Fred, Zak, and Paul rehearsing the Terzetto for Sunday's ConcertsDvořák’s Terzetto provides a rare opportunity for the cello to sit out and listen to the upper three members of the ASQ amuse and delight the listener without me, the cellist, “ruddering” the piece. My colleagues try to get together early before we start our regular quartet rehearsal to get some work done without my well-intended interference — fat chance! What a delight to hear the delicate, exquisitely inventive turns of phrase. The variants that Dvořák cycles through and the ever surprising color shifts still amaze me. This is a piece that as a cellist, I find myself envying the violins and viola. It’s a work I have had the opportunity and great pleasure to coach student ensembles in our Morrison Chamber Music Program at SFSU on many an occasion. The trio is necessarily lighter in texture without the cello and veers almost precariously between a wild boisterous romp, and reflective and sentimentally touching self-referential passages. Above all it is constantly challenging, engaging the listeners’ concentration as Dvořák leads them through kaleidoscopically melodic inventions. I eagerly anticipate the chance to sit out “twice” on Sunday’s two all-Dvořák programs UC Davis’s Mondavi Center for the Arts. Of course I’ll be charging my batteries while I sit it out together with Jon Nakamatsu in preparation for leading off the 2nd half of the proceedings with the Op. 81 Piano Quintet. Best of all, we get to sit back while Bob Greenberg gives us the score, explaining to us all what’s really going on!
– Sandy Wilson
Sunday, January 29, 2012 2:00pm
Antonín Dvořák
Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts
Vanderhoef Studio Theatre
Davis, California
Program:
ASQ with lecturer, Robert Greenberg
Dvořák Terzetto in C Major for Two Violins & Viola, Op. 74/B. 148
Dvořák Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81/B. 155 with pianist, Jon Nakamatsu
Sunday, January 29, 2012 7:00pm
Antonín Dvořák
Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts
Vanderhoef Studio Theatre
Davis, California
