The Robert Mann Chamber Music Series is delighted to welcome “one of the greatest quartets of the last 100 years” (BBC Music Magazine), the Dover Quartet, Ensemble-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music. Dover’s program includes Janacek’s emotionally charged “Kreutzer Sonata,” Schumann’s vigorous A-Minor Quartet, and finally Tchaikovsky’s noble First String Quartet.
The Robert Mann Chamber Music Series continues with a spotlight on the Festival’s own musicians. Mozart once considered his Quintet in E-Flat for Piano and Winds “the best work I have ever written;” its sense of spontaneity is beguiling. Dvořák’s Third String Quartet was one of his most successful compositions; like much of his most popular work, Op. 97 is flavored with melodies and rhythms he heard while visiting America, including various folk tunes and Native American drumming. The program begins with Nico Muhly’s minimalist Doublespeak, which was written as a gift for composer Philip Glass’ birthday and teems with stylistic rhythms and repetitions.
By popular demand, the Brentano String Quartet — Ensemble-in-Residence at the Yale School of Music — returns to the Robert Mann Chamber Music Series. The Times (London) raves, “Balance and intonation reach an almost unearthly level of perfection, yet there's nothing inhuman about these American musicians.” Brentano’s Romantic program includes Webern’s abstract Five Movements for String Quartet, Brahms’ sunny Third String Quartet, and Schubert’s poetic A-Minor Quartet, which borrows a theme from his incidental music to the play Rosamunde.
