Tokyo String Quartet returns to Logan
The Tokyo String Quartet will be performing in Logan Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Eccles Conference Center Harrison Auditorium.
Ron Smith, of the Chamber of Music Society of Logan, said the quartet is “constantly recipients of rave reviews and right at the top of the heap in chamber music.”
Smith said the quartet has currently released 32 recordings.
Tickets are still available for the concert. They can be bought at the door, the Spectrum ticket office or the Taggart Student Center ticket office, Smith said. Tickets cost $15 for general public and $5 for students with a USU I.D.
The quartet is also offering master classes Tuesday from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Chase Fine Arts Building, Smith said. The classes are open to the public.
Smith said the members of the quartet come from a variety of backgrounds. The only original member of the quartet when it was originated in 1969 is Kazuhide Isomura from Tokyo, Japan. He is the first violist. Mikhail Kopelman, first violinist, is from the Ukraine. Kopelman was first violinist with the Russia Philharmonic and also first violinist of the Borodin String Quartet. Kikuei Ikeda, second violinist, has been with the quartet since 1974 and is also from Japan. Clive Greensmith, first cellist, joined the group in 1999. Greensmith was playing in the Royal Philharmonic in London.
This is the quartet’s first performance in Logan since 1996, Smith said. Making this Kopelman’s and Greensmith’s first trip to Logan.
Smith said the first piece they will be playing is Schubert’s E-flat major Quartet. This piece was composed in 1813 when Schubert was 16 years old.
“It exhibits a great maturity at 16 years even though it exhibits a youthful exuberance,” Smith said.
The second piece is Ainsi la Nuit. The piece was composed by Hanrie Dutilleux in 1976, Smith said.
“It is a very thoughtful work,” he said.
The last piece of the evening is Johannes Brahms’s String Sextet in G-major, his Opus 36, Smith said.
“It is the highlight of the evening,” he said. “This piece is quite seldom heard in live performance because it is a sextet.”
In this piece the quartet will be joined by two members of the former USU Arcata String Quartet, Smith said. They are Michael Carrera and his wife Marjorie Bagley, both residents of Cache Valley.
Smith said season tickets are still available for the Chamber of Music Society of Logan. Season ticket holders get five concerts for the price of four. This concert is the first of the series.