Tokyo String Quartet の2011~13シーズン

つい最近のブログで書いたとおり，1969年にTokyo からJulliard に留学していた日本人４人によって結成されたTokyo String Quartet が2013年に残る２人の日本人奏者退任することで，一世代を終わろうとしています．

既に残る２人のメンバーが交代要員の面接を始めているそうですが，たとえ新たな４人が揃っても，Tokyo String Quartet の呼称を引き継げるのかどうか，また彼等に貸与されてきたストラディヴァリュース４丁の貸与が続けられるのかどうかは，今のところ未定です．まえに書いたように，こうしたメンバー交代のRule of Thumb はOriginal Member が１人もいなくなったらその弦楽四重奏団は存続しないというのが一般化されています．

Turnover among musicians in longstanding ensembles is inevitable. Some, like the Guarneri String Quartet, simply disband. The esteemed Tokyo String Quartet — founded at the Juilliard School in 1969 by four Japanese musicians who studied together in Tokyo — will soon have none of its original members. The violist, Kazuhide Isomura, a founding member, and the second violinist, Kikuei Ikeda, who joined in 1974, recently announced that they would retire from the quartet in June 2013.

残る２シーズンに実績を残したいと Tokyo String Quartet は，performing at the 92nd Street Y で, Bartok の6曲のQuartets とPiano曲に　Hydon をペアにして,Bartok の全曲演奏を目標にしているようです．
Among the ensemble’s final projects in its current incarnation is a two-season series at the 92nd Street Y, where it has been in residence since 2003. It focused on Beethoven in recent concerts there, offering the complete string quartets paired with piano sonatas. Bartok is now in the spotlight, with each of his six quartets paired with one by Haydn, a pivotal figure in the development of the genre.

第１回の土曜日夜には，弦楽四重奏曲第１番が取り上げられ，which blends late Romantic harmonies with the terse rhythms and Hungarian folk melodies that would shape his ensuing works in the genre. The opening theme, described by the 27-year-old Bartok as his “funeral dirge,” reflected his suffering over an unrequited love; it was conveyed with plaintive intensity here. The rest of the work unfolded in an equally vivid palette, with the musicians etching sharp contrasts between moments of introspection and those of rhythmic exuberance. とたいへん高い評価を受けていました．

Haydn also evoked Hungarian folk music in works like his String Quartet in D (Op. 20, No. 4), which came next in the concert. The vibrant, energetic interpretation revealed myriad details throughout, particularly in the inventive Presto Scherzando, which ends in witty fashion.

さらに，その夜は， Schumann’s String Quartet in A (Op. 41, No. 3)　が演奏され，As the Tokyo quartet nears the end of a major chapter in its history, it shows no sign of weariness. It played here with a commitment and a passion．と変わらぬ　commitment and a passion を顕示したといいます．

１世代を終える前に，日本でもぜひ深い感銘を残す演奏会を開催されるよう期待してやみません．

 

 

 

Music Review

Pairing Bartok With Haydn

Ari Mintz for The New York Times

Martin Beaver, Kikuei Ikeda, Clive Greensmith and Kazuhide Isomura of the Tokyo String Quartet, performing at the 92nd Street Y.

By VIVIEN SCHWEITZER

Published: November 8, 2011

Turnover among musicians in longstanding ensembles is inevitable. Some, like the Guarneri String Quartet, simply disband. The esteemed Tokyo String Quartet — founded at the Juilliard School in 1969 by four Japanese musicians who studied together in Tokyo — will soon have none of its original members. The violist, Kazuhide Isomura, a founding member, and the second violinist, Kikuei Ikeda, who joined in 1974, recently announced that they would retire from the quartet in June 2013.

The first violinist, Martin Beaver, and the cellist, Clive Greensmith, are auditioning new members to replace their colleagues. Among the ensemble’s final projects in its current incarnation is a two-season series at the 92nd Street Y, where it has been in residence since 2003. It focused on Beethoven in recent concerts there, offering the complete string quartets paired with piano sonatas. Bartok is now in the spotlight, with each of his six quartets paired with one by Haydn, a pivotal figure in the development of the genre.

On Saturday evening, in the first concert of the new series, the program opened with Bartok’s poignant String Quartet No. 1, which blends late Romantic harmonies with the terse rhythms and Hungarian folk melodies that would shape his ensuing works in the genre. The opening theme, described by the 27-year-old Bartok as his “funeral dirge,” reflected his suffering over an unrequited love; it was conveyed with plaintive intensity here. The rest of the work unfolded in an equally vivid palette, with the musicians etching sharp contrasts between moments of introspection and those of rhythmic exuberance.

Haydn also evoked Hungarian folk music in works like his String Quartet in D (Op. 20, No. 4), which came next in the concert. The vibrant, energetic interpretation revealed myriad details throughout, particularly in the inventive Presto Scherzando, which ends in witty fashion.

As the Tokyo quartet nears the end of a major chapter in its history, it shows no sign of weariness. It played here with a commitment and a passion that rendered the third work, Schumann’s String Quartet in A (Op. 41, No. 3), a treat.