum. The quartet's other distinguished 1981 he was accepted into the class of Pro­ collaborators include pianists Peter fessor Han Li at the Central Conserva­ Frankl and Lillian Kallir, guitarist Eliot tory of Music. In 1985 he came to the Fisk, flutist Eugenia Zukerman, violist United States where his teachers have included Taras Gabora, Jaime Laredo, Michael Tree, Pinchas Zukerman, and Arnold Steinhardt of the Guarneri Quar­ tet. A prize winner at the Mae M. Whitaker and Montreal competitions, he has appeared at many international mu­ sic festivals. He also appeared with the Central Opera House Orchestra in China, the Victoria Symphony and the Montreal Symphony. Mr. Jiang has performed for NBC and PBS television specials, Na­ tional Public Radio, CPB in Bejing, WQXR in New York, and KFUO in St. Louis. He has recorded for the Record Corporation of China. The Chester String Quartet

Honggang Li began his musical train­ One of America's most distinguished and ing studying violin with his parents atthe sought after chamber ensembles, the same time as his brother, Weigang. When Chester String Quartet has been called the Beijing Conservatory reopened in "one of the best and brightest of the 1977 after the Cultural Revolution, Mr. Li country's young string quartets" by the was selected to attend from a group of Boston Globe. Their engaging style and over five hundred applicants. He con­ deep sense of musical commitment have tinued his training at the Shanghai Con­ brought them rave reviews from audi­ servatory and was appointed a faculty ences and critics throughout the United member there in 1984. He also has served States, Canada, Latin America and Eu­ as a teaching assistant at the Julliard rope. The Chester's interpretations have School. Mr. Li has appeared as soloist also led to top prizes at international with the Shanghai Philharmonic and the quartet competitions in Munich, Ger­ Shanghai Conservatory Orchestra. In many; Portsmouth, England; and 1987 he won a violin as a special prize Chicago's Discovery Competition. The given by Elisa Pegreffi of the Quartetto Chester is currently Quartet-in-Residence Italiano at the Paolo Borciani competition at Indiana University-South Bend, where in Italy. Mr. Li joined the Shanghai Quar­ all of its members are full-time faculty. tet as a violinist and became its violist with the addition of Yiwen Jiang in the The Chester Quartet regularly performs summer of 1994. from coast to coast in the United States and Canada. In recent· seasons the A native of Ann Arbor, Mich., James Chester gave the New York premiere of Wilson began cello studies at age 11 and Aaron Jay Kernis' 100 Greatest Dance Hits went on to graduate from the University at the 92nd Street Y, performed the entire of Michigan where, as a student of Jef­ Beethoven Quartet cycle in a ten-day pe­ frey Solow, he was the recipient of the riod in Oklahoma City, made a compact music school's highest honor. He con­ disc recording ofElias Tanenbaum' s Shad­ tinued his studies with Stephen Kates at ows for string quartet and guitar, played the Peabody Institute of Music and was a live concert broadcast on WQXR radio .twice selected as a participant in the in New York City, and commissioned a Piatigorsky Seminar of Cellists. Mr. Wil­ new work for string quartet, Poems from son has appeared as soloist with the Ann Tang, by Chinese composer Zhou Long. Arbor Symphony and has recorded for The Quartet recorded two compact discs Access Records. released in the spring of 1996. The Com- plete Moz.art Quartets for Flute and Strings by Lorenzo Storioni (Cremona, 1794). was recorded on the Chesky label and, in September 1996, Stereo Review wrote, Aaron Berofsky (violin) is from New "expert performance ... cleanly recorded." York City and has received international 100 Greatest Dance Hits by AaronJ. Kernis critical acclaim as both a soloist and a was recorded on the New Albion label chamber musician. His concert career has and in May 1996 the Sµn Francisco taken him throughout the United States, Chronicle stated, "5 stars ... A classic." On Canada, Europe, and IsraeL He made his the Koch label, the Chester Quartet's ear­ solo debut at the Eastern Music Festival lier recording consists of quartets by Bar­ at the age of thirteen and has since gone ber, Piston and Porter. This CD received on to win numerous prizes and awards. critical acclaim from publications includ­ He performs and records on Sony Clas­ ing Fanfare and Gramophone magazines as sics with the highly distinguished early t well as the Los Angeles Times. music ensemble Tafelmusik. He also per- · forms in a number of festivals in North In addition to its performances of the America and overseas. He received his standard quartet repertoire and commis­ Master's degree from the Juilliard School sioning of new works, the Chester has an where he was a scholarship student of ongoing interest in a wide range of col­ Dorothy DeLay. Other mentors include laborative work. Members of the Quar­ Glenn Dicterow, Robert Mann and Elaine tet have joined in concert with many in­ Richey. ternational solo artists and chamber mu­ sicians including Alexander Toradze, Kathryn Votapek (violin) is originally Franco Gulli, Eugene Istomin, Ralph from East Lansing, Mich. She received Votapek, Karen Tuttle, Norman Fischer, her Bachelor of Music degree at Indiana Jon Kimura Parker, Larry Combs, An­ University and her Master's degree from drew Dawes, Lydia Artimyw and David the Juilliard School. Her significant teach­ Tanenbaum. Their guest teaching and ers have been Robert Mann, Franco Gulli, summer festival appearances include the and Angel Reyes. She has studied cham­ Madeline Island Music Camp, the Quar­ ber music with members of the Juilliard, tet Program, the Doelen Summer Series Vermeer and Borodin Quartets. Ms. in Rotterdam, Holland, the Guelph Votapek has participated in numerous Spring Festival in Canada, the Banff In­ summer music festivals including those ternational Festival, the Oberlin Conser­ at Tanglewood, Ravinia, and the vatory, the Festival Internacional de Academia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Musica in San Jose, Costa Rica, Pittsburgh Italy. She also maintains an active recital Summerfest, Music Mountain, South and solo career. Mountain and the Icicle Creek Music Camp in Washington. The Quartet has David Harding (viola) hails from previously recorded for the CRI, Stolat, Toronto, Canada, and is an alumnus of and Pantheon labels. They have been the Juilliard School where he was a stu­ heard numerous times on National Pub­ dent of Paul Doktor. Other major educa­ lic Radio, the CBC, the BBC, and German tors include Emanuel Vardi and Tibor State Radio. Vaghy. He is a two time prize winner of the Lionel Terrtis International Viola The members of the Chester String Quar­ Competition and is a recipient of the Sir tet play on a beautiful set of instruments John Barboroli Award. He was an assis­ comprised of violins by Joannes Pres­ tant principal viola of the Canadian Op­ senda (Turin, 1844) and Michele Deconet era Company, a member of the Toronto (Venice, 1754), a viola by Pietro Antonio Symphony, and an active studio musi­ dalla Costa (Treviso, c. 1750), and a cello cian. He has appeared in numerous chamber music festivals throughout the Kapuscinski, Alan Harris, Alta Mayer United States and Canada. Mr. Harding and Einar Holm. His studies of the string is a member of the highly acclaimed early quartet literature have been with many music ensemble Tafelmusik, with whom noted chamber musicians including he records for the Sony Classics label. members of the Budapest, Juilliard, Cleveland, Guarneri and Tokyo Quartets. Thomas Rosenberg (cello) is originally In addition to his performing career, from Buffalo, N.Y. and is a graduate of which has taken him to concert stages Oberlin. He holds a Master's degree from throughout the United States and Europe, the Eastman School of Music where he he is the Artistic Director of the Fischoff studied and was a teaching assistant to National Chamber Music Competition. Paul Katz and Laurence Lesser. Other influential teachers include Richard

Notes on the Program

String Quartet in G major, K.387 ing, the texture changes from pure ho­ Mozart mophony to multilayered counterpoint, and the melodies are vocal in quality (es­ In 1781, Mozart was 25 years old and had pecially the humorous theme introduced established his own identity as a com­ by the second violin). In the repeat of the poser. That year, he had his first meeting opening melody, variation is achieved by with Joseph Haydn, whose influence a filling out with chromatic scales. This would have a great impact on the young chromatic scale will return again and genius. Haydn had already guaranteed again throughout the entire quartet, uni­ a place in history for himself by invent­ fying the four movements. ing not only the modem symphonic form but the string quartet as we know it to­ For the second movement, Mozart writes day Also that year, Haydn had published a lengthy and schizophrenic Minuet, his witty and innovative set of string which pairs music of almost stuffy el­ quartets, Opus 33, and there are records egance with more ironic passages such that the two composers actually per­ as the chromatic scale at the beginning formed these quartets together. Inspired stressed to sound as if it is in duple, not by meeting the older master and learn­ triple, meter. The Trio is serious and dra­ ing the Opus 33, Mozart began compos­ matic, especially in mysterious passages ing his own set of six quartets one year where the tonality is obscured. After this later, starting with the G major Quartet. relentless Menuetto, the florid and oper­ When published in 1785, the six quartets atic Andante cantabile is quite a relief and were dedicated to Haydn and are still truly one of the most beautiful slow known as the "Haydn Quartets." movements of any Mozart quartet.

The G major is the first of this set, and As in the Mendelssohn Octet, the finale right away in the first movement we can of this work is in the form of a fugue, bril­ hear the influence of Haydn in the equal liantly conceived with its contrast of strict use of all four instruments, dialogue be­ form and virtuoso writing. The chro­ tween instruments, and pairing of voices. matic scale makes an appearance in the Yet there is no mistaking that this is a development section and again in the work of a mature Mozart: instruments coda. After such a movement, we expect question and answer as if they were talk- a grand finish to this quartet, but it unex- pectedly ends softly as if Mozart is Octet for Strings, Op. 20 thumbing his nose at the listener. Felix Mendelssohn

After the performance of some of the Wealthy, handsome, athletic and possess­ "Haydn Quartets" in 1784, Haydn him­ ing a genius intellect, Felix Mendelssohn self told Mozart's father: "Before God, was truly one of the Golden Boys of his­ and as a honest man, I tell you that your tory. As a child, he learned several lan­ son is the greatest composer known to me guages including Greek, was proficient in person or by name." at many instruments (piano, organ, voice, violin and viola), had a great talent for drawing and painting, and was friends String Quartet, Op. 11 with many famous composers and intel­ Samuel Barber lectuals of his time, among them Weber, Cherubini, Paganini, Spohr and Goethe. In an interesting coincidence with By the time he had written the Octet for Mozart, the American composer Samuel double string quartet, he had not only Barber also wrote this String Quartet mastered music theory, counterpoint and when he was 26 years old, an age which composition, he had written many pieces seems very young, considering this piece including two string quartets. The fol­ contains some of the most famous music lowing year he would write one of the written in the 20th century. This work is most famous orchestral pieces ever, the built from a minimum of melodic mate­ Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream. rial, but once started, it sweeps the lis­ tener into an emotional tempest. Con­ More remarkable is the fact that trasts in the first movement are huge: the Mendelssohn was only 16 years old when urgent opening ends abruptly; followed he wrote the Octet. Clearly this is not a by a simple chorale-like melody. Like­ spontaneous accident of composition, but wise, the development is based on a ro­ a work of amazing maturity and craft. mantic arching phrase but ends with a Although there had been a tradition of layering of the opening motive, which writing works for double quartet using sounds like a nest of angry hornets. An the two groups like soloists and orches­ abbreviated version of the first movement tra, the idea of writing a piece for eight serves to close the entire Quartet. strings who play all at once is unique to Mendelssohn. This innovative style can These outer movements contain some be heard right from the beginning of the wonderful music; however, the Molto ada­ piece where the first violin plays an as­ gio which lies between them makes this cending theme accompanied by synco­ quartet memorable. Transcribed for both pated and quavering chords. The eight orchestra and chorus, used in movies and voices are used in a brilliant variety of television shows, and better known as the textures, resulting in the synthesis of Adagio for Strings, this piece is a solemn beauty; elegance and boundless energy. and timeless work of great beauty. When heard in the original quartet form, the As a contrast, the second movement starts music sheds the funereal grandeur of the out as a Sicilienne-like dance in C minor, orchestration and becomes intimate, al­ but it quickly becomes more ambiguous: most lonely, with all the tones and shades tonality shifts, the music becomes of a Turner watercolor. dreamy, and we are again in innovative territory.

Felix's sister, Fanny, writes about the memorable Third movement: "To me is a brilliant and exciting movement, pro­ alone he told his idea ... The whole piece pelled by almost constant eighth notes. is to be played staccato and pianissimo ... In a characteristic touch, the spirit world everything's new and strange and at the of the third movement makes an appear­ same time most insinuating and pleasing. ance in the development section. One feels so near to the }:'l'Orld of spirits, carried away in the air, half inclined to While Mendelssohn himself had said snatch up a broomstick and follow the later in his life that the Octet always had aerial procession. At the end, the first the ability to conjure up his youth, com­ violin takes a flight with a feather-like poser Max Brush compared it with the lightness-and all has vanished." Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream, and found that "both works have earned In the fourth movement, Mendelssohn great immortality, but the Octet will al­ treats the eight strings as a small orches­ ways remain the greater miracle." tra. It is a grand fugue starting in the sec­ ond cello and ascending through the - Program notes by James Wilson group until it reaches the first violin. This

Upcoming Events

CURRENTS with Christine Schadeberg, soprano Fred Cohen, Director & The Chester String Quartet Thursday, October 16, 1997, 8pm Camp Concert Hall, Booker Hall of Music This special program is the first in a series of two concerts focusing on Expressionism and Abstract Expressionism. These concerts are presented in conjunction with the opening of the Marsh Gallery's exhibition of the works of American Expressionist artist Robert Motherwell. This first program features a performance of Berg's Lyric Suite by the Chester Quartet, as well as works by Joel Feigin and Morton Feldman performed by CURRENTS, the resident professional ensemble for new music at the , University of Richmond. ·

Bolcom & Morris Monday, October 20, 1997, 8pm Camp Concert Hall, Booker Hall of Music Heralded as "one of the great musical collaborations of our time" (The Boston Globe), the husband and wife team of composer-pianist William Bolcom and mezzo-soprano Joan Morris have captivated audiences around the world with artful, witty and sump­ tuous renditions of great American songs. This performance features an all-Gershwin program in celebration of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the birth of the legend­ ary American composer. Adults $14, Sr. Citizens $12, Fac./Staff $12, UR Students $5 Call the Box Office at 289-8980 for tickets.