Archive for Beethoven

The Astonishing Eybler Quartet Completes Their Much-Awaited Survey of Beethoven’s Op. 18 Quartets

“Simply stunning … jaw-dropping agility, clarity and accuracy in the playing, allied with terrific dynamics and nuance, outstanding ensemble work …I doubt if you’ve heard these works sound like this before – it’s absolutely essential listening.” – The WholeNote (on Beethoven, Op. 18, Vol. 1)

[Français ci-dessous]

When British label CORO Connections released their first recording from Toronto’s Eybler Quartetlast spring, they may havebeen surprised to have a controversy on their hands. The Eybler’s versions of Beethoven’s Op. 18 quartets, nos. 1-3, on period instruments, took many aback due to their astonishing speed, particularly in the scherzofrom Quartet No. 1. Gramophonecalled it “straight-up hilarious … this set might infuriate you or it might delight you,” continuing, “ either way, I suspect, Beethoven would have been more than happy.” The Times of Londonbemoaned that “this brilliant Canadian quartet [left] me feeling my age … yet there is no denying the Eyblers’ verve and delicacy of touch.” Now, the new recording of the Beethoven Op. 18 Quartets, nos. 4-6fulfils the wish of Early Music America, who wrote last year: “With nearly 70 minutes of masterfully played Beethoven, this recording leaves you waiting for the Eybler to complete the Opus 18 cycle.” The new release is available in digital form from May 31, with the CD version for sale as of June 7.

The musical controversy arose from the Eybler’s choice to follow Beethoven’s original and supposedly “impossible” metronome markings – which have caused some to speculate on Beethoven’s sanity – to the letter. As an early music quartet, the Eyblers approached Beethoven’s Op. 18 as “new music,” working from different editions of the score while delving deeply into exhaustive critical notes on the works. Violist Patrick Jordan comments, “Looking back through the almost 200 years since Ludwig van Beethoven’s death, it is remarkably easy to repeat to ourselves the narrative of Beethoven’s transcendent seriousness, greatness and genius.” However, he continues, “we also discovered depths of humour, wit and irony in Beethoven that we had not found before, in particular his ready embrace of the commedia dell’arte.” Jordan’s unusually witty liner notes describe the almost operatic Quartet no. 4 in C Minor, with its “blisteringly fast coda”;  the cheerful Quartet no. 5 in A Major, with its “lilting Ländler” leading to a “slightly tipsy” Trio; and the Quartet no. 6 in B-flat Major, which“displays the widest emotional range to be found in the set.” 

The Eybler Quartetbrings a unique combination of talents and skills: years of collective experience as chamber musicians, technical prowess, experience in period instrument performance and an unquenchable passion for the repertoire. Violinist Julia Wedmanand violist Patrick G. Jordanare members of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra;Violinist Aisslinn Noskyis concertmaster of the Handel and Haydn Society and Principal Guest Conductor of the Niagara Symphony Orchestra; Julia and Aisslinn are also members of I FURIOSI Baroque Ensemble. Cellist Margaret Gay is much in demand as both a modern and period instrument player. The Eybler Quartet’s previous, critically-acclaimed albums includechamber music of Vanhal, Haydn, Mozart, Backofen, and of course, the quartet’s namesake, Joseph Leopold Edler von Eybler. 

CORO Connections is an imprint of the award-winning CORO record label.All of the artists on CORO Connections have links toHarry Christophers, The Sixteen, or the Handel and Haydn Society. Eybler Quartet violinist Aisslinn Noskyis concertmaster of Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society.

Quand la maison britannique CORO Connections a fait paraître son premier enregistrement du Quatuor Eybler de Toronto, au printemps dernier, elle ne s’attendait pas à une controverse. Cette interprétation des quatuors de Beethoven, opus 18, nos 1 à 3, avec des instruments d’époque, en a surpris plus d’un par sa vitesse ahurissante – surtout en ce qui concerne le scherzodu premier quatuor. Gramophonel’a décrite comme « proprement hilarante; cette prestation pourrait soit vous ravir, soit vous enrager », ajoutant que « dans tous les cas, Beethoven lui-même serait aux anges. » Selon le Timesde Londres, « ce brillant quatuor canadien est difficile à suivre passé un certain âge. Cela dit, impossible de nier la verve et la délicatesse du Eybler ». Ce nouvel enregistrement des Quatuors de Beethoven, opus 18, nos 4 à 6, a quant à lui su combler les attentes de Early Music America, qui a écrit l’an dernier : « Avec près de 70 minutes d’un Beethoven interprété avec brio, l’enregistrement ne donne qu’une envie : que le Quatuor Eybler complète le cycle de l’opus 18. »La nouvelle parution sera disponible en format numérique dès le 31 mai, et l’album, en vente à partir du 7 juin.

S’il y a eu controverse, c’est que le Quatuor Eybler suit à la lettre la cadence originale choisie par Beethoven, réputée irréalisable – à tel point que certains l’ont cru fou. En tant que quatuor spécialiste de la musique ancienne, le Eybler envisage l’opus 18 de Beethoven comme une œuvre « nouvelle », comparant différentes versions des partitions tout en étudiant en profondeur les essais critiques à leur sujet. Selon l’altiste Patrick Jordan, « au fil des quelque 200 ans écoulés depuis la mort de Ludwig van Beethoven, on a dressé le portrait d’un homme éminemment sérieux, au génie grandiose. Toutefois, poursuit-il, nous avons également relevé chez lui des traits d’humour, de vivacité et d’ironie que nous ne lui connaissions pas, notamment une grande affection pour la commedia dell’arte. » Dans son humoristique texte de pochette, Patrick Jordan décrit la coda du quasi opératique Quatuor no 4 en do mineur, « rapide à en provoquer des ampoules », le Ländler cadencé du joyeux Quatuor no 5 en la majeur, prélude à un Trio « légèrement ivre », et le Quatuor no 6 en si bémol majeur, l’œuvre du cycle « offrant la plus riche gamme d’émotions ».

Le Quatuor Eyblerpropose un mélange unique de talents et d’habiletés, soit des années d’expérience en musique de chambre, de véritables prouesses techniques, une grande connaissance des instruments d’époque et une passion sans borne pour le répertoire. La violoniste Julia Wedmanet l’altiste Patrick G. Jordansont membres du Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; Aisslinn Noskyest premier violon de la Handel and Haydn Society et principale chef invitée de l’Orchestre symphonique de Niagara. Ajoutons que Mmes Wedman et Nosky sont également membres de l’ensemble baroque I FURIOSI. Enfin, la violoncelliste Margaret Gaymaîtrise aussi bien les instruments contemporains que les instruments d’époque. La discographie acclamée du Eybler Quartet comprend aussi des œuvres de chambre de Vanhal, Haydn, Mozart, Backofen et, bien entendu, Joseph Leopold Edler von Eybler, qui a donné son nom au quatuor.

CORO Connections est une branche de CORO, maison de disques primée. Tous les artistes représentés par CORO Connections sont liés à Harry Christophers, à The Sixteen ou à la Handel and Haydn Society. Aisslinn Nosky,violoniste du Eybler Quartet, est d’ailleurs premier violon de la Handel and Haydn Society, à Boston.

BEETHOVEN ~ PASSION ROMANTIQUE: The Montreal Chamber Music Festival’s 22nd Season

Beethoven image_SGPRMay 26 ~ June 18, 2017

Pre-Festival Prestige Series ~ February 1, May 6, and May 10

The Montreal Chamber Music Festival presents Beethoven: Passion romantique, dedicating its 22nd season to the spirit of Beethoven, the great master who represents the transition from the Classical to the Romantic era.  Founder and Artistic Director Denis Brott, C.M. has featured the music of Beethoven on almost all Festival concerts, anchored by the performance of the complete Beethoven string quartets over six concerts by the extraordinary Dover Quartet, who have “enjoyed a “rise to the top [that] looks practically meteoric” (Strings Magazine). Denis Brott comments:  “Like no other composer, Beethoven ushered in a new musical language inspired by the French Revolution’s Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité.  Beethoven’s remarkable prowess and indomitable spirit has influenced all music since, and his emotional expression and compositional innovation continue to inspire and resonate.  The Festival celebrates his genius with gratitude and gusto in 2017.”

This 22nd Festival season, which is preceded by a three-concert “Prestige Series”, features many more extraordinary artists, including superstar Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki, a world premiere by Yoav Talmi, the Israeli Chamber Project, the Rolston String Quartet, the always-popular jazz series with Rémi Bolduc, Robi Botos, and Natalie MacMaster, and much more.  A total of 43 events, at all times of day, fill out the Festival schedule for more concerts, more free events, and more Beethoven than ever before!

 

PRE-FESTIVAL PRESTIGE SERIES

To open the 2017 season and the Prestige Series, the Festival is thrilled to welcome back close friends, the Emerson String Quartet for a recital on February 1 at 7:30 pm at Salle Bourgie. This unmatched quartet is celebrating its remarkable 40th anniversary season with a delightful program of Mozart’s Quartet No. 15, K.421; Ravel’s Quartet in F Major; and Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No. 3.

Beethoven Words & Music brings together several of the composer’s chamber works with texts from his journals and letters for a wonderfully intimate evening on Saturday, May 6 at 7:30 pm at Théâtre Paul-Desmarais, Canadian Centre for Architecture.  The elegant Israeli pianist Alon Goldstein, who thrilled Festival audiences last season with his performances of Mozart concerti in transcriptions for string quartet, returns alongside violinist Andrew Wan, cellist Denis Brott, and narrators in English and French, Eric Friesen and Julie Payette, respectively.

The final event of the Pre-Festival Prestige Series is Casanova, a theatrical collaboration with Montreal’s Ensemble Caprice on Wednesday, May 10 at 8 pm at Pollack Hall.  Acclaimed baritone Michael Volle takes on the persona of the 18th-century Italian adventurer, best known for his legendary womanizing, in an evening featuring music by Mozart, Vivaldi, and Gluck, with soprano Sharon Azrieli Perez.

 

THE BEETHOVEN STRING QUARTETS:  DOVER QUARTET & McGILL LECTURE SERIES

Described by The New Yorker as “the young American string quartet of the moment,” the Dover String Quartet catapulted to attention after sweeping the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, and has quickly become a major presence on the international scene.  With its burnished warmth, incisive rhythms, and natural phrasing, the quartet’s sound is “so distinctive as to be identified within mere minutes” (Philadelphia Inquirer). The Dover Quartet will perform the complete Beethoven String Quartet cycle for the Festival, taking place over six concerts, all at Pollack Hall:  May 26, 28; June 2, 4, 9, and 11.  In partnership with the Festival, McGill’s School of Continuing Education presents a series of bilingual lectures on the Beethoven quartets, directed by Richard Turp with guest speakers including Raffi Armenian, Denis Brott, and Julie Payette.

The Dover Quartet also joins current Banff International String Quartet Competition torch bearers, the Rolston String Quartet for a concert of award winners on Thursday, June 8 at 7:30 pm at Pollack Hall.  Music will include Mendelssohn’s famous String Octet, Op. 20 and the Quebec premiere of Quartet No. 1 by Zosha di Castri, which was written for last summer’s Banff competition.

 

THE ART OF JAN LISIECKI

The Festival is thrilled to present two concerts featuring the spectacular young pianist Jan Lisiecki.  Just 21 years-old, Lisiecki has won acclaim around the world for his extraordinary interpretive maturity, distinctive sound, and poetic sensibility.  The New York Times has called him “a pianist who makes every note count” while Classic FM, praising his most recent album for Deutsche Grammophon, wrote:  “he may be young but Jan Lisiecki plays like a legend.”  Jan’s new album of orchestral works by Chopin, with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, also for Deutsche Grammophon, will be released in March.

On Wednesday, June 14 at 7:30 pm at Pollack Hall, Jan is joined by cellist Denis Brott in a recital of works by Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin.  Then, on Friday, June 16 at 7:30 pm, he performs a solo piano programme including works by Beethoven and Chopin, closing with an arrangement for piano and string quintet of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, with the Festival Strings.

 

 TD JAZZ SERIES – 3 SPECTACULAR SATURDAY NIGHTS

The Festival’s popular TD Jazz Series always brings in tremendous artists from home and away for three fun-filled evenings, and this year is no exception.  The three Saturday night concerts all take place at Salle Bourgie, beginning at 7:30 pm.

On June 3, Canadian saxophone icon Rémi Bolduc brings his dazzling virtuosity, refreshing style and magnetic stage presence to the Festival for a new programme:  Tribute to George Shearing: Lullaby of BirdlandTo salute the legendary pianist, Bolduc brings along a group of outstanding musicians including François Bourassa, piano; Neil Swainson on bass; Pat Labarbera on tenor saxophone, and drummer Rich Irwin, for an unforgettable evening.

Robi Botos is a virtuosic pianist, rooted in everything from Eastern European folk to classical to modern jazz. The Oscar Peterson protégé, and recent Juno winner for “Jazz Album of the Year” for his Movin’ Forward, takes the stage on June 10 with bassist Mike Downes and drummer Larnell Lewis.

To close out the jazz series on June 17, the Festival welcomes beloved Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster and her quartet.  Over the course of 11 record releases, including numerous gold albums, and three decades of performing thousands of live shows, often collaborating with a multitude of world renowned artists, MacMaster has remained true to her traditional and invigorating jigs, reels, and strathspeys, always leaving her audience clapping and hollering for more.


THE ISRAELI CHAMBER PROJECT & TWO PREMIERES

The Israeli Chamber Project comes to the Festival for two concerts at Pollack Hall, both with thrilling premieres. This dynamic ensemble, based in both Israel and New York, comprises strings, winds, and piano, all of them brilliant, prize-winning players.  Time Out New York calls them “a band of world-class soloists … in which egos dissolve and players think, breathe and play as one.”

On Tuesday, June 13 at 7:30 pm, clarinettist Tibi Cziger and cellist Michal Korman are highlighted in the Canadian premiere of Shulamit Ran’s Private Game for clarinet and cello.  They are joined by pianist Assaff Weisman, violinists Yehonatan Berick and Carmit Zori, and violist Nitai Zori, for works by Bartók, Weber, and Brahms.  The concert on Thursday, June 15 at 7:30 pm, features the world premiere of Quintet for Clarinet by acclaimed Israeli conductor, composer, and pianist Yoav Talmi, well-known to Quebec audiences following his 13-year tenure as Artistic Director of the Quebec Symphony.  Talmi will be joined by his colleagues including pianist Alon Goldstein in a concert that will include Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances for four hands and Quintet for Piano and Strings No. 2.

 

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT BANK WINNERS:  A CONCERT FOR FAMILIES

The Montreal Chamber Music Festival once again proudly highlights the talents of the next generation of brilliant classical musicians, including the latest crop of winners of the Canada Council’s Musical Instrument Bank.  On Sunday, June 18 at 3:00 pm at Pollack Hall, the young musicians will perform a delightful and family- friendly programme, on the exceptional collection of great violins and cellos by such legendary makers as Antonio Stradivarius and Guarnerius del Gesù, valued at over 40 million dollars.

Four different superb violinists, to include Dennis Kim, Timothy Chooi and recent OSM Manulife Competition winner Blake Pouliot, take the lead in the movements of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, performed with narration and projections.  The ensemble will also perform Beethoven’s Quartet No. 11, Op. 95, as arranged for string ensemble by Mahler, and Saint-Saëns’ whimsical favourite, The Carnival of the Animals, narrated by Julie Payette.

 

NEW AND FREE!

Matinées musicales

Join us for free concerts on Saturday morning June 10 and 17.  Coffee and croissants are served starting at 10:30 am at Tanna Schulich Hall, with the 1-hour concerts starting at 11:00 am.

Smartphone Concerts

Keep your smartphone turned on Tuesday, June 13 and Thursday, June 15 from 5:15 – 6pm for our unique concerts in the lobby of Tanna Schulich Hall.  Capture the concerts, featuring the young Instrument Bank string players, in your own unique style and post them for an online video competition.

 Concerts dans les rues

A series of free noon-hour concerts featuring up-and-coming musicians, at noon each day from Monday, June 12 to Friday, June 16, locations TBC.

Sunday Concerts at Saint Joseph’s Oratory

Free concerts each Sunday during the Festival: May 28, June 4, June 11, and June 18 – all at 3:30 pm.  More information at http://www.saint-joseph.org/en/culture/the-music/sunday-concerts/

 

ALL FESTIVAL TICKETS ON SALE VIA ADMISSION

www.admission.com or 1 855 790-1245 and at all Admission outlets

Tickets for all Festival concerts:

Regular:  $ 61.84 / Seniors:  $ 51.50 / Students 26 and under:  $ 28.50

Children 12 and under, accompanied by an adult:  FREE

Taxes and fees included

festivalmontreal.org