In Depth - Takács Quartet Program

Jul 29

Written By Sara Danner Dukic

On the Takács Quartet program Tuesday, September 24, 2024 • 7:30 p.m. Memorial Hall:

String Quartet in C Major, Op. 54, “Tost”, No. 2 (1788) …………………………………...Joseph Haydn (1732–1809)

String Quartet No. 1, “Kreutzer Sonata” (1923)……………………………………………..Leoš Janáček (1854–1928)

String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, “Razumovsky,” No.1 (1806) …………………………Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

ABOUT THE TAKACS QUARTET

Chamber Music Cincinnati again opens its 95TH season with a concert by one of the BBC’s “Ten Greatest String Quartet Ensembles of All Time.” We are thrilled to welcome the Takács Quartet back to Cincinnati.

Awards and acclaim have followed the Takács since its founding in Budapest during 1975 and continue to do so today. By 1983, they had won five major European competitions, made their U.S. debut the following year, and become resident at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where they remain.

They have since won classical music’s most important American and European awards: a Grammy and four Gramophones, respectively. In 2012, they were the first ensemble named to the Gramophone Hall of Fame and in 2014 were the first to win the Wigmore Hall Medal from London’s temple of chamber music.

Perhaps most remarkably, as the Takács enters its 50th year, they seem never to have slowed down or peaked. Their fourth Gramophone award, for a recording with Garrick Ohlsson of the Beach and Elgar quintets, was awarded in 2021. We could fill this page with glowing tributes to the Takács from the world’s most discerning critics. The three above are emblematic.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

String Quartet in C Major, Op. 54, “Tost,” No. 2 (1788)
Joseph Haydn (1732–1809)

Haydn, “father of the string quartet,” wrote 68, three times more than Mozart, four times Beethoven. This is number 42, just shy of the two-thirds point in his remarkable journey. Ever-inventive, Haydn constantly evolved, regularly breaking his own molds. This piece is especially compelling in its boldness and virtuosity.

String Quartet No. 1, “Kreutzer Sonata” (1923)
Leoš Janáček (1854–1928)

Janáček was inspired by his Czech countryman Dvořák, by Eastern European folk music, and by Czech and Russian literature. His “Kreutzer Sonata” has an unusual lineage. It was inspired by Tolstoy’s “Kreutzer Sonata” novella, while Tolstoy was inspired by Beethoven’s most famous violin-piano sonata, labeled “Kreutzer.” The latter was initially dedicated to violinist George Bridgetower, who premiered it, and subsequently to French violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer. Randall Goosby closed his April concert here with the Beethoven.

String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59 “Razumovsky,” No. 1 (1806)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

With Op. 59, No. 1, Beethoven began the dramatic transformation of the string quartet from that of Haydn and Mozart. It is the first of a series of three dedicated to his most important patron and only pupil, Russian Ambassador Count Andrey Razumovsky, also dedicatee of the Fifth and Sixth symphonies. This quartet began Beethoven’s “middle period” and the unmatched creative explosion that only ended with the 1826 Quartet in F Major, his final work, and his death six months later.