{"id":3323,"date":"2012-04-28T07:43:25","date_gmt":"2012-04-28T12:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=3323"},"modified":"2012-04-28T07:43:25","modified_gmt":"2012-04-28T12:43:25","slug":"windermere-string-quartet-brings-big-polish-to-period-performance-chamber-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2012\/04\/28\/windermere-string-quartet-brings-big-polish-to-period-performance-chamber-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Windermere String Quartet brings big polish to period performance chamber music"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The Windermere String Quartet and guests present their final season concert at St. Olave's Church on Sunday afternoon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trickle-down economics works far better as a way of illustrating how orchestras work — and Toronto makes for a fine case study.<\/p>\n

The presence of four all-professional orchestras draws a lot of great musicians to the city. They, in turn, encourage others, through networking and teaching, which creates a cycle of growth and renewal that feeds the growth of other orchestras and ensembles, and makes for a flourishing chamber-music as well as symphonic culture.<\/p>\n

Tafelmusik, Toronto’s period-performance flagship, has attracted so many fine masters of Baroque- and Classical-era performance practice that they have been able to give birth to the Aradia Ensemble and a number of chamber-music series, including the Eybler (founded by members of Tafelmusik) and Windermere string quartets.<\/p>\n

The busy members of the Eybler don’t have time for a concert season. The Windermere, on the other hand, offers a series of Sunday-afternoon concerts at St. Olave’s Church, at Bloor St and Windermere Ave. in neat-and-tidy Bloor West Village.<\/p>\n

Their final concert of the season is tomorrow at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n

Guest players, violinist Emily Eng and cellist Rebecca Morton, join Windermere regulars, violinist Elizabeth Loewen Andrews, violist Anthony Rapoport and cellist Laura Jones, in a programme featuring Beethoven’s Trio<\/em> in D Major, Op. 9 No. 2, the C-Major Quintet<\/em>, D956, by Franz Schubert, and a String Quartet<\/em> by the mysterious and exciting “Mozart Noir,” Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799).<\/p>\n

All the music is performed on period instruments, which have a mellower sound.<\/p>\n

It only costs $20 ($14, if you’re a senior or student) to get in.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The concert marks the launch of a new CD, The Golden Age of String Quartets<\/em>, which features the ensemble in their regular formation, with violinist Rona Goldensher joining Andrews, Rapoport and Jones.<\/p>\n

The generous album features three core pieces from the Classical canon: Mozart’s “Dissonance” Quartet<\/em>, K 465, Joseph Haydn’s “Joke” Quartet<\/em>, Hob. III:38, and Beethoven’s Op. 18 No. 4 Quartet<\/em> in C minor.<\/p>\n

These are sparkling, straightforward interpretations that nicely show off the more delicate, rhythmically lively sound one can get from period instruments. The disc would make a fine addition to any chamber music-loving listener’s library.<\/p>\n

For more on the Windermeres, the concert and their new album, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In case you need a better idea of what Boulogne’s music sounds like, here is his Op. 7 No. 2 Violin Concerto<\/em>, in B-flat Major (I don’t know who the performers are):<\/p>\n