Legendary quartet headlines Solstice
To lovers of chamber music, the Fine Arts Quartet is legendary. It is internationally known through its tours and more than 200 recordings, of everything from Mozart and Haydn to contemporary composers.
Many music lovers grew up on the quartet’s recordings of Beethoven and Bartok. They have appeared on the Ed Sullivan and Today shows, recorded the first quartet series on educational television, made the first educational film for Encyclopedia Britannica, and this year the group celebrates its 70th anniversary.
Astonishingly, as members have come and gone over those years, first violinist Ralph Evans is only the second in its history, giving a continuity to the quartet’s distinctive sound. And its newest member is Canadian, the Montreal-born voila player Juan-Miguel Hernandez, who joined in 2014.
Now, Edmontonians have the opportunity to hear not just one but three concerts featuring the quartet in the Summer Solstice Music Festival. They will be playing some of the central works of the repertoire, including the Ravel String Quartet (Friday, June 24) and Shostakovich’s powerful String Quartet No. 7 (Wednesday, June 22).
The quartet’s appearance at the festival, organized by the Edmonton Chamber Music Society, marks something of a departure, as previous festivals have concentrated almost exclusively on local musicians.
Indeed, the whole festival has been revamped, bringing in outside musicians to play as soloists or with the Fine Arts, while still including some of Edmonton’s finest players.
The celebrated violin and viola player Gil Sharon, born in Romania and now resident in Holland, for example, joins the Fine Arts for Mendelssohn’s String Quintet No. 1 (Monday, June 20). Grammynominated cellist Matt Haimovitz will play one of the classics of the chamber repertoire with them, Schubert’s C Major String Quintet (Wednesday, June 22).
Patricia Tao, one of Edmonton’s leading pianists (and the artistic organizer of the festival), is particularly excited to be joining the Fine Arts in Fauré’s gorgeous Piano Quartet No. 1 (Friday, June 24). It’s a work she has always wanted to play, but has put it off until she could do so with exactly the right musicians.
“It’s always inspiring to work with great musicians,” she explains. “They come with their own special interpretations and sound, and that’s so enjoyable to work with.”
In another departure for the festival, there is a solo piano recital (Sunday, June 26). The pianist is the exciting young Canadian Charles Richard-Hamelin, who was a prize winner last year in one of the most prestigious international piano competitions, the Chopin. He will play Beethoven rondos, Chopin (including the B minor Sonata), and one of the most overlooked of 20th-century composers, Georges Enesco. He will be making his Edmonton debut, a coup for the festival.
Haimovitz will also give a solo cello recital (Tuesday, June 21) where he will intersperse movements from the Bach cello suites — one of his specialties — with works commissioned from modern composers, such as Philip Glass and Du Yan, for this very purpose.
The venue for his recital is an enterprising one, the Yellowhead Brewery, with its casual atmosphere (eating and drinking included). Edmonton’s leading violinist, Robert Uchida, will also give a concert there with fellow Edmonton Symphony Orchestra players, the cellist Rafael Hoekman and the violist Charles Pilon, including works by Martinu and Kodaly (Thursday, June 23). The festival warns that seating at the Yellowhead Brewery is limited, so get to the concerts early.
Finally, in another departure for the festival designed to appeal beyond a strictly chamber music audience, Canadian tenor John Tessier will star in a themed program of works from, or based on, opera (Tuesday, June 28), where he will be joined by Edmonton musicians. The program ranges from Mozart and Donizetti to Gilbert and Sullivan, and includes Sarasate’s fiery Carmen Fantasy for violin and piano, played by Uchida and Tao.
The Solstice Summer Music Festival used to be a pleasant footnote to the main season. Not any more. With its new format, its roster of celebrated international musicians and Edmonton’s best, it has catapulted itself into one of Canada’s major chamber music events.
Few lovers of chamber music will want to miss the opportunity to hear the Fine Arts Quartet. For those new to the medium, the festival is an unparalleled opportunity to find out what one of the most intimate and rewarding of all the arts is about. And for those of us who just love good music and wonderful playing, there could hardly be a better way to spend summer nights.