Intro
Brentano String Quartet
Mark Steinberg, Serena Canin : violins
Misha Amory : viola, Nina Maria Lee : cello
Biography
Brentano String Quartet
Biography
Full version
"Passionate, uninhibited and spellbinding” – The Independent "luxuriously warm sound [and] yearning lyricism" – The New York Times "the Brentanos are a magnificent string quartet...This was wonderful, selfless music-making." - The Times, London
Founded in 1992, the Brentano String Quartet have performed worldwide and have being met with great accolade. Within a few years of their formation, the Quartet received the first Cleveland Quartet Award, the Naumburg Chamber Music Award, and in 1996 were invited by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center to be the inaugural members of Chamber Music Society Two. In 1997, they were honoured with the Royal Philharmonic Award for Most Outstanding Debut in the United Kingdom after a recital at the Wigmore Hall, where they were resident in the 2000/2001 season and have regularly revisited. In 1999 they became the first Resident String Quartet at Princeton University, a position they still hold.
The Quartet performs extensively, both in North America where all its members reside, as well as in Europe, Japan and Australia. They have appeared at the Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, Library of Congress in Washington, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Köln Philharmonie, St Luke’s in London, Konzerthaus in Vienna, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and Sydney Opera House and at the Aspen, Edinburgh, Kuhmo and Caramoor festivals.
Their eclecticism and wish to push beyond the boundaries of standard string quartet repertoire has led the quartet to perform both Renaissance and early music pieces with transcriptions, for example, of Gesualdo and Monteverdi’s Madrigals, Fantasias of Purcell and secular works by Josquin des Prés. In the contemporary field, the Brentanos regularly collaborate with living composers including Elliot Carter and György Kurtág, and have commissioned and premiered an impressive list of new works. To commemorate their tenth anniversary, the quartet commissioned ten composers to write a piece inspired by, and to be interwoven with, excerpts of Bach’s Art of Fugue. The Quartet have also worked with the celebrated poet Mark Strand, commissioning poetry from him to accompany works of Haydn and Webern.
The Quartet enjoy an especially close relationship with Mitsuko Uchida with whom they regularly appear in the United States, Europe and Japan. Other prestigious artists they have worked with include the soprano Jessye Norman and pianist Richard Goode.
For the French label AEON, the Brentano Quartet released their first commercial CD featuring Mozart’s quartet K. 464 and his Quintet K. 593 recorded with viola player Hsin-Yun Huang. They will pursue their collaboration with the recordings of all the late Beethoven quartets in three CDs:opus 131 and 127; opus 132 and 135; Grosse Fuge and opus 130. Prior to this, the quartet released a CD with Haydn’s Op 71 as well as a recording of Steven Mackey’s music, the latter for Albany records.
In 1998, cellist Nina Lee joined the Quartet, taking the place of founding member Michael Kannen. The Quartet is named after Antonie Brentano, whom many scholars consider to be Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved", the intended recipient of his famous love confession.
March 2010
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Full version French
‘‘Le meilleur concert du festival' - Nice-Matin, ‘Passionés, libres et magiques' - The Independent, ‘Son et lyrisme généreux' - The New York Times, ‘Le quatuor Brentano est magnifique... ils jouent pour la musique même' - The Times, London
Formé en 1992, le quatuor américain Brentano est connu pour ses interprétations alliant une technique parfaite à une musicalité hors pair.
Après seulement un an d'existence, le quatuor obtint les récompenses suivantes : Cleveland Quartet Award, Naumburg Chamber Music Award et Martin E. Segal Award et, en 1997, reçut le Prix du meilleur recital attribué par la Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award.
Le quatuor est résident des Universités de Princeton, New York et fut choisi par la Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center pour participer à l'inauguration de leur saison de musique de chambre. En Europe, il a été quatuor résident au Wigmore Hall de septembre 1999 à septembre 2001.
Les salles de concert du monde entier ont accueilli le quatuor Brentano : Concertgebouw d'Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall, St Luke's Hall de Londres, Philharmonie de Cologne, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Opéra de Sydney (tournée VIVA en Australie), Festivals de Salzburg, Bath et Edimbourg ainsi que toutes les villes les plus importantes aux Etats-Unis.
Parmi leurs partenaires célèbres de musique de chambre, on compte la pianiste Mitsuko Uchida avec qui ils ont effectué une tournée européenne en mars 2006, le pianiste Richard Goode et la soprano américaine Jessye Norman.
Le répertoire du quatuor est vaste avec une attention particulière à la musique de la Renaissance, période sacrée de la polyphonie que des compositeurs comme Gesualdo, Monteverdi et Josquin des Prés ont transcendée, et la musique de notre temps. Le quatuor Brentano collabore régulièrement avec des compositeurs tels que Elliot Carter ou György Kurtág et ont créé une liste impressionnante d'œuvres : quatuors de Milton Babbitt, Chou Wen-Chung, Steven Mackey et Bruce Adolphe. Pour commémorer leur dixième anniversaire, le quatuor a passé commande à dix compositeurs, dont Sofia Gubaïdulina, dont ils ont joué les pièces en alternance avec l'Art de la Fugue de Bach qui les avait inspirées.
Le quatuor Brentano enregistre pour le label français, AEON. Leur premier CD, consacré à Mozart (quatuor K464 et quintette K593 avec l'altiste Hsin-Yun Huang) : comment ne pas être saisi par la densité du tissu contrapuntique qu'ils tissent dans le premier mouvement du Quintette KV 593, ou par la plénitude lyrique qu'ils font jaillir de son poignant Adagio (Diapason (5)) est paru en février 2007, et sera suivi d'un enregistrement des quatuors tardifs de Beethoven en trois CDs ; la sortie du premier est prévue en 2010.
In 1998, le quatuor faisait appel à la violoncelliste Nina Lee pour remplacer Michael Kannen, un des membres fondateurs. Le quatuor Brentano est nommé d'après ce que de nombreux spécialistes s'accorde à penser qu'elle est la ‘Lointaine Bien-aimée' à qui Beethoven déclara son amour via un de ses cycles de lieder.
Octobre 2009
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Discography
Brentano String Quartet
Discography
2007
Mozart, String Quartet in A major K.464, String Quintet in D major K.593
Hsin-Yun Huang, viola
AEON
AECD 0747
****Classic FM Magazine
5 diapasons - Diapason
1999
Brentano Plays Haydn
Haydn: Quartet in E flat op.71 no.3, Quartet in D op.71 No.2, Quartet in B flat op.71 no.1
MCM ARTISTS
BQ001
Repertoire
Brentano String Quartet
Repertoire
Repertoire for the 2008-2009 season
| Haydn | Quartet op. 20 No. 3 in G minor Quartet op. 76 No 2 in D minor ‘Quinten' |
| Mozart | Quartet K421 (dedicated to Haydn) in D minor |
| Mendelssohn | Quartet in A minor Op. 13 |
| Schumann | Quartet in A major op 41, No 3 |
| Schoenberg | Quartet No 4 |
| Lee Hyla | Howl for quartet with the recording of Ginsberg reading Howl |
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Repertoire from past seasons and special projects |
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| 2006/2007 | |
| Bartok | Quartet No. 2 |
| Beethoven | Quartet in Eb Major, op 127 |
| Brahms | Quartet in C-minor, Op. 51, No. 1 |
| David Horne | New quartet (composed for the Brentanos) |
| Haydn | Quartet in B minor, op 64, No 2 |
| Mendelssohn | String Quartet in Eb Major, op 44, No 3 |
| Schubert | Quartet Movement in C minor (“Quartettsatz”) |
| Mozart | String Quartet in B-flat major, KV 589 |
| Leos Janacek | String Quartet No. 2 ("Intimate Letters") |
| Steve Mackey | Smoke Fragments |
| Charles Wuorinen | Divertimento |
| Josquin des Prez/Wuorinen | “Josquiniana” |
| Gesualdo/Bruce Adolphe | Madrigals |
| Renaissance work | (arranged for quartet by Mark Steinberg) |
| 2005/2006 | |
| Bartok | Quartet No. 2 or 6 |
| Beethoven | Quartet in A-minor, Op. 132 |
| Brahms | Quartet in C-minor, Op. 51, No. 1 |
| Debussy | Quartet |
| Haydn | Quartet in Bb-Major, Op. 64, No. 3 |
| Ligeti | Quartet No. 2 |
| Shostakovich | Quartet No 15 in Eb-minor, Op. 144 |
| 2004/2005 | |
| Beethoven | Quartet in A-Minor, Op. 132 |
| Schubert | Quartet in D-minor (“Death and the Maiden”) |
| Gesualdo (arranged by Bruce Adolphe) | Motets |
| Mozart | Quartet in A-Major, K. 464 |
| Webern | String Quartet, Op. 28 |
| Webern | Other works for string quartet |
| 2003/2004 | |
| Haydn | op 33 No 1 (20’) |
| Berg | Suite Lyrique (30’) |
| Schubert | "Death and the Maiden" (40’) |
| Special Projects | |
| Bach Perspectives: Ten Composers React to the “Art of the Fugue” The Brentano Quartet commissioned the following ten contemporary composers to write short works in response to specific sections from Bach’s masterpiece: Bruce Adolphe, Steve Mackey, Shulamit Ran, David Horne, Wynton Marsalis, Sofia Gubaidulina, Eric Zivian, Nicholas Maw, Chou Wen-chung, and Charles Wuorinen. The resulting companion works are performed together with Bach’s original. Haydn’s “Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross” The Brentano Quartet commissioned Pulitzer Prize-winning and former National Poet Laureate Mark Strand to write poems appropriate to Haydn’s depiction of Christ’s final words. The alternation of music and words provides for a profound and deeply moving experience. Presenter provides the reader for the concert. (Note: a performance CD and explanatory video of this project are available upon request) Anton Webern The Brentano Quartet will juxtapose most of Webern’s output for string quartet with music of Mozart and newly commissioned poetry by Pulitzer Prize-winning and former National Poet Laureate Mark Strand. |
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reviews
Brentano String Quartet
reviews
Concerts
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Wigmore Hall – Schubert “…the Brentanos held it together perfectly and brought out all the pathos and unrequited passion of the piece. The ensuing slow movement was generally serene and contained some gorgeous sustained playing… As an interpretation this was second to none and as a performance it ranks as one of the best performances of late Schubert I have ever heard.”
Sundays with Coleman - Caltech - California Institute of Technology |
| Shriver Hall Concert Series "Performing in a burstingly energetic way while never being ragged, the Brentano's virtuosity in all genres was remarkable, even more so considering that all are equal partners in terms of intensity and musical leadership." Michael Lodico, lonarts.blogspot.com, March 2009 |
| Alice Tully Hall, New York "Brentano String Quartet saved the day with Beethoven's Grosse Fuge, delivered in brilliant propulsive fashion." Tim Smith, Baltimoresun.com, February 2009 |
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Wigmore Hall concert - January 2008 |
| "Earlier in the evening, the Brentano Quartet, of which Lee is a member, gave a violent performance of Berg's Lyric Suite, while Uchida played Schubert's D899 set of Impromptus with emotive finesse. Both were superb." |
| The Guardian – March 2006 |
| "Written more than a dozen years after the Schoenberg, Lyric Suite as played by the Brentano Quartet came over, completely naturally, as an obvious continuation of late-19th century Romanticism. Although it was his first major work to use the 12-tone technique or serialism as developed by his teacher Schoenberg, Berg's richness of harmony belies the exclusion of tonality. Here was music being made, the listener taken by the ears into the inherent beauty of the piece, regardless of any era. The homogeneity of approach - balance, gesture, stroke - between the players was extraordinary; the tenderness, fluency, dynamic control and architectural sense exceptional." |
| The Independent – March 2006 |
| "At St Luke’s, the Brentano Quartet started with a performance of Berg’s Lyric Suite that was perfectly judged in terms of its intimacy and inner poetry for the excellent acoustics." |
| The Financial Times – March 2006 |
| Library of Congree, Washington |
| "The Brentano’s performances of Bach and his contemporary admirers were brilliantly exact and passionate, and the freshly written musical perspectives were acutely intelligent, daringly ambitious, often witty and always deeply committed to the celestial spirit that animates Bach’s genius." |
| The Washington Post – 18 November 2002 |
| Rothko Chapel, Houston |
| BRENTANO QUARTET BREATHES LIFE INTO HAYDN’S ‘SEVEN SONATAS’ "…the vivid commitment, lush sound and carefully developed detail of the Brentano’s interpretation. It was as profound as a listener could want." |
| Houston Chronicle – 22 February 2002 |
| Merkin Concert Hall, New York |
| "As usual with this ensemble, the performances were full of life….They seem to be listening to the same heartbeat." |
| The New York Times – 23 November 2001 |
| Royal Festival Hall |
| "The glittering clarity of the Brentano’s sound was intoxicating, the music’s impact heightened by a spontaneity of phrasing and depth of intimacy simply not possible with a larger ensemble....a revelatory performance." |
| The Strad – July 2001 |
| "…in these exemplary performances, there were startling musical revelations in the intimate dynamic between soloist [Mitsuko Uchida] and string quartet. Uchida and the Brentanos caught brilliantly this sense of overflowing creativity." |
| ****The Guardian – 5 April 2001 |
| Alice Tully Hall, New York |
| "The Brentano String Quartet is something special. These are musicians who take the great priority of chamber performance – that of playing not so much out to the audience as in to one another, and to the music – to an exquisite extreme. Their music making is private, delicate and fresh, but by its very intimacy and importance it seizes attention." |
| The New York Times – 20 April 2001 |
| Wigmore Hall |
| "The Brentano Quartet soon showed how they had earned their Edinburgh Festival engagement and their current position as artists-in-residence at the Wigmore Hall….displayed all the classic virtues of quartet playing – individual skill and initiative, unity of purpose and an eagerness to participate in conversational interplay....an ensemble of exceptional insight and communicative gifts." |
| The Daily Telegraph – 23 August 2000 |
| "For true musical excitement, however, you cannot beat the Brentano String Quartet….such was their ferocity on Saturday night that the instruments almost burst into flames. But the miracle in this young American group, the Wigmore Hall’s new Quartet-in-Residence, lies just as much in their tenderness as in their fearless attack….Make no mistake: the Brentanos are a magnificent string quartet….This was wonderful, selfless music making." |
| The Times – 11 April 2000 |
Recordings
| Mozart: String Quartet in A major K.464, String Quintet in D major K.593, With Hsin-Yun Huang, viola - AEON AECD 0747 |
| ***** "The Brentanos draw rapt attention to two relatively unplayed masterpieces, particularly the quintet with its rich viola at the heart." |
| Classic FM Magazine – August 2007 |
| "These players communicate a wealth of detail through their perceptive structural observation, deftly controlled ensemble, sensitive dynamic nuancing and fastidious balancing and blending of parts. They display grace, poise and commendable flexibility in conveying the melodic simplicity and regular, symmetrical phrasing of the opening Allegro of Mozart’s A major Quartet. Their crisp precision also highlights this movement’s contrapuntal detail, especially in its development, as well as thee finale’s striking variety of polyphony. Charmingly elegant in the minuet, they revel in the richer textures of the trio and characterize the Andante’s variations with deftness and spontaneity; they excel particularly in the third variation’s dialogue between upper and lower pairs of instruments, the minore fourth variation, and the imitative fifth variation. Violist Hsin-Yun Huang joins the Brentano in an absorbing account of Mozart’s Quintet K593, featuring expressive, unforced tone combined with spontaneity and lack of mannerism. These players’ enjoyment of their music making is clearly evident, whether they are questioning in the opening Larghetto, incisive in the march-like first theme or in the same theme’s vigorous canonic treatment in the development. Violinists Mark Steinberg and Serena Canin also bring the minuet to an appropriate climax in canon, while the ensemble’s account of the courtly trio provides due contrasts; and these players ensure that the effervescent finale’s harmonic boldness and wealth of contrapuntal ingenuity is appreciated in full. Their performance of the work’s kernel, the pensive Adagio, is sensitively conveyed with shapely phrasing and faithfully released dynamic contrasts. The recording combines immediacy with an attractive ambient warmth." |
| The Strad - August 2007 |
| "Cette interprétation est de celles qui demandent une écoute attentive. Intègres et sobres, les Brentano ne cherchent jamais à forcer le texte. C’est surtout par une articulation très cohérente, un goût musical très sûr et un dosage soigné des nuances et des équilibres polyphoniques qu’ils parviennent à faire ressortir la perfection classique de ces deux œuvres exigeantes pour les interprètes comme pour les auditeurs. Dans le vaste Andante du Quatuor KV 464, on admirera la maîtrise tranquille avec laquelle les interprètes progressent dans le développement du thème et de ses variations. On appréciera la diversité des vibratos auxquels ils recourent – depuis son absence (préservant néanmoins une intonation irréprochable) dans les passages dont ils veulent éclairer la pureté contrapuntique, jusqu’à sa présence soutenue pour renforcer certains forte ou des accents véhéments. Avec l’échappée badine du violoncelle reprise par l’alto puis par le premier violon, la fin de cet Andante montre le degré de transparence polyphonique qu’ils atteignent. Ce soin attaché à la dynamique comme élément déterminant de la lisibilité est certainement un des points forts de cette lecture admirablement travaillée et parfaitement fluide néanmoins. Par ailleurs, comment ne pas être saisi par la densité du tissu contrapuntique qu’ils tissent dans le premier mouvement du Quintette KV 593, ou par la plénitude lyrique qu’ils font jaillir de son poignant Adagio. Une interprétation en tout point admirable, harmonieuse et raffinée, à l’image de ces deux chefs-d’œuvre de perfection classique." |
| Diapason – July-August 2007 |
| "This interpretation is one of those which requires an attentive ear. Sincere and temperate, the Brentanos never try to force the reading of the score. It is more with a particularly coherent articulation, an assured musical taste and a measured sense of nuances and polyphonic balance that they are able to underline the classical perfection of these two pieces, demanding for both the performers and the listeners. In the vast Andante from the Quartet KV 464, one can admire the tranquil mastery with which the performers unravel the development of the theme and its variations. One can also appreciate the diversity of the vibratos which they use – from its absence (while nevertheless preserving the perfect pitch) in the sections which they want to highlight the purity of the contrapuntal line, to it is sustained presence to emphasise forte moments or violent accents. With the playful escape of the cello recurring on the viola then on the first violin, the end of the Andante displays the extent of polyphonic clarity they achieve. The particular sensitivity to the dynamics as a determining element of intelligibility is certainly one of the strong points in this admirably wrought and wonderfully fluid interpretation. Furthermore, it is difficult not to be gripped by the density of the contrapuntal fabric which they weave in the first movement of the Quintet KV 593, and by the lyrical plenitude which they bring out of the poignant Adagio. A thoroughly marvellous interpretation, harmonious and refined, matching these two masterpieces of classical perfection." |
| Diapason – July-August 2007 |
| "The outer blurb and booklet notes make a big thing of the coupling on this disc: Pairing Mozarts String Quartet K.464 and String Quintet K.593 amounts almost to a militant gesture: defending two relatively little-known works ... Whatever the thinking behind presenting this programme, it certainly works well. Both of these works fall into the sunny, more relaxed category of Mozarts output… The balance of apparently simple melodic shapes and the intellectual demands of a highly developed polyphony make this work as easy or as complex as a game of chess, depending on how you approach it. Mozart himself, in his dedication to Haydn, freely admitted that these sons cost him the greatest fatigue, the most labour and with the compact intensity of development from a minimum of means in the finale I can well believe it. The Brentano Quartet performs with a great deal of subtle gradation of colour and nuance. Theirs is a relatively romantic view both of these works, employing all of the expressive resources of modern string quartet technique while remaining sensitive to Mozarts style and idiom… Arguably, there could be more expression drawn from some parts of the music, but there is a fine line to be drawn between intense involvement and mannered over-reverence, and I sense that The Brentanos know exactly where those boundaries lie. The fuller ensemble of the String Quintet K.593 provides quite a surprising contrast with the quartet, and the balance of the instruments shifts a little, the cello being pushed more to one side. The playing is excellent however, not inhumanly perfect in all of those runs, but utterly convincing exciting and graceful, transparent and sensitive, moving and eloquent. Its one of those recordings that, when you play it, you find yourself thinking, I wouldnt mind if they played this at my funeral… With a gorgeous bloom of acoustic resonance from the venue and plenty of air around the musicians, this beautifully engineered package is one with which I shall be able to live happily for a long time." |
| Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International - June 2007 |