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Belcea Quartet at Cleveland Chamber Music Society (Oct. 21)

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by Daniel Hathaway

The complete Shostakovich cycle of quartets that the Jerusalem Quartet served up last May in five well-attended performances at the Cleveland Museum of Art to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Cleveland Chamber Music Society was a hard act to follow.

CCMS allowed its patrons some variety by opening its 76th season with a September concert for violin and piano, followed by a bracing program on October 21 from the Belcea Quartet that balanced extreme textures and dissonance with an abundance of sweetness and nuance, while also producing a rich blend and a vast array of articulations. [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Music Society: Belcea Quartet at Disciples (Oct. 17)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Patrons of the Cleveland Chamber Music Society attending the season opener with the Belcea Quartet at Disciples Church on October 17 found Schubert’s E-flat Quartet stickered over with Beethoven’s Op. l8, No. 4 in their printed programs.

The reason? The Belcea were welcoming Suyeon Kang as their new second violinist this season, and wanted to take the Beethoven out for a final spin before playing it in New York’s Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall two days later.

Last Tuesday’s performance also introduced Disciples as the default venue for CCMS’s 74th season, and the space gets high marks for its accessibility and clear, transparent acoustic — as well as for its comfortable seating (no pews).

That acoustic supported the Belcea’s outstanding playing. [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Music Society: Belcea Quartet at Plymouth (Oct. 18)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Belcea-QuartetThe members of the London-based Belcea Quartet hail from Romania (first violinist Corina Belcea), France (second violinist Axel Schacher and cellist Antoine Lederlin), and Poland (violist Krzysztof Chorzelski), but they meld their various backgrounds into an arresting blend that is all the more colorful for its multinational origins. On October 18, the Belcea returned to the Cleveland Chamber Music Society at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights — for the first time since 2014 — for riveting performances of early and late quartets by Franz Schubert, with Dmitri Shostakovich’s weird and wild Quartet No. 8, Op. 110, tucked in between. [Read more…]

Belcea Quartet to bring Schubert & Shostakovich to Cleveland Chamber Music Society Series

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by Mike Telin

Belcea-QuartetIn his review of the Belcea Quartet’s 2014 Cleveland Chamber Music Society performance, Daniel Hathaway of ClevelandClassical.com wrote, “Whether they were playing spooky motives … or crafting wonderful climaxes, … the Belcea were both sonically and visually riveting, playing with complete immersion and dedication.”

On Tuesday, October 18 at 7:30 pm, the Belcea Quartet — Corine Belcea and Alex Shacher, violins, Krzysztof Chorzelski, viola, and Antoine Lederlin, cello — will return to the CCMS stage at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights.

“This year our season’s theme is the music of Schubert and Shostakovich,” Krzysztof Chorzelski said during a telephone conversation from London. “We wanted to play our favorite music by these two composers because we feel they have something in common.” [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Music Society brings some favorites back for its 2016-2017 season at Plymouth Church

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by Daniel Hathaway

juilliard-quartet-2016-2For its 67th season, the Cleveland Chamber Music Society will present its customary lineup of seven world-class chamber music groups — plus a young artists showcase and a young artists competition. You won’t see the names of any new ensembles on the roster for 2016-2017, but there’s a major personnel change and an interesting realignment of musicians that will be of primary interest to chamber music lovers.

“I’m looking forward to the new configuration of the Juilliard String Quartet (pictured left),” said CCMS president Barbara Green in a telephone conversation last weekend. “It’s the first time the Juilliard have included a woman [cellist Astrid Schween, who replaces Joel Krosnick], and I’ve heard every permutation since the very beginning. And then there’s the Cleveland debut of the Montrose Piano Trio, which includes violinist Martin Beaver and cellist Clive Greensmith — the two remaining members of the Tokyo Quartet — plus pianist Jon Kimura Parker, who played for CCMS some years ago with the Berlin Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet.” [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Music Society: Belcea Quartet at Plymouth Church (Oct. 21)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Belcea-QuartetPity poor Johannes Brahms, whose op. 51, no. 1 quartet came last on the program played by the excellent Belcea Quartet on the Cleveland Chamber Music Society series last Tuesday evening at Plymouth Church. He didn’t really stand a chance after the emotionally wrenching performance the quartet had just given of Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite. [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Music Society: a conversation with Krzysztof Chorzelski of the Belcea Quartet

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by Mike Telin

Belcea-Quartet“We’ve played several times on the series and we’re very happy to be back,” Belcea Quartet violist Krzysztof Chorzelski said during a telephone conversation from London, the quartet’s home base. “We love playing in Cleveland and we have very nice memories. The audience is always very special.” On Tuesday, October 21 at 7:30 in Plymouth Church The Cleveland Chamber Music Society will present the Belcea Quartet in a concert featuring works by Mozart, Berg and Brahms. [Read more…]

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