by Daniel Hathaway
The original plan for the season finale of Arts Renaissance Tremont called for the Cavani Quartet — joint artistic directors of the series at St. Wendelin Church — to join the Verona Quartet, Oberlin Conservatory’s resident string quartet, to form an octet. But when a member of the Cavani became indisposed, the Verona agreed to play the whole program on Sunday afternoon, May 5.
Although the audience at St. Wendelin might have been surprised by the change in plans, nobody could possibly have been disappointed. Violinists Jonathon Ong and Dorothy Ro, violist Abigail Rojansky, and cellist Jonathan Dormand gave revelatory accounts of Mendelssohn’s first and Beethoven’s fifteenth quartets. And they very likely introduced all but a few cognoscenti in the audience to the fascinating music of Grażyna Bacewicz with the Fourth Quartet by the Lithuanian-Polish violinist and composer, who lived from 1909 to 1969.
Playing in an established chamber group is all about routine and slow, gradual progress. There’s something comforting about playing with the same people over and over again, familiarizing yourself with their style and quirks. But sometimes, temporary chamber groups — perhaps formed for one concert only — can inject some extra fun and excitement. On Sunday, February 19, two generations of musicians shared the stage at St. Wendelin Church as Arts Renaissance Tremont presented a program of Schumann and Brahms.
What might LvB have thought of having 90 young musicians — led by a professional string quartet — perform the fugue that ends his Quartet Op. 59, No. 3?
“It’s like putting on all the Shakespeare plays in a month — it takes all your heart and soul and energy,” Cavani Quartet founder and primo violin Annie Fullard said in a recent telephone conversation about their “
The Cavani Quartet’s well-attended concert on Sunday, November 21 at St. Wendelin Church marked the sixth of eight performances in the ensemble’s roaming “Beethoven and Beyond” series, as well as the beginning of the 30th season of the Arts Renaissance Tremont series.
COVID-19 may have interrupted the celebration of Beethoven’s 250th Birthday in December 2020, but the Cavani String Quartet has made that event a moveable feast.
It was another fascinating afternoon of recent music by members of the Cleveland Composers Guild at CSU’s Drinko Recital Hall on Sunday, October 13. Opening the Guild’s 60th anniversary season, the concert featured chamber music by eight local composers in the usual explorative potluck format.
