This year really seems to be racing along at breakneck speed. We’re already in the middle of the 2020 Winter Festival presented by the Seattle Chamber Music Society.
I’ve got a bad case of FOMO since I wasn’t able to catch any of the the first three concerts last weekend. SCMS’s artistic director James Ehnes and his string quartet (violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti, violist Richard O’Neill, and cellist Edward Arron) launched the season with a major #Beethoven250 undertaking. They played no fewer than half of the Beethoven quartets, each program mingling examples from the three periods.
The clip above is of the Ehnes Quartet from some years ago playing Beethoven (I believe in Seoul)–at that time, the formation included Robert deMaine as the cellist. Anyone who was able to experience last weekend’s half-cycle: please share your reactions in the comments.
Tonight starts the second and final weekend of Winter Festival. The programming idea for Friday and Saturday is now about twos, threes, and fives: violin sonatas by Grieg and Mozart, piano trios by Schubert and Ravel, and the two magnificent string quintets of Brahms.
Sunday brings a matinee concert (3pm) of J.S. Bach concertos: Concerto for 2 Violins and Orchestra in D minor, BWV 1043; Concerto No. 5 for Harpsichord and Orchestra in F minor, BWV 1056; Concerto No. 4 for Harpsichord and Orchestra in A major, BWV 1055; and Concerto for 3 Violins and Strings in D major, BWV 1064R.
And each of these three concerts is prefaced by half-hour prelude recital, starting one hour before the concert begins and free of charge. There’s also an open rehearsal today, at Nordstrom Recital Hall, of the Op. 88 Brahms String Quintet, at 1:15pm.
Complete 2020 Winter Festival Calendar
Filed under: James Ehnes, Seattle Chamber Music Society
MEMETERIA by Thomas May 