Part of: Quartets Plus
Arod Quartet
·· Jordan Victoria, Violin
·· Alexandre Vu, Violin
·· Tanguy Parisot, Viola
·· Samy Rachid, Cello
HAYDN String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 76, No. 4, "Sunrise"
BARTÓK String Quartet No. 5
BRAHMS String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51, No. 2
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Haydn was at the peak of his powers when he wrote his six Op. 76 quartets in the mid-1790s. More or less contemporary with his oratorio The Creation, these masterpieces are among Haydn’s last contributions to the genre that he did so much to create. The “Sunrise” Quartet is notable for its magically luminous opening and its adventurous handling of thematic material, harmony, texture, and timbre.
The fifth of Bartók’s six string quartets was commissioned by his American patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge and had its first performance in Washington, DC, in 1935. Laid out in five movements—three predominantly fast and two slow—the work is notable for its rhythmic verve, richly imaginative tonal effects, and sturdy, arch-like construction.
In the second of his three string quartets, Brahms the Classicist meets Brahms the Romantic. The two Op. 51 quartets are dedicated to Brahms’s friend Theodor Billroth, a Viennese surgeon. Although the mercilessly self-critical composer dismissed his music as “mean and paltry,” Billroth knew better. “These dedications will keep our names known longer than our best work,” he predicted to a fellow dedicatee.
Jordan Victoria, Violin | Alexandre Vu, Violin
Tanguy Parisot, Viola | Samy Rachid, Cello
With all four members in their early 20s, the Paris-based Arod Quartet has already dazzled chamber-music lovers in concerts at the Louvre Auditorium in France and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. The ensemble records exclusively for Erato / Warner Classics, which released its debut album featuring music by Mendelssohn in the fall of 2017.
The Arod Quartet quickly came to international attention when it won the 2016 ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the 2015 Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition in Copenhagen. In the 2018–2019 season, the ensemble makes its US debut, following its North American debut at Quebec’s Festival de Lanaudière last summer. The 2017–2018 season included performances at the Philharmonie de Paris, London’s Wigmore Hall, Salzburg’s Mozarteum University, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and Zurich’s Tonhalle. In addition, the ensemble performed for the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, as well as in venues in Italy, Japan, Denmark, and Serbia. That season, the quartet was also named a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist.
The Arod Quartet has been invited to perform at a number of major international festivals, including the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Septembre Musical, Salon Festival International de Musique de Chambre de Provence, La Folle Journée, Pablo Casals Festival, and Prague Spring International Music Festival. The ensemble was a 2016 HSBC Laureate of the Académie du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
Members of the Arod Quartet have studied with Mathieu Herzog and Jean Sulem. The group is currently in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium with the Artemis Quartet. Other collaborators include Quatuor Ébène and Quatuor Diotima.
The quartet takes its name from Legolas’s horse in J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings. In Tolkien’s mythic language Rohirric, arod means “swift.”
Jordan Victoria and Alexandre Vu perform on composite Stradivarius and Guadagnini violins on generous loan from the Beare’s International Violin Society.
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