CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY TWO
The Chamber Music Society proudly presents CMS Two in its inaugural season at Alice Tully Hall. In CMS Two, the most promising chamber music players of tomorrow work alongside our incomparable Artist Members -- and showcase their remarkable talents in the very best of concert halls. Don't miss two extraordinary opportunities, in December and April, to see the men and women who will be at the forefront of chamber music for decades to come. Hear both concerts for just $35!
Meet the Artists of CMS Two right now. The artists of the Brentano String Quartet are violinists Mark Steinberg and Serena Canin, violist Misha Amory and cellist Michael Kannen. Within the space of 18 months, the Quartet won the 10th annual Martin E. Segal Award, the 1995 Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the First Cleveland Quartet Award. Last June, The Washington Post observed that "their playing conveys a depth of concentration in a style that is both technically refined and voluptuous." Pianist Mia Chung made her debut with the Los Angeles Repertory Chamber Orchestra at age nine and hasn't looked back since; she took First Prize at the Concert Artists Guild New York Competition in 1993. Pianist Reiko Uchida is a veteran chamber player at 26, having performed at the Marlboro Music Festival, Tanglewood and the Kennedy Center, and with such renowned chamber musicians as Sharon Robinson and Jaime Laredo. At 16, violinist Hilary Hahn has already achieved recognition as a major musical talent, having received a coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1995. Flutist Tara Helen O'Connor -- co-founder of the Naumburg Award-winning New Millennium Ensemble -- gave her Carnegie Hall concerto debut in 1986 and her solo recital debut in Weill Recital Hall in 1992. Baritone Marcus DeLoach made his debut as an ensemble member at the Opera Theater of St. Louis last Spring; he made his CMS debut last season when, accompanied by Charles Wadsworth, he replaced the ailing Hermann Prey at the last minute.
Concert Previews with Bruce Adolphe begin 30 minutes prior to every performance in Alice Tully Hall. Sunday, December 1, 1996, 5pm
Schubert: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. Posthumous, D.173 (1815)
Chou Wen-chung: Clouds (1996; New York Premiere)
Schumann: Quintet for Piano and Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 44 (1842)
Brentano String Quartet (Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; Michael Kannen, cello); Lee Luvisi, piano
Try this for humbling: Schubert wrote his G-minor quartet during one week's time when he was 18 -- and it was already his ninth effort in the genre! By contrast, septugenarian Chinese-born composer Chou Wen-chung, a master of poetic sonority, has never composed a string quartet -- until now. Motivated by a plea from friends and fans -- among whom the Brentano String Quartet ranks high -- he has written such a work, to be given its New York premiere by the Brentano. In a debut collaboration, the electrifying Brentano Quartet teams up with the majestic pianist Lee Luvisi to perform one of the most beautiful works of the repertoire - Schumann's Piano Quintet.Wednesday, April 9, 1997, 7:30pm
Handel/Halvorsen: Passacaglia for Violin and Viola (1720/1900)
Mozart: Quintet for Strings in G Minor, K.516 (1787)
Mendelssohn: Trio No. 1 for Violin, Cello and Piano in D Minor, Op. 49 (1839)
Hilary Hahn, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; Brentano String Quartet (Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; Michael Kannen, cello); Mia Chung, piano
16-year-old Hilary Hahn, the youngest member of CMS Two, joins the renowned violist Paul Neubauer, whose career was launched at 21 when he became the youngest principal string player in the history of the New York Philharmonic. They will play Halvorsen's stunning virtuoso arrangement of music by Handel. Mr. Neubauer then joins the Brentano Quartet in Mozart's G Minor Quintet, where we discover the composer's darker, sorrowful side. Brentano Quartet's Michael Kannen teams up with Hilary Hahn and Mia Chung to perform Mendelssohn's tumultuous Trio in D minor. Seven years after Mendelssohn mentioned to his sister Fanny that he "should like to compose a couple of good trios," he composed this very good one, which composer Robert Schumann called, "the master trio of today." Come listen in this, the 150th year since Mendelssohn"s death.
