Chamber Music Pittsburgh will present the Takács Quartet, Monday, September 29, 2014, 7:30pm, in Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland. The repertoire to be performed includes Haydn’s Quartet in Bb major, Op. 64, No. 3, Debussy’s Quartet in G minor, Op. 10, and Beethoven’s Quartet in Bb major, Op. 130, with Finale: Grosse Fuge, Op. 133. This performance marks the ninth time the Takács Quartet has appeared on Chamber Music Pittsburgh’s stage.
Recognized as one of the world’s great ensembles, the Takács Quartet plays with a unique blend of drama, warmth and humor, combining four distinct musical personalities to bring fresh insights to the string quartet repertoire.
The Takács became the first string quartet to win the Wigmore Hall Medal on May 10, 2014. The Medal, inaugurated in 2007, recognizes major international artists who have a strong association with the Hall. Recipients so far include Andras Schiff, Thomas Quasthoff, Menachem Pressler and Dame Felicity Lott. Appointed in 2012 as the first-ever Associate Artists at Wigmore, the Takacs present six concerts every season there. Other European engagements in 2014-2015 include the Edinburgh and Bath Festivals, the Louvre in Paris, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, and in Geneva, Florence, Cremona and Budapest.
In 2012, Gramophone announced that the Takács was the only string quartet to be inducted into its first Hall of Fame, along with such legendary artists as Jascha Heifetz, Leonard Bernstein and Dame Janet Baker. The ensemble also won the 2011 Award for Chamber Music and Song presented by the Royal
Philharmonic Society in London. Based in Boulder at the University of Colorado, the Takács Quartet performs ninety concerts a year worldwide.
In 2014-2015, the Quartet performs throughout North America, returning to the Ravinia Festival and to Lincoln Center for two programs—one with guest violist Lawrence Power and the other with pianist Joyce Yang, and performs with pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin at UC Berkeley, University of Connecticut and at Orchestra Hall in Chicago. They also return after many years to Santiago, Chile, and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Meryl Streep will perform Philip Roth’s “Everyman” program with the Takács at Princeton University on September 19, 2014. The program was conceived in close collaboration with Philip Roth. The Quartet is known for such innovative programming. They first performed “Everyman” at Carnegie Hall in 2007 with Philip Seymour Hoffman. They have toured 14 cities with the poet Robert Pinsky, collaborate regularly with the Hungarian Folk group Muzsikas, and in 2010 they collaborated with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and David Lawrence Morse on a drama project that explored the composition of Beethoven’s last quartets.
There will be a lobby recital in the Grand Foyer of Carnegie Music Hall from 7:00-7:20pm. This lobby recital will feature harpist Hannah Piston, a 17-year-old high academic honors student at Hickory High School in Hermitage, PA.
Tickets are $39-$46, and student rush tickets are available for $15 with valid student ID one hour prior to the concert. Braille and large print programs will be provided. CMP provides concierge service to assist patrons wishing to be dropped off at the Carnegie Museums’ carriage driveway and parking facility. Carnegie Music Hall is an accessible venue. For tickets and further information, please call 412-624-4129 or visit www.chambermusicpittsburgh.org.
About Chamber Music Pittsburgh
Chamber Music Pittsburgh (previously the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society) presents world-class chamber music ensembles and soloists, promising emerging artists, and innovative programs; and also fosters an appreciation for chamber music in the Pittsburgh community by offering educational programs and experiences. In carrying out its mandate, CMP has been guided consistently by two basic principles: quality and variety. Each year’s program is a carefully balanced menu of acclaimed chamber ensembles along with the most brilliant emerging groups.
CMP is supported by grants from the Allegheny Regional Asset District, the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust of The Pittsburgh Foundation, and the Heinz Endowments. The Heinz Endowments supports efforts to make southwestern Pennsylvania a premier place to live and work, a center for learning and educational excellence, and a region that embraces diversity and inclusion.
CMP receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
