The Dover Quartet continues its tenure as the 2013-14 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah with a 4 p.m. March 23 concert in the Renaissance-flavored Rosen House Music Room. The program will begin with Mozart’s String Quartet No. 16 in E-flat minor, the third of Mozart’s Haydn Quartets. The musicians, hailed by The Wall Street Journal for playing “with a level of nuance unexpected of musicians so young,” will continue with Janáček’s String Quartet No. 1 – also known as the “Kreutzer Sonata,” after the Leo Tolstoy novella of the same name, which was in turn inspired by Beethoven’s Piano and Violin Sonata No. 9, “Kreutzer.” For the final selection, the quartet will perform Schubert’s String Quartet No. 13, “Rosamunde.” Written around the same time as the crowd favorite No. 14 in D minor, also known as “Death and the Maiden,” “Rosamunde” is named after a theatrical work by Schubert that provided a tune used in the second movement of the quartet. It’s filled with quotes from earlier works by the composer, who is perhaps best-known for his contributions to lied, or the German art song.
The Dover Quartet swept the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, winning the Grand Prize as well as all three Special Prizes – the R.S. Williams & Sons Haydn Prize for the best performance of Haydn, the Székely Prize for the best performance of Schubert and the Canadian Commission Prize for the best performance of a newly commissioned work. The Dover is also the first-ever quartet-in-residence at the players’ alma mater, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Caramoor is on Girdle Ridge Road. Tickets for The Dover Quartet are $55, $45, $35 and $15. To order tickets, call the box office at (914) 232-1252 or visit caramoor.org. Groups of 16 or more may purchase discounted tickets by contacting Sal Vaccaro at (914) 232-5035, ext. 256 or sal@caramoor.org.–
And as if that weren’t enough good classical music – Is there ever such a thing as too much? — the Yonkers Philharmonic offers an all- Dvořák program at 3 p.m. March 23 under the baton of guest conductor Byung-Kook Kwak at Saunders High School. Soloist Peter Seidenberg will perform the Dvořák Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 for Cello and Orchestra. The Dvořák Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88, B. 163 rounds out the program.
“Totally enchanting, inspired performances, brimming with natural, spontaneous musicianship,” raves Gramophone magazine about cellist Peter Seidenberg. He has played in major halls throughout the United States, Europe and Asia after making his solo debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has since appeared as soloist with many orchestras, including Century Orchestra of Osaka, the New American Chamber Orchestra, the De Paul Chamber Orchestra, the New York Chamber Soloists and the Eastman-Rochester Philharmonic. Seidenberg is the cellist for the Oracle Trio, the Queen’s Chamber Band and the New York Chamber Soloists. He lives in Hastings-on- Hudson with his wife, violinist April Johnson, and two daughters.
The concert is free. Saunders High is at 183 Palmer Road. For more, visit yonkersphilharmonic.org and peterseidenberg.com or call (914) 631-6674. – Georgette Gouveia
