The Ariel Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle Opens to Rave Reviews

The Ariel Quartet‘s complete tour of Beethoven’s string quartets commenced last evening and the opening performance of “The Cycle“ was met with rave reviews!

In her write-up for Music in Cincinnati, Mary Ellyn Hutton writes, “Evident at once in any performance by the Ariel Quartet are the differing personalities of its members. Kazovsky is sweeping and demonstrative. Gershon is pointed and elegant. Violist Grüning radiates confidence and control, while cellist Even-Tov is animated, with facial expressions to match. And how beautifully they come together to make music.” Read the full review here.

In her review for the Cincinnati Enquirer, Janelle Gelfand writes, “One could marvel at their pinpoint attack and cutoffs, performed for maximum dramatic effect, sometimes with flinging bows. The slow movement was phrased with profound beauty, and the players breathed together as one.” Read the full review here.

iSPYCiNCY.com also provides a video teaser for “The Cycle” in its recap of CCM’s Moveable Feast. Watch the video here.

Earlier this week, CityBeat published an in-depth feature on the Ariel Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle. Read the full article here.

“The Cycle” continues at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25 Thursday, Feb. 20. Learn more about the performance here.

The Ariel Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle Commences With Series-Opening Concerts on Jan. 23 and 25!

From left to right: Amit Even-Tov, Jan Grüning, Alexandra Kazovsky and Gershon Gerchikov are the Ariel Quartet. Photography by Saverio Truglia.

CCM proudly presents the opening concerts of the Ariel Quartet’s first complete Beethoven Cycle on Thursday, Jan. 23, and Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014 Thursday, Feb. 20. Both performances begin at 8 p.m. in CCM’s Corbett Auditorium.

Through the course of this six-part concert series – otherwise known as “The Cycle” – CCM’s acclaimed string quartet-in-residence will perform all 17 of Ludwig van Beethoven’s string quartets. Taken as a whole, these works are widely regarded as the greatest achievement in the history of western chamber music.

The program for the Ariel Quartet’s series-opening concert on Thursday, Jan. 23, includes Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1; String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 (“Serioso”); and String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127.

The Saturday, Jan. 25, Thursday, Feb. 20 program includes Beethoven’s String Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2; String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3 (“Razumovsky”); and String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135.

The quartet debated about how to present “The Cycle,” whether to play it in chronological order or to break it apart and program works from different periods into each concert, members explain.

Beethoven’s life and works are frequently divided into three general periods: a formative period lasting until around 1802, a middle period lasting until around 1812 and a transcendent third or late period lasting until 1827. For their first complete cycle, the members of the Ariel Quartet decided to present one composition from each period during each concert. Every concert in “The Cycle” will open with one of Beethoven’s Opus 18 quartets, the first set of string quartets he composed during his early period.

The members of the Quartet explain, “Most concerts will present three works in chronological order, offering audiences a rare opportunity to listen to all three periods back to back. We feel this will allow each concert to showcase the development of Beethoven as a composer, enabling our audience to experience this music to its fullest.”

“It’s not often that we have the opportunity to experience the complete oeuvre of a creative individual’s output,” observes Peter Landgren, dean and Thomas James Kelly Professor of Music at CCM, who worked closely with the Ariel Quartet to plan this concert series. “‘The Cycle’ provides just such an opportunity.”

“The Cycle” will be held in UC’s acoustically stunning Corbett Auditorium with performances scheduled for 8 p.m. on Jan. 23 and 25, Feb. 20 and 22, as well as March 25, 27 and 29, 2014.

The Ariel Quartet Presents a Complete Tour of Beethoven’s String Quartets in Early 2014

From left to right: Alexandra Kazovsky, Jan Grüning, Amit Even-Tov and Gershon Gerchikov are the Ariel Quartet. Photography by Saverio Truglia.

The Ariel Quartet proudly presents its first Beethoven Cycle during a series of six concerts in January, February and March of 2014. The acclaimed string quartet-in-residence at CCM will present a complete tour of Ludwig Van Beethoven’s 17 string quartets (including the “Große Fuge” or “Grand Fugue”) in a performance series dubbed “The Cycle.”

With this series, the Ariel Quartet (Alexandra Kazovsky and Gershon Gerchikov, violinists; Jan Grüning, violist; and Amit Even-Tov, cellist) is poised to become one of the first professional Quartets to publicly perform the complete Beethoven cycle before its members reach the age of 30.

These six concerts will also mark the first time a complete cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets has been performed at CCM. The series is believed to be Cincinnati’s first complete Beethoven Cycle, as well.

“The members of the Ariel Quartet and I began speaking of their interest in performing the Beethoven Quartet Cycle almost as soon as they began their CCM residency,” explains Peter Landgren, Dean and Thomas James Kelly Professor of Music at CCM. “I view the performance of all of the Beethoven String Quartets as the scaling of Mount Everest for not just the performers, but also the listeners.”

Beethoven’s 17 string quartets are considered by many to be the greatest achievement in the history of western chamber music. The members of the Ariel Quartet have had a longstanding fascination with these pieces, exploring Beethoven’s quartets one by one as a young ensemble.

“The quartets exhibit the gradual transformation of Beethoven’s musical language and were of tremendous influence on the development of music history,” the members of the Quartet explain. “Beethoven’s tragedies and struggles in life come through this music. The complete cycle of his string quartets translates into a journey leading to the most intimate and spiritual heights of the human soul.”

While many Quartets perform the cycle over a year’s time or longer, Dean Landgren challenged the Ariel Quartet to consider a “festival-style” approach to its upcoming cycle, keeping the performances in close proximity. The result is a concert series running on three pairs of consecutive Thursdays and Saturdays at the end of January, February and March. See complete schedule below.

“Hearing these masterpieces performed by the Ariel Quartet – not one member of which will be 30 years old at the time of these performances – will be life-changing for our audiences,” says Dean Landgren. “We have plans to record these live performances for posterity.”

For their part, the members of the Ariel Quartet are equally enthused about this concert series. “After exploring these works for so many years, we feel very lucky to have the opportunity to perform all of them as a cycle following the historical path these quartets reveal. This will be our first complete cycle, which will add so much to the unbelievable excitement and thrill!”

“The Cycle” will be held in UC’s acoustically stunning Corbett Auditorium with performances scheduled for 8 p.m. on January 23 and 25, February 20 and 22 and March 27 and 29, 2014.

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