Brentano String Quartet

Explore how composers put their distinctive mark on the string quartet. Mozart did it with forward-looking harmonies in one of his six dedicated to Haydn, but its wit and genial tone suggest the influence of the dedicatee. Ravel stressed color, melody, and rhythmic daring when composing his masterful String Quartet in F Major—one of his finest creations. Its two central movements are particularly noteworthy: The second evokes Javanese gamelan music and the third shimmers with vivid color.

West-Eastern Divan Ensemble

Schubert’s and Mendelssohn’s vivacity delight, while Schoenberg and a new work by a French composer fascinate. Schubert’s Rondo resembles a mini violin concerto with a virtuosic solo part, and Mendelssohn’s Octet has a bustling energy and beautiful melodies that make it his most popular chamber work. The West-Eastern Divan Ensemble, led by the orchestra’s concertmaster Michael Barenboim, bring its youthful energy to this remarkable music. The ensemble draws upon players of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra—founded by Daniel Barenboim and the late Palestinian literary scholar Edward Said—to promote coexistence and intercultural dialogue by bringing young Israelis, Palestinians, and Arabs together to make music.

Jörg Widmann, Clarinet
Tabea Zimmermann, Viola
Dénes Várjon, Piano

Schumann’s lyrical fairy stories and fantasy pieces set the tone for this program of colorful tales and wild flights of fancy. They’re joined by Jörg Widmann’s Es war einmal (Once Upon a Time), an invigorating take on the fairy tale that cleverly flirts with quotations from Schumann while subversively (in the best way) turning convention on its ear. While not a fairy tale, Mozart’s gorgeous trio has a story too—the legend is that it was composed during a game of skittles.

Quatuor Ébène

Witness Beethoven’s musical evolution in works from the early and middle parts of his career. His first quartet’s second movement, inspired by Romeo and Juliet, reveals his genius for conveying tragedy, while the heartbreak of his hearing loss is conquered in the heroic double fugue that concludes his Third “Razumovsky” Quartet. The “Harp” Quartet’s first movement pizzicato (plucked) passage is the source of its nickname, but it’s only an episode in an emotional journey that culminates in one of his most boisterous finales.