Saturday, February 3, 2024

Noe Music to Explore “Origins” of Bartók Quartet

The members of the Brentano String Quartet (clockwise from above): Misha Amory, Mark Steinberg, Nina Lee, and Serena Canin (photograph by Peter Schaef, courtesy of Noe Music)

This month’s program to be presented by Noe Music will depart from the usual approach to a recital performance. The program has been conceived as an exploration of a major work in the repertoire of twentieth-century chamber music, the fifth string quartet by Béla Bartók. (Personal disclaimer: This was the very first of the six Bartók quartets that I encountered. I was an undergraduate at the time, presenting twentieth-century music at the campus radio station. As a result of that encounter, I almost immediately did a deep dive into all six of those quartets, playing all of them on my radio program.)

The performers for this recital will be the members of the Brentano String Quartet: violinists Mark Steinberg and Serena Canin, violist Misha Amory, and cellist Nina Lee. The second half of the program will be devoted entirely to the “Bartók fifth.” The first half will be survey a series of short selections that will create a context for that listening experience. Those selections will explore works by Henry Purcell, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Luciano Berio, and Bartók himself. (Full disclaimer: it is very unlikely that Bartók was influenced by Berio!)

As usual, the performance will take place at 4 p.m. on a Sunday, February 18. The venue will be the Noe Valley Ministry, located at 1021 Sanchez Street, between 23rd Street and Elizabeth Street. There is currently limited availability for the $60 reserved seats in the first few rows. However, open seating tickets may be purchased with prices of $45 for general admission and $15 for students. All tickets may be purchased through a single Web page.

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