Bass Hall, Monadnock Center for History & Culture (Peterborough Historical Society)
Op. 133 (Grosse fuge), 135, 130
(see dates for additional concerts in the series below)
Tickets $25
The Borromeo String Quartet continues their series of performances of the complete Beethoven string quartets, with a performance in Bass Hall at the Monadnock Center for History & Culture in Peterborough, NH on Friday, April 26, at 7:30 p.m.
This concert will feature the quartet the Quartet #13, known as the Grosse Fuge (Op. 133), Quartet#13 in Bb major, (Op. 130) and Quartet #16 in F major, (Op. 135), which was the last substantial work completed by Beethoven before his death in March of 1827.
About the extraordinary pieces culminating the world-renowned Borromeo Quartet landmark series for the Monadnock region, Artistic Director Jonathan Bagg, explains: “The ‘late quartets’ of Beethoven comprise a distinct unit among the total sixteen that he wrote. They were produced in one continuous stream–the kind of creative burst that is rare even among the greatest composers–between May of 1824 and October of 1826. Their external impetus was a commission Beethoven received from the Russian Prince Galitzin; internally the composer was in the grip of a tremendous progression of ideas that led him from essentially known territory towards a new and radical concept of the string quartet’s potential, stunning in its ambition, variety, and originality. We see this transformation taking place as we move from the heroic grandeur of the first two “Galitzin” Quartets (opus 127 and 132), towards the more expansive but in some ways more intimate six-movement form of opus 130, which in its original state ended with the huge 15-minute Grosse Fuge, and finally to opus 131, a work that the listener experiences not as a succession of discrete movements (seven in all), but as a seamless flow of mood and ideas. The last quartet, opus 135, reconstitutes the traditional four-movement format, but conveys the sense that despite its gesture of retrenchment there is really no going back. Beneath its disarmingly light, even trivial exterior (when compared to the music of the preceding quartets), Beethoven’s power to transcend barriers still looms large.”
“Not every quartet is able to probe the depths of this music as successfully as the Borromeo Quartet,” says co-Director Laura Gilbert. “The Borromeo’s first three concerts this season have been jaw-dropping in their virtuosity, but beyond that, they seem to bring the spirit of Beethoven to their playing, which mingles earthy humor with the loftier discourse. It’s music at its most Shakespearean. Both the mind and heart of the listener feel the kind of exhilaration one gets only while experiencing the greatest art.”
“Each of the greatest string quartets has redefined what the possibilities of the medium are: through the perfection of its ensemble and intonation, through its poise and its passion, the Borromeos are recreating the medium anew and we are lucky to be here to hear it.” The Boston Globe
Sunday, February 17, 3:00 pm, Peterborough Unitarian Church:
The complete Op. 18 quartets, Nos. 1-6 (two short intermissions)
Friday, March 8, 7:30 pm, First Church in Jaffrey:
Op. 74, 95, 127
Saturday, March 23, 7:30 pm, congregation Ahavas Achim, Keene:
The complete Op. 59 quartets, Nos. 1-3
Friday, April 26, 7:30 pm, Bass Hall, Peterborough Historical Society:
Op. 133 (Grosse fuge), 135, 130
Sunday, May 12, 3:00 pm, Francestown Old Meetinghouse:
Op.132, 131 & 130 (plus 133)
Tickets $25; $100 advance purchase for all five concerts
