{"id":117968,"date":"2025-09-29T12:13:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T16:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=117968"},"modified":"2025-09-29T12:13:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T16:13:21","slug":"interview-distinctive-voice-james-ehnes-talks-string-quartets-chamber-festivals-stradivarius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/09\/29\/interview-distinctive-voice-james-ehnes-talks-string-quartets-chamber-festivals-stradivarius\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | A Distinctive Voice: James Ehnes Talks About String Quartets, Chamber Festivals & The Stradivarius"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Violinist
Violinist James Ehnes (Photo: Benjamin Eolovega)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ehnes Quartet. Music TORONTO presentation. Felix Mendelssohn\u2019s String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13; Leo\u0161 Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s String Quartet No. 2 \u201cIntimate Letters;\u201d Ludwig van Beethoven\u2019s String Quartet No. 7 in F major, Op. 59, No. 1. At the Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East. September 30, 7:30 p.m. Tickets here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Ehnes Explained<\/h3>\n

\u201cIt’s been one of the great joys of my life having my quartet,\u201d admits James Ehnes when asked to reflect on his experiences as head of his own chamber group.<\/p>\n

The Brandon, Manitoba born violinist and violist, a multiple GRAMMY and JUNO award winner who loves playing and programming smaller musical groups, is also a virtuoso, garnering international acclaim as a soloist with such prestigious ensembles as the Chicago Symphony, the Royal Concertgebouw, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, the National Arts Orchestra in Ottawa, the Orchestre National de Lyon, and the Montreal Symphony.<\/p>\n

A longtime member of the Order of Canada, Ehnes will be leading his quartet for the first time in Toronto at the inaugural event for Music TORONTO\u2019s Chamber Music 2025\/26 Season.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Ehnes String Quartet (Photo courtesy of the artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Musical Program<\/h3>\n

An articulate spokesperson for classical ensembles, and the artistic director for the Seattle Chamber Music Society\u2019s twice-yearly festivals, Ehnes is pleased to discuss the pieces his quartet will perform in Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a program of three compositions that are in different stages within our repertoire,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Beethoven, (No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1) is one of the core pieces for us. The Beethoven quartets are a focal point of our quartet. We’re most of the way through our recorded cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ehnes Quartet has notably recorded Beethoven’s string quartets from Op. 74 onwards, releasing four albums on the Onyx Classics label.<\/p>\n

Ehnes goes on, \u201cWe’ve done the Beethoven in performance a number of times. It is very, very special to us individually, but for our group too. It\u2019s a bit of a signature piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Beethoven piece is a much-lauded work, performed by many over the decades, such is not the case with Czech composer Leo\u0161 Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s String Quartet #2. More famous for such operas as Jenufa and The Cunning Little Vixen, Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s very personal \u201cIntimate Letters\u201d is, \u201ca project we came to a couple years ago,\u201d Ehnes says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a piece that was not published until well after it was written. By that point, it had been modified with only the best intentions, but it had strayed pretty far from the composition. When Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s manuscript was finally made widely available within the last 15 years, there were a lot of surprises. We have come up with our own version of the quartet based on the original manuscript that is in some ways pretty radically different from the version that people are used to hearing. That’s been a really fun project for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendelssohn\u2019s String Quartet #2 is one of the composer\u2019s early successes, written when he was only 18.<\/p>\n

Recounts Ehnes, \u201cIt is actually one of the newer pieces in our repertoire. We just started playing it this past summer. Originally, we were going to play a different piece but before Roman (Music TORONTO\u2019s director Roman Borys) went to print, we asked if we could play it instead. You hope that when you play a concert that your level of enthusiasm is really at its peak. We were too excited about the Mendelssohn not to ask Roman, and he graciously allowed us to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n