Beethoven Quartet and more!

Beethoven's late String Quartets are considered among the finest of chamber works. Today we are hearing String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127; Joseph Lin, violin; Brian Hong, violin; Natalie Loughran, viola and Edvard Pogossian, cello. We heard Brian Hong last week; the others are new to me. Ludwig van Beethoven completed his String Quartet No. 12 in E♭ major, Op. 127, in 1825. It is the first of his late quartets. Commissioned by Nicolas Galitzin over a year earlier, the work was not ready when it was scheduled to premiere. When it finally premiered by the Schuppanzigh Quartet, it was not well received. Only with subsequent performances by the Bohm Quartet and the Mayseder Quartet did it begin to gain public appreciation. People at the time said it was "incomprehensible." It is hard to understand today what they meant. Of course, we don't know what that premier performance sounded like. I have read that the performers had only two weeks to rehearse. Maybe they sounded awful! Today, it is beautiful. I can't imagine anyone saying that what they are hearing today is "incomprehensible." True, our ears are accustomed to hearing things that concert-goers in 1825 were not familiar with at all. But still . . . . .

The Beethoven Quartet being rehearsed.

Joseph Lin, violin.

Natalie Loughran, viola.

Edvard Pogossian, cello.*********************************************** LATER, AFTER LUNCH We are listening to a rehearsal of Benjamin Dale, Introduction and Andante, Op. 5, with Natalie Loughran, viola; Jing Peng, viola; Nobuko Imai, viola; Haesue Lee, viola; Jonathan Chu, viola; Yuchen Lu, viola.

The Viola Sextet. That's Peter and Mary Alice Amidon, and Mary ALice's sister, sitting in front. (And Ellen over on the side).****************************** Best known for his Piano Sonaata in D maj., Dale's next published work was his three movement Suite for Viola and Piano—another sonata in all but name — dating from 1906, the first of a series of compositions written expressly for the violist and Royal Academy of Music professor Lionel Tertis. This ambitious work stretched the boundaries of viola technique at the time and remains challenging even today: Tertis frequently played it either with Bowen at the piano, or in a later arrangement of the last two movements with orchestral accompaniment. The Suite was followed by the Phantasy for Viola and Piano (dated 1910) and an Introduction and Andante (1911) for the unusual combination of six independently scored violas, written for performance by Tertis's pupils. Dale's music has fallen out of fashion until recently, and he is experiencing something of a revival; this week's performance may be part of that revival!

Benjamin Dale (1885-1943)************************************ Most of the violists playing today are young people, but one is almost 80 years old: Nobuko Imai. I think she has been the teacher of some of the young people in this group.

Nobuko Imai, viola. Imai studied at the famous Toho School of Music in Tokyo and then at Yale University and the Juilliard School. She is the only violist to have won the highest prizes at both the Munich and Geneva International Viola Competitions, and she was formerly a member of the esteemed Vermeer Quartet. Miss Imai is now established as a distinguished international soloist, and as well as appearing regularly in the Netherlands, where she now lives, her career takes her to major cities in Europe, the USA and Japan. She has worked with major orchestras all over the world, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC orchestras, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo’s NHK Symphony Orchestra. Nobuko Imai is a regular guest at the Marlboro Festival and has also appeared at the Lockenhaus, Casals, Aldeburgh and South Bank Summer Music Festivals, the International Viola Congress in Houston and the BBC Proms. But despite Imai's vast experience, she is not the one doing most of the talking. That is Jonathan Chu.

Jonathan Chu rejoined the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for the 2014-2015 season as Assistant Principal Viola. He was previously a member of the SLSO’s second violin section in the 2006-2007 season, and has been a member of the viola sections of both the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra. Chu has toured throughout Asia and Europe with Boston and Philadelphia and has performed with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. He has frequently played as guest principal with other ensembles including the Saint Paul and Orpheus Chamber Orchestras and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as guest Principal Second Violin, and with the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal as guest Principal Viola. As a chamber musician, Chu has performed with the Musicians from Marlboro and in Caramoor's "Rising Stars" series. He was a prizewinner with the Fader Piano Quartet at the Coleman Competition in Pasadena, California. Chu has attended festivals including Marlboro, Yellow Barn, and Taos, and he has recorded with rock band Vampire Weekend. Chu attended Vanderbilt University, where he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music along with a second major in economics, and received his Master of Music at the Juilliard School, where he studied with Robert Mann. Chu is currently studying law in the evening program at Saint Louis University. He plays on a violin made in 1823 by Nicolas Lupot, a gift from his former teacher Marianne Pashler, and a viola made in 2004 by Hiroshi Iizuka. Chu resides in St. Louis with his wife Beth and their three children Apollo, Benji and Leia.*********************************** This is a remarkable piece - I'm loving listening to it! Six violas together are so lushious! Benjamin Dale, I think you are due for that re-assessment you seem to be getting!