Ysaÿe Quartet of Paris Plays Works by Haydn, Schumann, and Bartók on March 6
February 15, 2007
France's Ysaÿe Quartet, which performed three Beethoven quartets in February 2005 at Penn State, returns to Schwab Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 6, with a program of works by Haydn, Schumann and Bartók.
The Center for the Performing Arts presentation features Haydn's Quartet in D Major, Op. 76, No. 5; Schumann's Quartet in A Major, Op. 41, No. 3; and Bartók's Quartet No. 6.
Tickets are $26 for an adult, $10 for a University Park student and $19 for a person 18 and younger. For tickets and information, visit www.cpa.psu.edu or phone (814) 863-0255. Outside the local calling area, dial 1-800-ARTS-TIX. Tickets are also available at Eisenhower Auditorium and Bryce Jordan Center, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays; Penn State Tickets Downtown, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; and HUB-Robeson Center, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays. University Park Allocation Committee makes Penn State student prices possible.
Named for violinist and composer Eugène Ysaÿe (E-sigh), the ensemble earned international attention as the first French quartet to win the grand prize at the Evian (now Bordeaux) International String Quartet Competition in 1988.
"Ensemble playing of such quiet power and succinct rhetoric as that displayed by the Ysaÿe Quartet is rare and cherishable," writes a critic for the Los Angeles Times. "Here was some of the most accomplished quartet playing I have heard," notes a Chicago Tribune reviewer.
The quartet, which was formed in 1984 when its members were conservatory students in Paris, has been touring to North America since 1990. The ensemble, which was particularly influenced by the LaSalle and Amadeus quartets, has also toured throughout Europe, Asia, South America, Australia and New Zealand.
The Ysaÿe musicians are Guillaume Sutre, first violinist; Luc-Marie Aguera, second violinist; Miguel da Silva, violist; and Yovan Markovitch, cellist.
Ysaÿe has recorded music by Mozart, Debussy, Mendelssohn, Ravel and Fauré for the Decca, Harmonia Mundi and Philips labels. Several years ago the quartet started its own recording label (Ysaÿe Records/Aeon), for which it has released music by Haydn, Schumann, Mozart, Magnard and Fauré.
The quartet's newest major project is a six-year plan to perform the complete quartets by Haydn in Besançon, France, and Los Angeles.
The quartet members are on the faculty of the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Paris. While in State College, the musicians will conduct a master class for Penn State School of Music students.
Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion featuring a visiting artist or local expert, is offered in Schwab Auditorium one hour before the performance and is free for ticket holders.
Contact: Laura Sullivan, 814-863-6379