Thursday, February 28, 2019
Samueli Theater
Tickets on sale now
The Takács Quartet returns to Segerstrom Center for the Arts on February 28, 2019, at 8:00 p.m. in Samueli Theater. The ensemble, considered to be one of the world’s greatest string quartets, welcomed second violinist Harumi Rhodes earlier this year following the retirement of founding member Kàroly Schranz. Quartet members include Edward Dusinberre and Harumi Rhodes, violins; Geraldine Walther, viola; and Andràs Fejér, cello.
Single tickets start at $39 and are now available online at www.SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling (714) 556-2787. For inquiries about group ticket savings of 10 or more, please call the Group Services office at (714) 755-0236.
PROGRAM NOTES
Haydn: Quartet Op. 76, No. 1
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) received the commission for the quartet from the Count Joseph Erdödy
who asked Haydn for a set of quartets, which he began composing in 1796 and officially published in 1799.
The quartet opens with a sprightly tune, played individually by each instrument at the start, then developed
rather guilelessly for the remainder of the movement.
Although the quartet is in G major, Haydn starts the last movement in a unison G minor. Only at the very end
of this stormy finale does the moody minor mode abruptly shift to the key signature as Haydn pulls back from
ending on a somber note.
Bartók: String Quartet No. 6
Deeply impacted by the loss of his mother and the outbreak of World War II, Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
finished his beautifully moving, albeit extremely somber sixth string quartet in 1939.
Grieg: String Quartet
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) did not often work in the large-scale sonata form; his entire completed literature in
this form consists of a symphony that he suppressed, one concerto, one cello sonata, three violin sonatas,
and this quartet.
The Takács Quartet, now entering its forty-fourth season, is renowned for the vitality of its interpretations.
The New York Times recently lauded the ensemble for “revealing the familiar as unfamiliar, making the most
traditional of works feel radical once more”, and the Financial Times described a recent concert at the
Wigmore Hall: “Even in the most fiendish repertoire these players show no fear, injecting the music with a
heady sense of freedom. At the same time, though, there is uncompromising attention to detail: neither a
note nor a bow-hair is out of place.” Based in Boulder at the University of Colorado, Edward Dusinberre,
Harumi Rhodes (violins), Geraldine Walther (viola) and András Fejér (cello) perform eighty concerts a year
worldwide.
During the 2018-19 season, the ensemble will continue its four annual concerts as Associate Artists at
London’s Wigmore Hall. In August 2018, the Quartet will appear at the Edinburgh, Snape Proms, Menton
and Rheingau festivals. Other European venues later in the season include Berlin, Cologne, Baden-Baden,
Bilbao and the Bath Mozartfest. The Quartet will perform extensively in the USA, including two concerts at New
York’s Lincoln Center, and at the University of Chicago, Princeton and Berkeley. A tour with Garrick
Ohlssohn will culminate in a recording for Hyperion of the Elgar and Amy Beach piano quintets. The latest
Takács cd, to be released in the spring of 2019, features Dohnanyi’s two piano quintets and his second string
quartet, with pianist Marc-André Hamelin.
In 2014 the Takács became the first string quartet to win the Wigmore Hall Medal. The Medal, inaugurated in
2007, recognizes major international artists who have a strong association with the Hall. Recipients so far
include Andras Schiff, Thomas Quasthoff, Menahem Pressler and Dame Felicity Lott. In 2012, Gramophone
announced that the Takács was the only string quartet to be inducted into its first Hall of Fame, along with
such legendary artists as Jascha Heifetz, Leonard Bernstein and Dame Janet Baker.
The Takács Quartet was formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest by Gabor Takács-Nagy,
Károly Schranz, Gabor Ormai and András Fejér, while all four were students. It first received international
attention in 1977, winning First Prize and the Critics’ Prize at the International String Quartet Competition in
Evian, France. The Quartet also won the Gold Medal at the 1978 Portsmouth and Bordeaux Competitions
and First Prizes at the Budapest International String Quartet Competition in 1978 and the Bratislava
Competition in 1981. The Quartet made its North American debut tour in 1982. After several changes of
personnel, the most recent addition is second violinist Harumi Rhodes, following Károly Schranz’s retirement
in April 2018. In 2001 the Takács Quartet was awarded the Order of Merit of the Knight’s Cross of the
Republic of Hungary, and in March 2011 each member of the Quartet was awarded the Order of Merit
Commander’s Cross by the President of the Republic of Hungary.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts is an acclaimed arts institution as well as a beautiful multi-disciplinary
cultural campus. It is committed to supporting artistic excellence, offering unsurpassed experiences and to
engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance and a
diverse array of inspiring arts-based education and community engagement programs.
In addition to Segerstrom Center for the Arts as a presenting and producing institution, it also identifies the
beautiful 14-acre campus that embraces the Center’s own facilities as well as two independently acclaimed
organizations: Tony Award®-winning South Coast Repertory and a site designated as the future home of
the Orange County Museum of Art.
TAKÁCS QUARTET
Segerstrom Center for the Arts – Samueli Theater
600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA
Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 8:00 pm
Program:
Haydn: Quartet Op. 76 #1
Bartók: String Quartet #6
Grieg: String Quartet1
Tickets – Start at $39
In person – The Box Office
600 Town Center Drive
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Open 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily
Online – SCFTA.org
Phone – (714) 556-2787
Open 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily
Group Sales – (714) 755-0236
Information provided is accurate at the time of printing but is subject to change. Segerstrom Center for the Arts is a
public, non-profit organization. “Segerstrom Center for the Arts” is a registered trademark.
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