Manhattan String Quartet plays Haydn, Elgar, Beethoven
Free
Franz Joseph Haydn — String Quartet No. 67 in F major, Op. 77, No. 2, Hob. III:82
Edward Elgar — String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83
Curtis Macomber, violin
Calvin Wiersma, violin
John Dexter, viola
Chris Finckel, cello
Josef Haydn – Quartet in F major, Op. 77, No. 2
Edward Elgar – Quartet in E minor, Op. 83
Ludwig van Beethoven – Quartet in F minor, Op. 95 "Serioso"
Hailed by the Boston Globe as “a national treasure,” the Manhattan String Quartet is celebrating its 47th season. Well known for their performances of 20th-century “classics,” the Manhattan Quartet has established a significant international reputation with regular concert appearances throughout North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. After a series of concerts in Moscow and Leningrad in the fall of 1985, the Quartet became the first American classical ensemble to give a full tour of the Soviet Union under that era’s new cultural agreement. Their first sold-out series of performances in 1986 was followed by an equally successful tour in 1989. In 2005, the Quartet made its first tour of Asia and played to sold-out houses in Nagoya and Tokyo, Japan. Notable among its many recordings is the complete cycle of 15 Shostakovich string quartets that Time Magazine called “One of the most important musical events of 1991.”
The group has been Quartet-in-Residence at Colgate University since 1988 and has held similar posts at the Manhattan School of Music, Cornell University, Grinnell College, Western Connecticut State University, the Chamber Music Institute in Racine, Wisconsin, Connecticut’s Music Mountain Festival and Michigan’s Interlochen National Music Camp (for 22 summers). Since 1989 the Quartet has hosted the KentMusic String Quartet Conference and, since 2001, annual European conferences for pre-professional and amateur players focusing on major works in the string quartet repertoire.
The Manhattan Quartet has established itself as an advocate of new music through the commission and performance of new works from composers, most recently including Laura Kaminsky (American Nocturne), Eric Moe (The Salt of Broken Tears), Craig Walsh (String Quartet), Steve Ricks (The Pure Forces' Gravity) and Laurie Altman (Shirakawa River Song).
The Manhattan Quartet’s distinguished catalogue of recordings includes the complete Shostakovich quartets; Eric Moe's The Salt of Broken Tears; Craig Walsh's String Quartet; Dvořák's Quartet in G major, Op. 106; a Mozart/Beethoven pairing of live concert recordings; Schubert's Quartets Nos. 14 & 15 (Death and the Maiden); Adagio for Strings, featuring Dvořák's American Quartet along with popular encores by Turina, Wolf, Puccini, Kern, Gershwin and Barber; and Carl Maria von Weber’s Quintet for Clarinet and Strings with clarinetist Jon Manasse.