by Jarrett Hoffman
Occasionally, a performance or recording is so well-crafted that a critic feels compelled to put away their journalistic spectacles and their cool, distant approach and put on a giant foam hand. That was my experience with the Jupiter String Quartet’s new album, Metamorphosis, where the ensemble shows off all the special qualities that make their performances such a thrill to hear.
by Daniel Hathaway
Murder rarely darkens the refined world of chamber music, but on Friday, June 7, the Jupiter String Quartet dramatically broached that subject, opening ENCORE Chamber Music’s 2019 concert series with Leoš Janáček’s Quartet No. 1. Subtitled “Kreutzer Sonata,” the striking 1923 piece follows Leo Tolstoy’s psychological tale of a pianist who plays that Beethoven sonata with a virtuoso violinist and is killed by her husband in a fit of jealous rage. [Read more…]
by Samantha Spaccasi
A hot and humid Friday night did not stop the Jupiter Quartet from putting on a stellar performance at the Gilmour Academy’s Tudor House. The group performed a “Beethoven sandwich” — two pieces by Beethoven with a delicious Ligeti work in the middle — for a fantastic opening to ENCORE Chamber Music’s second season.
The intimate setting was perfect for an evening of chamber music. Gathered in a richly decorated, wood-paneled room complete with grand portraits, the audience was transported back in time, as if we were aristocrats in a Parisian salon in the mid-1800s. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
In the grand scheme of chamber music, a group that is only beginning its 14th season as an ensemble is still in its adolescence. Young though the Jupiter Quartet may be, their energy, enthusiasm, and technical prowess put them head to head with established chamber music groups who have developed the fine patina that only many years of playing together can buff to a fine sheen. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
Since their founding thirteen years ago, the Jupiter Quartet (violinists Nelson Lee and Meg Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel, and cellist Daniel McDonough) has presented concerts across North America, Europe, and Asia, and have garnered numerous chamber music awards including the Cleveland Quartet Award from Chamber Music America, first prize in the Banff International String Quartet Competition, and grand prize in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. In 2008 they were awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant.
The Jupiter Quartet will return to Cleveland on Tuesday, December 1 at 7:30 pm for a concert at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights presented by the Cleveland Chamber Music Society. The program will feature works by Joseph Haydn, Henri Dutilleux, and Ludwig van Beethoven. A pre-concert lecture by Rabbi Roger Klein will begin at 6:30 pm. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
On Thursday, March 20 at 8:00 pm in Kulas Recital Hall, the Jupiter Quartet will perform the final concert of the group’s two-year residency at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. The program includes quartets by Beethoven and Bartók.
Over the last two academic years, the Jupiters, Meg Frievogel and Nelson Lee, violins, Liz Frievogel, viola and Daniel McDonough, cello, have served at Oberlin as Quartet in Residence. They have come to Oberlin three weeks each year to teach lessons, coach chamber music, and perform. “It’s been wonderful and we’re all a little bit sad that it’s coming to an end,” Daniel McDonough said in a recent telephone conversation. “The students are such a joy to work with. They’re so inquisitive, bright and curious, so it’s really been a lot of fun.” [Read more…]