The Chiara String Quartet released a new 2-CD set in August titled “Bartók by Heart” on Azica Records. It features Bartók’s six string quartets, played entirely from memory.
“In the life of a string quartet, playing the Bartók cycle is one of the pinnacles, much like the Brahms cycle of quartets and also the Beethoven quartet cycle,” said Research Associate Professor and Hixson-Lied Artist-in Residence Rebecca Fischer. “The Bartók quartets contain music that we feel really passionate about. We enjoyed doing research on the quartets and hearing some of Bartók’s field recordings that inspired some of this music, and that inspired us as well, as we were doing this project.”
The Chiara String Quartet (Fischer and Hyeyung Julie Yoon, violins; Jonah Sirota, viola; Gregory Beaver, cello) has been playing the entire Bartók cycle for three years.
“Some of the string quartets we have been playing since we first got together, and this is the beginning of our 17th season,” Fischer said. “So some of them we know very well. Some of them we’ve picked up in the last five years or so, and so it’s a little more challenging.”
The CD was recorded at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, New York. It’s also where they recorded “Brahms by Heart,” which was released in 2014 also on Azica Records.
“It’s a very unusual location,” Fischer said. “It’s a gorgeous state-of-the-art acoustic hall sitting on top of a bank. It’s sometimes difficult during the day to record because you have to stop for the faintest truck noise, but it’s a beautiful hall.”
Fischer said it’s difficult to choose a favorite Bartók quartet, though the 5th string quartet is one of her favorite pieces of music.
“When I was not even born, my father’s string quartet, the Concord String Quartet was a well-known American ensemble, and they played a lot of Bartók cycles,” Fischer said. “Apparently, according to my mother, in utero, I kicked the most to the 5th quartet, so I guess since birth, I’ve liked the 5th quartet. But on any given day, I could pick another that could be my favorite.”
The new CD has received positive feedback from both reviews and live performances. The Chiara String Quartet played a live show at NET Studios in Lincoln on the day of the release, followed by a performance in Brooklyn at National Sawdust, followed by their first-ever performances at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois, the oldest outdoor music festival in the country.
“It was really a place that we wanted to visit, as a quartet, for a while,” Fischer said. “Greg was a student there, so it was nice for him to return.”
Fischer said performing there was an incredible experience.
“When you play at a festival like that with such a history of hearing chamber music and hosting some of the world’s greatest chamber ensembles and musicians, in general, you get this audience that is ready to hear everything in a very unique way,” Fischer said. “What I loved about that experience of playing at Ravinia, which we’ve had in other situations, is that the people in the audience, many of them know these pieces like the back of their own hand as listeners and sometimes as musicians as well. It’s very special to play music that you spend all day every day for years and years working on, and play it for people who are listening at this extraordinary level. It was really special.”
The Chiara String Quartet will begin their 2016-2017 Hixson-Lied Concert Series in Lincoln with a program titled "The Big Fugue" on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Kimball Recital Hall.
The concert will also be live webcast. Visit http://music.unl.edu the evening of the performance for the link.
Tickets for the concert are $20 adults, $10 seniors and $5 students. Series tickets (for any three concerts) are also available for $50 adults, $25 seniors and $10 students. All four concerts are available for $60 adults, $30 seniors and $15 students. Advance tickets are available through the Lied Center Box Office at (402) 472-4747.
Their program features Beethoven's visionary string quartet in B-flat Major (Op. 130), along with its original finale the epic Grosse Fuge ("Big fugue"). Britten's short, but perfect, "Three Divertimenti" and Schubert's lyrical String Quartet in A minor round out the program.
“This will be a quartet lover’s concert because it will be Schubert, Beethoven and Britten. It’s all really meaty, wonderful music,” Fischer said.
The other concerts in the Chiara's Hixson-Lied Series are Nov. 29; Feb. 1, 2017; and March 29, 2017.
“On our November concert, we’ll be collaborating with Dave Hall, which we are really excited about,” Fischer said.
The Chiara String Quartet is also collaborating with NET on some performance videos of the Bartók quartets.
“Those will be released on our website, and it should be really exciting,” Fischer said.
Having the CDs out is exciting, Fischer said.
“The amount that you put into a project like this, it just takes everything,” she said. “It’s very special as artists to release something you feel so excited about. This really is a product of three years of intense recording, memorization and performance over and over again of these Bartók quartets so it feels like a gift to be able to release it into the world.”