Intimate Voices: Conversations with Samuel Rhodes and David Finckel

January 1, 2019, 7:00 pm

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This week Bill has conversations with two chamber musicians with over 100 years of great music-making experiences between them: Samuel Rhodes, former violist of the Juilliard Quartet, and David Finckel, former cellist of the Emerson Quartet and co-Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Rhodes describes the musical dialogues exchanged by the Juilliard Quartet, and we will listen to them performing Ravel, Carter, and Brahms. Then Bill turns to Finckel, who tells us about his admiration for violinist Oscar Shumsky and German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. The Emerson and Juilliard quartets will both play music of Bartok for us. Lastly, Finckel will describe the devastation that lies deep within Shostakovich’s string quartets.


Playlist

Episode 1

Bedřich Smetana: String Quartet No. 1 in E Minor, “From My Life”, I (excerpt)
Juilliard Quartet
Smetana, Franck: String Quartets / Juilliard String Quartet
Sony 63302; 2:10

 

Johannes Brahms: String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 51/2, I
Juilliard Quartet
Brahms: String Quartets, Clarinet Quintet / Juilliard Quartet, Neidich
Sony 66285; 13:19

 

Elliott Carter: String Quartet No. 2 (excerpt)
Juilliard Quartet
Carter: The Four String Quartets / Juilliard String Quartet
Sony 47229; 8:07

 

Maurice Ravel: String Quartet in F Major, II
Juilliard Quartet
Juilliard String Quartet – 50 Years Vol. 6 – The Scherzo
Sony 62712; 6:33

 

Joseph Haydn: String Quartet In D, Op. 20/4, III
Juilliard Quartet
Juilliard String Quartet – 50 Years Vol 6 – The Scherzo
Sony 62712; 1:36

 

Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 5, SZ 102, III
Juilliard Quartet
Juilliard String Quartet – 50 Years Vol. 6 – The Scherzo
Sony 62712; 5:06

 

Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 13, III
Juilliard Quartet
Mendelssohn: String Quartets No 1 & 2 / Juilliard Quartet
Sony 60579; 5:19

Episode 2

Johannes Brahms: String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat Major, Op. 67
III. Agitato- Allegretto non troppo
Juilliard String Quartet
Brahms: String Quartets, Clarinet Quintet / Juilliard Quartet, Neidich
Sony 66285; 8:47

 

Ludwig van Beethoven: Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131
I. Adagio, Ma Non Troppo e Molto Espressivo
II. Allegro Molto Vivace
Juilliard String Quartet
The Late Quartets
CBS 37873; 6:21, 3:03

 

Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4, Sehr Langsam Breiter Schwer Betont:
Schwer Betont Sehr Breit und Langsam Sehr ruhig
Juilliard String Quartet w/ Walter Trampler, viola; Yo-Yo Ma, violoncello
Juilliard String Quartet – 50 Years Vol. 5 – Collaborations
Sony 62709; 3:44, 15:39

 

Jean Sibelius: String Quartet in D minor, Op. 56, Voces Intimae, V. Allegro
Juilliard String Quartet
Verdi, Sibelius: String Quartets / Juilliard Quartet
Sony 48193; 6:24

 

Episode 3

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 59 No. 1, “Rasumovsky,” I (excerpt)
Emerson String Quartet
Beethoven: The String Quartets
DG 447075; 1:16

 

Edwin Finckel/Boyd Raeburn: Boyd Meets Stravinsky (excerpt)
Boyd Raeburn Band
Boyd Meets Stravinski
London Savoy Records MG 12040; 1:26

 

Ann Ronell, arr. E. Finckel: Variations on a Theme: “Willow Weep for Me”
Finckel, violoncello; Wu Han piano
Edwin Finckel: Music for Cello
Artistled 19902; 7:16

 

J. S. Bach, arr. Finckel: Adagio from Toccata in C minor
Finckel Cello Quartet
Finckel Cello Quartet Plays Bach
Non-commercial; 3:11

 

Camille Saint-Saëns: Concerto No. 1 for Cello & Orchestra
Orchestra; Rostropovich, violoncello
Dvorak, Saint-Saëns: Cello Concertos / Rostropovich, Giulini
EMI Classics 58232; 19:48

 

Sergei Rachmaninoff: “O never sing to me again”
Rostropovich, piano; Galina Vishnevskaya, soprano
Rostropovich, Master Cellist
DG 471620; 5:21

 

Antonín Dvorák: Trio in f, Op. 65, Poco Adagio
Wu Han, piano; Philip Setzer, violin; David Finckel, violoncello
Dvorak: Piano Trios 3 & 4 / Wu Han, Philip Setzer, David Finckel
Artistled 11201; 8:56

Episode 4

J.S. Bach: Sonata for Solo Violin, BWV 1001, Presto
Oscar Shumsky, violin
Bach: Complete Sonatas & Partitas For Solo Violin / Oscar Shumsky
Nimbus 2557; 3:39

 

Ernö Dohnányi: Ruralia Hungarica
Oscar Shumsky, violin; Seymore Lipkin, piano
N/A
Private collection; 5:38

 

Franz Schubert: “Du Bist Die Ruh”, D. 776 “Sei Mir Gegrüsst”, Op. 20/1, D 741
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone; Gerald Moore, piano
21 Lieder
EMI 69503; 8:13

 

Ludwig van Beethoven: Quartet In C, Op. 59/3 “Rasumovsky,” III. Menuetto: Grazioso, IV. Allegro Molto
Guarneri Quartet
Beethoven: Middle String Quartets / Guarneri Quartet
RCA 60457; 10:51

 

Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 4, Sz. 91, I, III
Juilliard String Quartet
The Complete String Quartets
Sony 63264; 5:48, 5:13

 

Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 4, Sz. 91, III
Emerson String Quartet
6 String Quartets
DG 423657; 5:13

 

Franz Schubert: Quintet for Strings in C Major, IV
Emerson String Quartet; M. Rostropovich, violoncello
The Late String Quartets / String Quintet
DG 477 045-2; 9:16

Episode 5

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Quartet in C Major, “Dissonance”, KV 465 (excerpt)
Emerson String Quartet
Mozart: Hunt & Dissonance Quartets; Haydn / Emerson
DG 427657; 1:54

 

Johannes Brahms: Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 60, III
Gilbert Kalish, piano; Jennifer Frautschi, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; David Finckel, violoncello
Returning to Mozart, Disc 4: Works for Winds
N/A; 8:55

 

Alexander Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp Major, Op. 30
Wu Han, piano
Russian Recital
Artistled 10701; 8:17

 

Dmitri Shostakovich: Quartet No. 8, IV & V
Emerson String Quartet
String Quartet No. 8
DG 459670; 8:21

 

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat, Op. 130
V. Cavatina, Adagio Molto (excerpt)
VI. Grosse Fuge, Espressivo (Op. 133), excerpt
Emerson String Quartet
Beethoven: The String Quartets / Emerson String Quartet
DG 447075-04; 6:33

 

Antonín Dvorák: Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104, Finale
Taipei Symphony Orchestra/Felix Chiu-Sen Chen;
David Finckel, violoncello
ArtistLed B000SVIXNC; 12:06