Presented in collaboration with The Englert Theatre

Part of Hancher’s 51st season

Formed in Budapest in 1975, the Takács Quartet garnered international attention two years later by winning first prize and the critics’ prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France. Those were just the first of many, many accolades to follow. Now the quartet-in-residence at the University of Colorado, the Takács is renowned for “marrying aristocratic elegance and red-blooded energy to everything they play.” (Seen and Heard International) Presented at The Englert to increase the immediacy of the performance, the concert will put the audience up close to one of the world’s legendary string quartets.

The program features Joseph Haydn’s “Sunrise” quartet, the opening movement of which invokes the sun’s journey to brilliant emergence in the sky. Beethoven’s quartet balances the Haydn piece with a second movement reflecting contemplation of the starry sky and the music of the spheres. In between, work by Béla Bartók draws deeply from Hungarian folk music.

PROGRAM
Joseph HAYDN: String Quartet in B-flat Major, op. 76, no. 4 (“Sunrise”)
Béla BARTÓK: String Quartet No. 2, Sz. 67
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, op. 59, no. 2

TAKÁCS QUARTET WEBSITE