Performance on 3 - 16/06/2010

The first of two concerts this week of Beethoven string quartets given by the Takacs Quartet. These are the final concerts of their acclaimed complete Beethoven cycle. In this programme, the music includes one of the Opus 59 set dedicated to the Russian Count Razumovsky, a masterpiece which expands the form of the string quartet and explores new spiritual depths. Opus 130, written twenty years later, includes a monumental fugal finale that is considered one of Beethoven's towering achievements. However, at the time of the premiere it was such an unprecendented piece of work that Beethoven hid in a local tavern while the performance was given in a nearby house to a small private audience. All the movements were warmly applauded except for the Grosse Fuge, which met with bemused silence. Beethoven's publisher persuaded him to write a shorter last movement, and only in the 20th century was the mighty fugue recognised as the crowning conclusion of this great quartet. Presented by Martin Handley. Beethoven String Quartet in F Op.59 no.1 (Razumovsky) Beethoven String Quartet in B flat (Op.130) with Grosse Fuge, (Op.133) Takacs Quartet Followed by a focus this week on Vivaldi's sensational set of violin concertos, L'Estro Armonico, played by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Concerto for Violin in D RV 230 Alison Bury (violin) Concerto for Four Violins in F RV 567 Margaret Faultless Matthew, Truscott, Alison Bury, Kati Debretzeni, (violins) Concerto for Violin in a minor RV 356 Kati Debretzeni (violin) Concerto for Four Violins in B minor RV 580 Kati Debretzeni, Margaret Faultless, Matthew Truscott, Alison Bury (violins).