6738.american ensemble 6/19/06 2:39 PM Page 10 AmericanEnsemble Fine and On June 18, a gala tet—maybe it has a more mellow sound [than colleagues are. There’s a lot of imitation the quartet is in residence. The quartet cians have the satisfaction of connecting concert in Milwaukee others performing these days],” says Boico. “We going on. If one person’s playing in a cer- acted as guest faculty at the Yale Summer with informed, passionate audiences. “This Mellow celebrated the sixtieth don’t like aggressive playing or aggression in tain way, to play well, you really have to School of Music at Norfolk, Connecticut, is an acquired taste,” says Laufer. “People birthday of the Fine emotion. Sometimes you have to have it, like in blend. There’s still plenty of room for indi- and the International Music Academy of are not coming in their young years; you Arts Quartet. The Shostakovich or Bartók, but honestly speaking, viduality: We don’t all play the same way, Montpellier, and served on the jury of the come after you’ve heard all kinds of music, anniversary is an auspi- the basis of our exploring of music is the sound. even today. But in general, we’re all sensi- Bordeaux International String Quartet and you become an aficionado. When you cious milestone, but it comes with a caveat: Maybe we have more charm—like an old wine, tive and attuned to each other.” Competition. go to a symphony concert, a Tchaikovsky Today’s FAQ is, of course, a significantly differ- or a good cheese.” “If we are fighting for some musical rea- ent group from the one that was formed in The four FAQ musicians come from very dif- son—we are good friends—we are trying The FAQ in 2005 1946, both in its personnel and in its music- ferent backgrounds: Evans trained in the U.S. to find some compromise,” says making. The predecessor group gained world- and London, Boico and Gandelsman in Russia, Gandelsman. “The most important thing wide recognition from the ’50s through the ’70s and Laufer in Romania and Israel. But in indi- is to find a way to put your personality with performances and recordings that were vidual conversation, it’s remarkable how united together with your colleagues.” considered among the finest from that genera- a front they present when describing their per- The quartet has in recent seasons played tion of chamber musicians. formance style and aesthetic aims. Take the works by Greg Sandow, Philip Glass, and “There really is no continuum when it comes matter of preserving a singing line: Boico, who Evans himself. It also makes something of to performance or musical practice,” says Ralph says he’s never happier than at the opera, likens a specialty of unusual corners of 20th-cen- Evans, the current first violinist. “I’d like to say the quartet to “a choir with four voices.” And tury literature; recent recording projects ‘yes, we’re a continuation of the Fine Arts Gandelsman says the FAQ’s identity springs have included works by Dohnanyi, Quartet tradition,’ and indeed, I’m familiar from “the singing of the instruments”—with an Antheil, and Bernard Herrmann. This with the [old] recordings. However, musicians old-school approach that hearkens back to the year, for the Shostakovich centenary, the are all unique. We’re excellent in different ways, singers, as much as the instrumentalists, of the quartet is performing all of the Russian with different ways of expressing music.” past. composer’s string quartets. But the heart The FAQ’s longest-standing current member, This concordance of opinion suggests that of the FAQ’s repertory remains the classics cellist Wolfgang Lauper, did in fact overlap for part of the longevity of the FAQ in its current of the classical and Romantic eras: Mozart, two and a half years with first violinist Leonard incarnation results, not just from a shared aes- Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Sorkin, one of the quartet’s founders. But in its thetic, but from the musicians’ ability to work Brahms. current embodiment, consisting of Evans, toward a common goal. “We are four very As Ralph Evans sees it, the concentration Lauper, second violinist Efim Boico, and violist strong personalities, very different in some on traditional repertoire stems from the Yuri Gandelsman, the group is resolutely its ways,” says Laufer. “There is some tough going FAQ’s focus on beautiful tone. “The The crowded schedule is obviously a symphony will end with a big fortissimo, own organism, with its own distinct approach in rehearsing, since everybody has strong views. strength of our quartet is that we can offer good thing professionally—and it also and it’s an assured success. But the to the string quartet repertoire. If there’s a para- But if there’s something to define this group, a more beautiful performance, perhaps, keeps the musicians on an even keel, musi- Shostakovich Third Quartet ends on a soft dox here, it may be that the current FAQ might ultimately, it’s a unity of sound which distin- than some other quartets,” he says. “I con- cally and psychologically. “We all have our note—unless you have been convincing in glibly be deemed more “old-fashioned” than its guishes us from others.” fess I’m happy with the balance. Others bad days, when we’re very upset,” says the piece, you’ve missed your audience. forebears. “You could call the quartet from the Despite the occasional need to negotiate may offer a better command of rhythm in Evans. “But in our case, we have a little These are four people—in some way, the ’50s more ‘modern,’” says Evans. “They were musical matters in rehearsal, that unity of complex modern music situations than we advantage. When a quartet is busy, when means of expression may seem limited, but more straightforward in their approach to tone approach, as often as not, remains unspoken. do. We can play the music where we things are going well career-wise, there’s this is extremely intimate music and very and phrasing.” “We are playing for 24 years together,” says shine.” less time for bickering. You have to get the personal.” A critic once referred to the present quartet’s Boico. “We are not talking about sound; it’s The FAQ is a busy ensemble. In the last music learned, get on the road, and be In Boico’s words: “The public of cham- “European” sound—a categorization that the already in our blood and our bodies.” year alone, it played more than sixty con- ready for the next situation. You can’t ber music is really special people.” For sixty musicians themselves find somewhat specious “You grow together and make subtle com- certs, both across America and in Europe, afford to let it stew.” years, special people have sustained the but that nonetheless suggests the group’s con- promises along the way,” says Evans. “You real- and close to home at the Milwaukee cam- The touring schedule might be strenu- Fine Arts Quartet in all of its various incar- scious emphasis on beauty of tone. “Our quar- ize what the strengths and weaknesses of your pus of the University of Wisconsin, where ous, but throughout their travels, the musi- nations. (www.fineartsquartet.org) 10 august 2006 11 6738.american ensemble 6/19/06 2:39 PM Page 12 AmericanEnsemble The New England Conservatory of Music has Peak long offered outstanding resources to young Performance people studying chamber music. The faculty includes the likes of Kim Kashkashian, James Buswell, Russell Sherman, and the Borromeo Quartet. The school’s professional string quar- tet and piano trio training programs have recently helped launch the careers of the Parker and Jupiter quartets. But when Lucy Stoltzman took over the school’s strings and chamber music department in 2002, she still insisted on one pedagogical improvement: She made the school increase the opportunities for undergraduates in the chamber music pro- gram to perform. “You don’t even begin to learn a piece until you’ve performed The name doesn’t tell the whole story. Yes, the New York it,” says Stoltzman. “You do all the work and practice. Then you perform it and Symphonic Youth Symphony brings together young musicians from the it comes alive. That’s when you understand ‘Now I know how to proceed.’” Approach tri-state area in an orchestra that plays an annual series in All the students in Stoltzman’s department are required to take part in at least Carnegie Hall. But the organization also administers work- three performances a semester. If they haven’t formed a chamber group on their shops in conducting and composition, a jazz band, and com- own at the beginning of the school year, they’re assigned in the first week and missioning programs for young composers and artists. Not to work together for a month before their first performance class in October—a mention a bustling chamber music program, which this past trial by fire where their peers deliver insights that teachers might keep to them- year encompassed 56 people, age 12–22, in 18 groups. selves. Another performance class follows in November, then recitals at the end “It’s an exciting program—I wish it had been around when I was younger!” says violin- of the semester. ist Lisa Tipton, the chamber music program’s director. “I see it as a summer chamber music At the end of October, ensembles compete to perform in NEC’s outreach festival held throughout the year, where you can delve in and look deep into the music.” program; the winners go out to Boston-area schools, retirement homes, hospi- The participants include young players already committed to chamber music, along with tals, and even homeless shelters.