Fry Street Quartet tackles Beethoven
In the first concert in a series called “From Prodigy to Master,” the Fry Street Quartet played works by Beethoven in the Caine Lyric Theatre Tuesday night.
Before Beethoven’s two string quartets were performed, violist Russell Fallstad regaled the audience with the history of the string quartet, and said the three masters of the art form were classical composers Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
“What three things that were born in the 1770s without which we would not be here tonight?” asked Fallstad.
Audience members gave the answers Beethoven and the Declaration of Independence, but could not think of the third.
“The string quartet,” Fallstad said.
Fallstad explained that Franz Joseph Haydn popularized the string quartet, and Mozart and Beethoven improved upon it. The concert series “From Prodigy to Master” will present the composers’ works from most recent to oldest, starting with Beethoven in the fall, Mozart in the winter and Haydn in the spring.
Many students were there on class assignments. But sophomore Melissa Sommercorn, a member of Tom Peterson’s art symposium class, knew she would probably appreciate it on a deeper level.
“I like Beethoven a lot,” said Sommercorn, a special education major. “I’ve played piano for 12 years.”
Paul Wilson, a sophomore in mechanical engineering, would receive “extra credit for Creative Arts.”
Whether students attended for credit or recreation, this concert provided listeners with a 1798 piece by Beethoven and a quartet he wrote in 1825 when he was deaf.
The FSQ waited a few minutes to start, hoping to catch some of those who might mistakenly go to the Kent Concert Hall in the Chase Fine Arts Building.
“This is our first full-length concert here,” Fallstad said.
He said he was excited to play in the Caine Lyric Theatre, partly because the room was perfectly shaped for the acoustics of a string quartet.
Fallstad also said not only do students get into the concert free, but also members of the Chamber Music Society of Logan.
“I usually come to all the Cache Valley Chamber music series,” said Society Member Jim Sinclair. “[It’s a] very pleasant type of music.”
Before the FSQ’s performance of the String Quartet in A minor, Opus 132 (1825), Fallstad said Beethoven had already written 12 string quartets while deaf, and his general health was deteriorating. In fact, while writing his 13th, he became deathly ill.
“Then he goes into a period of remission,” Fallstad said. “And that’s why we have the third movement of this piece.”
The third movement had moments of crescendos, that Fallstad said showed brightness and a “feeling of new strength.”
The Fry Street Quartet also features Rebecca McFaul as second violinist (who is also Fallstad’s wife,) Jessica Guideri as first violinist and Anne Francis on the cello.
The FSQ played a short warm-up piece called “Burlesque” by Benjamin Britten. McFaul announced that the FSQ would be playing some works by Britten later in the year. Although the concerts will be free, only 30 fit in the room, so reservations must be made in advance.
Audience members laughed when Fallstad, during his introduction, quickly grabbed his ringing cell phone out of his pocket.
“It’s Beethoven,” he said, while spectators chuckled. “He said to turn off your cell phones and pagers.”
-marklaroc@cc.usu.edu
Jessica Guideri plays the violin for the Fry Street Quartet. (Photo by Jennifer Wheatley)