November 14, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cliburn Concerts presents the TAKÁCS QUARTET at the Kimbell Art
Museum, December 4, 2008.
"The depth of the Takács' interpretations, matched with its
superlative virtuosic technique and consistently warm, velvety
tone, made an attractive case to name it preeminent among active
string quartets." -- the Washington Post
FORT WORTH, TEXAS November 14, 2008--The Takács
Quartet, the string quartet for the Eleventh, Twelfth, and upcoming
Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competitions, will
perform at the Kimbell Art Museum on Thursday, December 4, at 7:30
p.m. as part of the 2008-2009 Cliburn Concerts season. The program
will feature works by Bartók, Haydn, and Schumann (see complete
program below).
The Grammy Award-winning Takács Quartet was founded by students
at Budapest's Liszt Academy in 1975. The ensemble has since
appeared in every major music capital and prestigious festival, and
is recognized today as one of the world's leading string quartets.
Based in Boulder, Colorado, the Takács has held a residency at the
University of Colorado since 1983. It is also a visiting quartet at
the Aspen Music Festival and the Guildhall School of Music and
Drama in London. In 2009, it will participate in the Thirteenth Van
Cliburn International Piano Competition.
"The Takács have the ability to make you believe that there's no
other possible way the music should go..." -- Gramophone
TICKETS AND INFORMATION: Single tickets are $30
for members of the Van Cliburn Foundation or the Kimbell, $35 for
non-members, and $15 for students. Tickets are available from
Central Ticket Office online or by calling 817.335.9000.
Concert information is available at www.cliburn.org.
The Van Cliburn Foundation recognizes with gratitude Alcon and
Compass Bank for making possible this Cliburn at the Kimbell
performance.
ExxonMobil is the Principal Corporate Sponsor of the Van Cliburn
Foundation. American Airlines, Bank of America, City of Fort Worth,
Eastman Kodak Company, JPMorgan Chase, Star-Telegram, Steinway
& Sons, and XTO Energy Inc. are Official Corporate Sponsors,
and Clear Channel Communications and RadioShack Corporation are the
Cliburn's Corporate Sponsors. Official Sponsors are the Arts
Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County, Beaumont Foundation of
America, the Burnett Foundation, and the Sid W. Richardson
Foundation. Star- Telegram is the principal media partner and WRR
101.1 FM is the official radio station of Cliburn Concerts.
TAKÁCS QUARTET
Recognized as one of the world's premier string quartets, the
Takács Quartet performs ninety concerts a year worldwide. It was
formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest and first
received international attention in 1977, winning first prize and
the Critics' Prize at the International String Quartet Competition
in Evian, France. The Quartet also won the gold medal at the 1978
Portsmouth and Bordeaux Competitions and first prizes at the
Budapest International String Quartet Competition in 1978 and the
Bratislava Competition in 1981. Of the original ensemble, Károly
Schranz, violin, and András Fejér, cello, remain, now joined by
Edward Dusinberre, violin, and Geraldine Walther, viola.
The Takács is currently based in Boulder at the University of
Colorado, where it has assisted in developing a strings program
placing special emphasis on chamber music. The Quartet demonstrates
its commitment to teaching by participating in summer residencies
at the Aspen Festival and at the Music Academy of the West, Santa
Barbara. The Takács is also visiting quartet at the Guildhall
School of Music and Drama in London.
In 2008-2009, the Quartet will build its London programs around
the music of Schumann, which will result in a recording of the
piano quintet with Marc-Andre Hamelin in May 2009. Other highlights
of the current season include the world premiere and performances
throughout Europe of a quartet written for them by Wolfgang Rihm,
three concerts to celebrate the re-opening of New York's Alice
Tully Hall, participation in Thirteenth Van Cliburn International
Piano Competition, and a tour to Japan and Korea in June 2009.
The Quartet has made sixteen recordings for the Decca label
since 1988. Recordings of the early and middle Beethoven quartets
collected a Grammy, a Gramophone Award, a Chamber Music of America
Award, and two additional awards from the Japanese Recording
Academy. The ensemble's recording of the six Bartók String Quartets
received the 1998 Gramophone Award for chamber music, and in 1999
was nominated for a Grammy. Brahms Quartets Op. 51 and Op. 67 will
be released this fall.
Recognized for its innovative programming, in 2007 the Takács
performed selections by Arvo Pärt and Philip Glass interspersed
with readings by Academy Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman
from Philip Roth's novel Everyman at Carnegie Hall. Additionally,
the Takács has performed a music-poetry program with poet laureate
Robert Pinsky on a fourteen-city U.S. tour. Current commissions
include works by Wolfgang Rihm and Daniel Kellogg. The Quartet will
also continue its collaboration with the Hungarian folk ensemble
Muzsikas and singer Marta Sebestyan in a North American tour this
season.
For more information about the Takács please visit www.takacsquartet.com.
PROGRAM
BARTÓK
String Quartet No. 2, Op. 17
Moderato
Allegro molto capriccioso
Lento
HAYDN
String Quartet in F major, Op. 77, No. 2
Allegro moderato
Menuetto: Presto ma non troppo
Andante
Finale: Vivace assai
SCHUMANN
String Quartet in A minor, Op. 41, No. 1
Andante espressivo; Allegro
Scherzo: Presto
Adagio
Presto
Contact: Sevan Melikyan Dir. of P.R.
email: sevan@cliburn.org
phone: 817.738.6536
web:
