Advertisement
Stay in the Loop
BSR publishes on a weekly schedule, with an email newsletter every Wednesday and Thursday morning. There’s no paywall, and subscribing is always free.
Dan Coren
One of my most vivid concert memories is of a Philadelphia Chamber Music Society string quartet concert at the Civic Center several years ago, a concert whose centerpiece was the late Beethoven string quartet, Op. 131 in C-sharp minor. I don't recall who performed that afternoon, but I'll never forget the group's second violinist, a stunningly gorgeous Asian woman. I couldn't take my eyes off her. (What? You think that just because I'm listening to Serious Music, I stop being a guy?) Consequently, I heard the entire quartet from the perspective of the second-violin part— and, with my ear embedded in the intricate inner machinery of this formidable work, I didn't miss a single note.
Even without the bonus of a beautiful babe or hunk, I highly recommend this approach to chamber music. Devote your attention to a single performer, to whoever attracts you for whatever reason, and you'll experience the great virtues of live chamber music: the intimate connection between audience and performers, the way an individual tells his or her own story within the musical symbiosis of the ensemble, all in the service of repertory that, for me, contains the crown jewels of classical music.
The string quartet option
The 2009-2010 concert season is upon us and, for the first time since the inception of Broad Street Review nearly four years ago, I find myself contemplating the prospect of attending no orchestral concerts. I will continue, as a matter of civic responsibility, to support the Philadelphia Orchestra financially, but I'm unwilling to pay high prices for its hopelessly unimaginative repertory. And, as I recently wrote, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia has, to my taste, timidly surrendered the territory it had staked out over the past few seasons as a utopia of orchestral programming.
So here I am, free at last! Free to hear the music that I really want to hear: contemporary music and jazz— which I've sorely neglected in recent years— and, of course, some string quartets.
If you share my tastes and seek ways to spend your concert budget, consider the string quartet section of the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society's website. Here you will find 16 different string quartets (two of them, the Juilliard and the Tokyo, appearing twice), playing everything under the sun in the repertory "“ Haydn, Brahms, Bartok, Webern, John Adams and a world premiere or two by composers I've never heard of.
One group in particular, the Hagen Quartet, merits special mention. This is a veteran group, relatively little-known in this country but, to my ears, one of the best there is; they'll play Webern, Grieg, and Beethoven's Op. 59 No. 3 at the Perelman Theater on Wednesday, April 28.
This string quartet series might make you think this is a Beethoven anniversary year of some sort. (It isn't). No less than 16 performances of his quartets are scheduled, regularly spaced out over the entire season. It's not the complete set of 16, though; several of them are repeated. You don't often get to hear the late Op. 133 and the last Quartet, Op. 135, twice on the same series. In fact, it's not often that you get to hear Op. 135 at all. But, alas, Op. 131, and a few others, are missing.
The carpet-bomb strategy
Taken as a whole, the entire website shows the Chamber Music Society implementing the strategy that has succeeded so well over the past several concert seasons: deploying dozens of soloists and ensembles to a wide range of venues to carpet-bomb the Philadelphia populace with an overwhelming array of choices, all at reasonable prices. If I were a professional music critic— if my mission were to attend as many concerts as I possibly could— I'd be hard pressed to cover just this string quartet series alone, let alone the entire Chamber Music Society series.
As it is, I have a full-time day job and constraints on my entertainment budget and my time; I'll be lucky to attend a small fraction of the sumptuous feast of concerts available in the Delaware Valley. So let me call your attention to the concerts that I've my sights set on, some of which could easily go unnoticed.
Three masterpieces
"¢ 1807 and Friends, a chamber group with a penchant for programming quirky programs on weekday nights, is limiting itself to six Monday night concerts this season, all at the tiny Academy of the Vocal Arts theater. (At this writing, the group's website hasn't been completely updated for the new season.)
The ensemble will perform, on separate dates, three of the greatest masterpieces in the chamber music repertory. Two are by Schubert— the C major String Quintet on December 7, and the Op. 99 Piano Trio on March 22"“ and one is by Mozart: the G minor String Quintet, K. 516, on October 5. The two Schubert works have been played fairly frequently in recent years, but K. 516, arguably the most emotionally distressing and intense work in Mozart's (or anybody's) output, is a rarity. Although I rate it near the top of our culture's artistic achievements, I rarely have the nerve to actually listen to it, and I've never heard it live.
The Kimmel bounces back
"¢ After a fairly tepid 2008-2009 season, Kimmel Center Presents has come back strong, with a variety of concerts that rivals the Chamber Music Society in quality, if not in price. I plan to attend all three concerts in the Kimmel's Fresh Ink series. An appearance by the Kronos Quartet is always a special occasion, but even more intriguing for me is the appearance of pianist Simone Dinnerstein in a project called "Bach Re-invented," involving, in a way as yet to be revealed, her signature work, the "Goldberg Variations." (Dinnerstein, by now getting the recognition she deserves as one of the greatest pianists of her generation, will also appear in a Chamber Music Society concert.)
"¢ And then there's the one concert that I'll be sure not to miss, come hell or high water: the Kimmel Center's Organ Jam on April 30, 2010. The concert features two organ virtuosi with deep Philadelphia roots: Trudy Pitts, the woman who gave John Coltrane his start and who for years, with her husband, the drummer Mr. C., accompanied excellent Japanese food with equally excellent classical jazz on the Delaware River waterfront at the long-departed Meiji-En restaurant; and Joey DiFrancesco, the legendary organist whose virtuosity is matched only by his ebullient pleasure in playing.
I've only scratched the surface of what's available this season. Enjoy!♦
To read a response, click here.
Even without the bonus of a beautiful babe or hunk, I highly recommend this approach to chamber music. Devote your attention to a single performer, to whoever attracts you for whatever reason, and you'll experience the great virtues of live chamber music: the intimate connection between audience and performers, the way an individual tells his or her own story within the musical symbiosis of the ensemble, all in the service of repertory that, for me, contains the crown jewels of classical music.
The string quartet option
The 2009-2010 concert season is upon us and, for the first time since the inception of Broad Street Review nearly four years ago, I find myself contemplating the prospect of attending no orchestral concerts. I will continue, as a matter of civic responsibility, to support the Philadelphia Orchestra financially, but I'm unwilling to pay high prices for its hopelessly unimaginative repertory. And, as I recently wrote, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia has, to my taste, timidly surrendered the territory it had staked out over the past few seasons as a utopia of orchestral programming.
So here I am, free at last! Free to hear the music that I really want to hear: contemporary music and jazz— which I've sorely neglected in recent years— and, of course, some string quartets.
If you share my tastes and seek ways to spend your concert budget, consider the string quartet section of the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society's website. Here you will find 16 different string quartets (two of them, the Juilliard and the Tokyo, appearing twice), playing everything under the sun in the repertory "“ Haydn, Brahms, Bartok, Webern, John Adams and a world premiere or two by composers I've never heard of.
One group in particular, the Hagen Quartet, merits special mention. This is a veteran group, relatively little-known in this country but, to my ears, one of the best there is; they'll play Webern, Grieg, and Beethoven's Op. 59 No. 3 at the Perelman Theater on Wednesday, April 28.
This string quartet series might make you think this is a Beethoven anniversary year of some sort. (It isn't). No less than 16 performances of his quartets are scheduled, regularly spaced out over the entire season. It's not the complete set of 16, though; several of them are repeated. You don't often get to hear the late Op. 133 and the last Quartet, Op. 135, twice on the same series. In fact, it's not often that you get to hear Op. 135 at all. But, alas, Op. 131, and a few others, are missing.
The carpet-bomb strategy
Taken as a whole, the entire website shows the Chamber Music Society implementing the strategy that has succeeded so well over the past several concert seasons: deploying dozens of soloists and ensembles to a wide range of venues to carpet-bomb the Philadelphia populace with an overwhelming array of choices, all at reasonable prices. If I were a professional music critic— if my mission were to attend as many concerts as I possibly could— I'd be hard pressed to cover just this string quartet series alone, let alone the entire Chamber Music Society series.
As it is, I have a full-time day job and constraints on my entertainment budget and my time; I'll be lucky to attend a small fraction of the sumptuous feast of concerts available in the Delaware Valley. So let me call your attention to the concerts that I've my sights set on, some of which could easily go unnoticed.
Three masterpieces
"¢ 1807 and Friends, a chamber group with a penchant for programming quirky programs on weekday nights, is limiting itself to six Monday night concerts this season, all at the tiny Academy of the Vocal Arts theater. (At this writing, the group's website hasn't been completely updated for the new season.)
The ensemble will perform, on separate dates, three of the greatest masterpieces in the chamber music repertory. Two are by Schubert— the C major String Quintet on December 7, and the Op. 99 Piano Trio on March 22"“ and one is by Mozart: the G minor String Quintet, K. 516, on October 5. The two Schubert works have been played fairly frequently in recent years, but K. 516, arguably the most emotionally distressing and intense work in Mozart's (or anybody's) output, is a rarity. Although I rate it near the top of our culture's artistic achievements, I rarely have the nerve to actually listen to it, and I've never heard it live.
The Kimmel bounces back
"¢ After a fairly tepid 2008-2009 season, Kimmel Center Presents has come back strong, with a variety of concerts that rivals the Chamber Music Society in quality, if not in price. I plan to attend all three concerts in the Kimmel's Fresh Ink series. An appearance by the Kronos Quartet is always a special occasion, but even more intriguing for me is the appearance of pianist Simone Dinnerstein in a project called "Bach Re-invented," involving, in a way as yet to be revealed, her signature work, the "Goldberg Variations." (Dinnerstein, by now getting the recognition she deserves as one of the greatest pianists of her generation, will also appear in a Chamber Music Society concert.)
"¢ And then there's the one concert that I'll be sure not to miss, come hell or high water: the Kimmel Center's Organ Jam on April 30, 2010. The concert features two organ virtuosi with deep Philadelphia roots: Trudy Pitts, the woman who gave John Coltrane his start and who for years, with her husband, the drummer Mr. C., accompanied excellent Japanese food with equally excellent classical jazz on the Delaware River waterfront at the long-departed Meiji-En restaurant; and Joey DiFrancesco, the legendary organist whose virtuosity is matched only by his ebullient pleasure in playing.
I've only scratched the surface of what's available this season. Enjoy!♦
To read a response, click here.
Sign up for our newsletter
All of the week's new articles, all in one place. Sign up for the free weekly BSR newsletters, and don't miss a conversation.
