THE ARIANNA STRING QUARTET

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1 Lawn Maintenance Installation & Hydroseeding Tree Take Downs Stump Grinding Drainage Driveway Repair Excavating Stonewalls Plantings Estate Care Lindell Fuels Inc. Presents a THIRTEEN CONSECUTIVE SUNDAY AFTERNOONS THREE SATURDAY TWILIGHT CONCERTS THE ARIANNA STRING QUARTET JOHN MCGROSSO, VIOLIN JOANNA ROBERT MENDOZA MEYER, VIOLA DAVID GILLHAM, VIOLIN KURT BALDWIN, CELLO ASSISTING ARTIST: TIMOTHY COBB, DOUBLE BASS SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2009 at 3:00 P.M. Nicholas Gordon President Sharon, CT Kathy S. Herald-Marlowe Treasurer Sharon, CT Carol Ascher Vice President Sharon, CT Dorothy Truman Secretary New York, NY EIGHTIETH YEAR Steinway Piano AIR CONDITIONED

2 SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2009 THE ARTISTS THE ARIANNA STRING QUARTET has firmly established itself as one of America s finest chamber ensembles. Formed in 1992, they captured the Grand Prize in the 1994 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and First Prize in both the Coleman and Carmel National Competitions. They were also Finalists in the 1999 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition. From , the Arianna Quartet studied with the Vermeer Quartet at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL. Praised by critics for their warmth and polish, the Chicago Tribune recently said The silken refinement of the playing was achieved with no loss of expressive vitality or spontaneity. Quartet playing doesn t get much better than this. The Arianna Quartet has concertized throughout the United States, Mexico, Japan, Canada and France, and has given successful debuts at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and Tokyo s Suntory Hall. They have collaborated with artists such as Paul Katz, Gilbert Kalish, Bernard Greenhouse, Andres Cardenes, Richard Stoltzman, and the Vermeer Quartet. The Arianna Quartet has recorded for the Centaur, Albany, and Urtext classical labels. The Arianna String Quartet has been featured in concerts at the Spoleto, Banff, Norfolk, and Strings in the Mountains festivals, was Ensemble-in-Residence at the Tanglewood Music Center, and was invited by Isaac Stern to perform in his first ever Carnegie Hall master classes. They have been heard on live nationally broadcast performances in Osaka, Japan, and on Canada s CBC radio, several times as part of Chicago s prestigious Dame Myra Hess Series, and on National Public Radio s Performance Today program. After being awarded a Chamber Music America Residency Grant in 1996, the Arianna String Quartet performed more than four hundred outreach concerts in four years in The broadcasts of these Music Mountain concerts throughout the United States and worldwide on the Internet are underwritten by These concerts are broadcast in this area on: WQXR-FM, New York, 96.3 FM, Tuesdays at 9 P.M., Starting July 7 WHDD-AM/FM 1020 AM/91.9 FM, Sharon, CT, Saturdays at 12 Noon Archival Broadcasts Fridays at 9:00 P.M. Both stations stream their broadcast service, making it possible to hear each concert on the Internet at local station broadcast time. INTERNET Music Mountain Chamber Music concerts are available worldwide on the Internet through Go to and click on Listen on Line One concert each week, available 24 hours per day. Music Mountain is supported, in part, by the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. Music Mountain Box Office: Printing & Advertising Sales by Ad-Comm., Ink.: Press Representative: Rebillard Public Relations The cooperation of the audience in keeping noise to a minimum is greatly appreciated. Visit Music Mountain s web site: Music Mountain is listed in the National Register of Historic Places This program uses the same typefaces, color paper, and design as the original Music Mountain programs of the 1930s. The typefaces are New Century Schoolbook and TommyOpil by Opticraft. The cover drawing is from the first Music Mountain poster in the 1930 s.

3 southeast Michigan as Eastern Michigan University s quartetin-residence. In 2003, The ASQ was a recipient of a Chamber Music America Residency Grant for their outreach work in St. Louis. The Arianna String Quartet was recently appointed Faculty Artist Teachers and Quartet-in-Residence in the music department at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. They will also continue their concert series at Eastern Michigan University. TIMOTHY COBB, DOUBLE BASS In addition to his duties as principal bass of the Met Orchestra and Double Bass Faculty Chair at the Juilliard School, the double bassist Timothy Cobb maintains a busy schedule of chamber collaborations and solo appearances. He collaborates frequently with quartets including the Emerson, Guarneri, Belcea, Leipzig and St. Lawrence, as well as artists such as Pinchas Zukerman, Yefim Bronfman, James Levine and Christian Zacharias among many others. His festival appearances include most of the major American summer festivals: Bridgehampton, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, Sarasota and Tanglewood among many others. Timothy Cobb can be heard on all Met recordings beginning in 1986 as well as a 2003 Grammy-nominated L Histoire du Soldat with the Harmonie Wind Ensemble of New York on Koch records. He is a former member of the Chicaco Symphony, and serves on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music and State University of New York, Purchase, as well as a distinguished artis residency at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, in addition to Juilliard. He last appeared at Music Mountain in 2008 in Schubert s Trout Quintet.

4 PROGRAM STRING QUARTET IN E FLAT MAJOR, Felix Mendelssohn OPUS 12, (1829) ( ) Adagio non troppo; Allegro non tardante Canzonetta: Allegretto Andante espressivo Molto allegro e vivace (This is the 3rd performance of this work at Music Mountain) STRING QUARTET # 2 INTIMATE LETTERS Leos Janacek (1928) ( ) Andante Adagio Moderato Allegro (This is the first performance of this work at Music Mountain) INTERMISSION QUINTET FOR DOUBLE BASS & STRINGS Antonin Dvorak IN G, OPUS 77 (1875, REVISED.1888) ( ) Allegro con fuoco Scherzo; Allegro vivace Poco andante Finale; Allegro assai (This is the 4th performance of this work at Music Mountain)

5 BECOME A FRIEND OF MUSIC MOUNTAIN You may contribute to Music Mountain s General Fund, its Endowment or to the Julie Miles Gordon Memorial Fund. The Julie Miles Gordon Memorial Fund was established in 2005 to honor the memory of Julie Miles Gordon, the late wife of Music Mountain s longtime president, Nicholas Gordon. Its purpose is to assist in enabling artists from many different countries to participate and enrich Music Mountain teaching programs and concerts. Grants from the Julie Miles Gordon Memorial Fund are designed to replace funding sources that are reduced or no longer available, including grants from various cultural organizations and national governments. Enclosed is my contribution to support concerts and educational programs at MUSIC MOUNTAIN Benefactor/Patron $5,000 Sponsor $1,000-$2,499 Patron $2,500 - $4,999 Friends $25-$199 Contributor $200 - $999 Other $ Donor Address Please make check payable to: Music Mountain, Inc. P.O. Box 738, Lakeville, CT or, if you prefer (check one) Visa MasterCard Card Number Exp. Date Signature All gifts are deductible for Federal Income Tax purposes. If you are an employee of a company that has a matching gift program, please check with your Personnel Department for details PROGRAM NOTES STRING QUARTET IN E FLAT MAJOR, OPUS 12 By Felix Mendelssohn ( ) In 1829, when Mendelssohn was 20 and traveling through Scotland, he wrote his sister, Fanny, telling her that his E Flat Major String Quartet was almost finished. This was the trip which also inspired the Hebrides Overture and the Scottish Symphony. While labeled Opus 12, it was actually written two years after Opus 13 and is Mendelssohn s second of his six quartets. Like all of Mendelssohn s work this is a beautiful piece. It presents a unique feature in that each of the 4 movements are in a different key. The second movement, the Canzonetta, will be familiar to all as it is, like the Scherzo from the Octet, one of those musical creations that has a life of its own. This Quartet was first performed here on Sunday, July 12, 1992 by the St. Lawrence String Quartet. STRING QUARTET # 2 INTIMATE LETTERS By Leos Janacek ( ) In 1917, Janacek was 63 and vacationing in a Moravian spa town when he met and fell deeply, wildly in love with the 26 year old wife of a local antique dealer., This young woman,

6 Kamila Stosslova, became his muse for the remaining 12 years of his life, inspiring much of his later works. Their relationship, which, unfortunately for Janacek, was largely spiritual, produced more than 700 letters. Most of his survive, but many of hers to him were burnt by Janacek. A sample will perhaps indicate the depth of Janacek s infatuation: You stand behind every note, you, living, forceful, loving. The fragrance of your body, the glow of your kisses no, really of mine. Those notes of mine kiss all of you. They call for you passionately... (There is an English translation by John Tyrell from the Czech edition of his letters. Intimate Letters: Leos Janacek to Kamilla Stosslova published by Faber, 1994). The Quartet, Intimate Letters was composed in response to a request from the Bohemian Quartet in 1923 to write two quartets for them. Given its subtitle by Janacek, himself, as his inspiration came from the letters between him and Kamila, it was first performed in 1928, a month after Janacek had died. QUINTET FOR DOUBLE BASS & STRINGS IN G, OPUS 77 By Antonin Dvorak ( ) Dvorak wrote a considerable amount of chamber music, for

7 NEXT WEEKEND S CONCERTS SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 2009 AT 6:30PM A SPECIAL DOUBLE EVENT MUSIC MOUNTAIN AND TRIARTS COMBINED 2PM TRI ARTS A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM 6:30PM MUSIC MOUNTAIN SWINGTIME BIG BAND, WITH DANCING Vivid Recreations of the Big Band Era. This is the authentic Big Band Sound. SPECIAL PRICE: BOTH CONCERTS $40 SUNDAY, JUNE 28 AT 3PM ST. PETERSBURG STRING QUARTET MARK PESKANOV, VIOLIN DORIS STEVENSON, PIANO Beethoven: String Quartet in E Minor, Opus 59 # 2 Schulhoff: Five Pieces for String Quartet Chausson: Concerto in D for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Opus 21 various instrumental combinations: 14 string quartets, 2 piano quintets, 3 string quintets, 4 piano trios, 2 piano quartets, a string sextet, a string trio among others. A large number of these remain in the modern repertory, celebrated for their richness of sound, their melody and great musical quality. The Quintet for Double Bass and String Quartet in G major, Opus 77, was actually written much earlier in Dvorak s career than the opus number would indicate. It dates to 1875, when Dvorak was 32, and was originally numbered as Opus 18. However, Dvorak put it away for some 13 years. When Dvorak was working on some of his earlier works which had not been published he sent the Quintet off to his publisher, Simrock, who published it as Opus 77. When first written, Dvorak entered the work in a competition, where it won for its distinction of theme, the technical skill in polyphonic composition, the mastery of form and the knowledge of the instruments. As is the case with many really splendid pieces, it is performed all too rarely. The Quintet was first performed here by Alvin Brehm, Bass and the Manhattan String Quartet on Saturday, June 23, Children 5-18 Admitted at No Charge (When accompanied by a ticket holder.)

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