Back to Press Release List > 11/16/2009 - The Takács Quartet Present Three Performances During 2009-10 Season

Throughout this season, Carnegie Hall presents the Takács Quartet in three concerts in Zankel Hall, with each program juxtaposing Schumann’s string quartets and Beethoven’s “Razumovsky” quartets with New York premieres of works composed for the group by three singular composers: Wolfgang Rihm, James MacMillan, and John Psathas.

On Saturday, October 17 at 7:30 p.m., the quartet presents the New York premiere of Wolfgang Rihm’s Quartet No. 11, alongside Schumann’s String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 41, No. 1 and Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1. German composer Wolfgang Rihm’s works combine contemporary techniques and ideas with the emotional volatility of the Romantic era (Mahler and Bruckner, in particular), as well as Schoenberg's freely atonal works. In Zankel Hall on December 2, the Arditti Quartet and the Hilliard Ensemble will perform the U.S. premiere of Rihm’s ET LUX, a Carnegie Hall co-commission.

The Takács Quartet returns to Zankel Hall on Saturday, February 20 at 7:30 p.m. to perform the New York premiere of James Macmillan’s Quartet No. 3; also on the program is Schumann’s String Quartet in F Major, Op. 41, No. 2, and Beethoven’s String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2. James MacMillan is considered the pre-eminent Scottish composer of his generation; his music combines rhythmic excitement, intense expressivity, and spiritual meditation.

On Sunday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m., Takács concludes its series, performing the New York premiere of John Psathas’s A Cool Wind as well as Schumann’s String Quartet in A Major, Op. 41, No. 3, and Beethoven’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3. John Psathas was born in Wellington, New Zealand of Greek immigrant parents. His music is energetic and vibrant, with a passionate exuberance that is a product of his Greek heritage.

Artist Information
The Takács Quartet (Edward Dusinberre, violin; Károly Schranz, violin; Geraldine Walther, viola; and András Fejér, cello) play with a unique blend of drama, warmth, and humor, combining four distinct musical personalities to bring fresh insights to the string quartet repertoire. Known for its innovative programming, the quartet performed with Academy Award–winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman at Carnegie Hall in a 2007 program entitled Everyman, inspired by the Philip Roth novel. Based at the University of Colorado in Boulder, the quartet performs numerous concerts each year throughout Europe as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea. The 2009–2010 season includes cycles of the complete Beethoven quartets in London, where the members of the quartet are Associate Artists at the South Bank Centre, as well as in Madrid. The quartet will play a series of two Beethoven concerts in Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and give its first concert in St. Petersburg. It will perform over 40 concerts in North America and open the season of the San Diego Symphony with performances of Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro and Schoenberg’s Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra (after Handel’s Concerto Grosso).

The quartet's award-winning recordings include the complete Beethoven Cycle on the Decca label. In 2005, its recording of the late Beethoven quartets won “Disc of the Year” and “Chamber Award” from BBC Music Magazine, as well as a Gramophone Award and a Japanese Record Academy Award. The ensemble’s recordings of the early and middle Beethoven quartets earned them a Grammy Award, another Gramophone Award, a Chamber Music of America Award, and two further awards from the Japanese Recording Academy. In 2006, the Takács Quartet made its first recording for Hyperion Records and followed that in 2007 with a disc of Brahms's Piano Quintet with pianist Stephen Hough that was subsequently nominated for a Grammy Award. Its most recent recordings feature Brahms's Quartets Op. 51 and Op. 67 in 2008 and the Schumann Piano Quintet with Marc-Andre Hamelin, which will be released in late 2009.

The Takács Quartet was formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest by Gabor Takács-Nagy, Károly Schranz, Gabor Ormai, and András Fejér, while all four were students. It first received international attention in 1977, winning both First Prize and the Critics’ Prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France. The quartet made its North American debut tour in 1982. Violinist Edward Dusinberre joined the Quartet in 1993 and violist Roger Tapping in 1995. Violist Geraldine Walther replaced Mr. Tapping in 2005. Of the original ensemble, Károly Schranz and András Fejér remain. In 2001, the Takács Quartet was awarded the Order of Merit of the Knight’s Cross of the Republic of Hungary.

Program Information
Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
TAKÁCS QUARTET

ROBERT SCHUMANN String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 41, No. 1
WOLFGANG RIHM Quartet No. 11 (NY Premiere)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1, "Razumovsky"
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Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
TAKÁCS QUARTET

ROBERT SCHUMANN String Quartet in F Major, Op. 41, No. 2
JAMES MACMILLAN String Quartet No. 3 (NY Premiere)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2, "Razumovsky"
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Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
TAKÁCS QUARTET

ROBERT SCHUMANN String Quartet in A Major, Op. 41, No. 3
JOHN PSATHAS A Cool Wind (NY Premiere)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3, "Razumovsky"
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