Beethoven Cycle continues with Pacifica Quartet performance on Feb. 10

Published: January 28 2008

Category:Happenings

GAINESVILLE, Fla.— Beethoven Cycles are a rarity, particularly outside of major metropolitan areas, but Gainesville audiences have a unique opportunity to experience the beauty and complexity of some of Beethoven’s most inspiring compositions through a special two-season cycle at University of Florida Performing Arts.

As a part of the Beethoven Cycle, six string groups will perform on the University of Florida campus over a two-season period. The Talich Quartet performed at University Auditorium in October; the Pacifica Quartet picks up the baton with their concert this February. Beethoven Cycles are not new—they have been produced in the United States and Europe for more than 100 years—but this Beethoven Cycle is unique because it features six different groups performing all 16 Beethoven quartets.

“Our office came up with the concept eight years ago of having six groups perform all 16 quartets in six programs, instead of having one quartet perform all of them, thus giving the audience an opportunity not just to experience Beethoven’s lifetime of string quartet writing, but also six different interpretations of these monumental works,” says Melvin Kaplan of Melvin Kaplan, Inc., the organization that has put the two-season Beethoven Cycle together.

Born in Bonn, Germany, Beethoven was a musical prodigy whose talents were recognized early by his father, a tenor in the service of the Electoral Court at Bonn. While he began composing when he was still an adolescent, Beethoven did not start composing string quartets until he was in his late 20s. If Haydn is the “father” of the string quartet, and Mozart took it to newer heights, then it was Beethoven who truly transformed the genre.

He composed his quartets in three distinct periods: early, middle and late. In listening to his early quartets, one can hear that Beethoven was experimenting with a new musical genre. But don’t think these quartets are “lightweight”—Beethoven’s typical moody darkness is there as well. It was around this time that Beethoven first began to notice his deafness and worry about its effects on his life as a musician and composer, which certainly influenced his mood and his compositions.

The middle quartets were composed in Beethoven’s late 30s, while the late quartets were written during the final three years of Beethoven’s life and were the last major works that he completed. Wagner, a fellow composer, thought they represented some of the saddest music he’d ever heard. One can almost hear what Beethoven was experiencing in his own life—at odds with his nephew, completely deaf and struggling to compose, his health worsening and mortality looming on the horizon. All of it must have weighed heavily upon him. But it also allowed him to compose some of the greatest music the world has ever known.

Coincidentally, the Pacifica Quartet will perform one piece from each of the three periods, giving listeners the chance to experience the breadth of Beethoven’s string quartet writing: Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No. 6 (La Malinconia) from the early quartets; Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 74 (Harp) from the middle quartets; and Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132 from the late Quartets.

The Pacifica Quartet has been recognized for its virtuosity, exuberant performing style and often daring repertory choices. The group first came together in 1994 and in a short amount of time was awarded top prizes in three of chamber music’s most important international competitions for young ensembles: the 1996 Coleman Chamber Music Competition, the 1997 concert Artists Guild Competition, and the 1998 Naumburg Chamber Music Competition. In 1996, the Pacifica Quartet was awarded the prestigious Avery Fischer Career Grant—only the second chamber music ensemble ever to be selected. In 2002, the quartet was further honored with Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award.

Since 2004, Pacifica has served as the Faculty-Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. The quartet members—which include Simin Ganatra (violin), Sibbi Bernhardsson (violin), Masumi Per Rostad (viola) and Brandon Vamos (cello)—also serve as resident performing artists at the University of Chicago and the Longy School of Music in Boston. As resident quartet for Contempo, one of the country’s leading contemporary music organizations, the quartet presents a series of concerts each year devoted exclusively to new music.

The Pacifica Quartet will perform at 5 p.m. at the University Auditorium on Feb. 10. Tickets are: $25, front orchestra and mezzanine; $20, rear orchestra; and $15, balcony.

Tickets are available by calling the Phillips Center Box Office at 352-392-ARTS (2787) or 800-905-ARTS (toll-free within Florida) or by calling Ticketmaster at 904-353-3309 or toll free at 800-277-1700. Orders may also be faxed to 352-846-1562. Tickets are also available in person at the Phillips Center Box Office, University Box Office at the Reitz Student Union, all Ticketmaster outlets and online at www.ticketmaster.com. Cash, checks, Visa and MasterCard are accepted. Group tickets are also available.

The Phillips Center Box Office is open Monday-Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. and two hours prior to the performance. Performance dates, times and programs are subject to change.

Credits

Contact
Amy Douglas, adouglas@performingarts.ufl.edu, 352-392-1900, ext. 324

Category:Happenings