Vienna's Artis Quartet performs Beethoven works March 16 at Schwab
February 17, 2005
Out of the rich musical heritage of Vienna comes the Artis Quartet, an ensemble that continues the Center for the Performing Arts season of Beethoven quartets when it performs at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, in Schwab Auditorium on the Penn State University Park campus.
The scheduled program includes Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4; Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1; and Grosse Fuge in B-flat Major, Op. 133. The Beethoven series concludes at Schwab with a concert by Pacifica Quartet on April 14.
Tickets for the Artis Quartet concert are on sale now at $22 for an adult; $10 for a full-time University Park student; and $16 for a person 18 and younger. For tickets and information, log on to www.cpa.psu.edu or phone 863-0255. Outside the local calling area, dial 1-800-ARTS-TIX. Tickets are also available at Eisenhower Auditorium, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays; Penn State Tickets Downtown in the lobby of State College‚s Penn State Downtown Theatre Center, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; HUB-Robeson Center Information Desk, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays; and Bryce Jordan Center, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Founded in 1980, when its members graduated from Vienna's Musikhochschule, the quartet didn't take long to win awards at international competitions (Cambridge in 1983 and Evian in 1984).
Violinists Peter Schuhmayer and Johannes Meissl, violist Herbert Kefer and cellist Othmar Müller have combined their talents on more than 20 recordings. Recording exclusively for Sony Classical since 1990, the quartet has earned major awards including the Grand Prix du Disque, the Diapason d'Or, the Wiener Flötenuhr and the Prix Caecilia.
"In the sensitive Artis performance," a New York Times reviewer writes about one of the ensemble‚s recordings, "you feel that it really is possible, as Blake said, to hold infinity in the palm of your hand."
In 1991, the bicentennial of Mozart's death, the quartet performed all 23 of Mozart's quartets in a series of concerts in Tokyo and Vienna. Six years later, the ensemble performed the complete Schubert and Mendelssohn quartets in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Vienna.
In addition to interpreting the works of European masters, the quartet has performed the debuts of many works by contemporary Austrian composers.
The Artis Quartet is a favorite at London's Wigmore Hall and at the Salzburg, Vienna and Feldkirch festivals.
The Norma and Ralph Condee Chamber Music Endowment sponsors the performance. WPSU-FM is the media partner. Artistic Viewpoints, sponsored by the Center for the Performing Arts Community Advisory Council, provides insight from an artist or expert perspective and is offered free to interested ticket holders in Schwab Auditorium one hour before the performance.
Contact: Laura Sullivan (814) 863-6379