Chamber music

By Susan DeRosia
Ashland Daily Tidings

Chamber music is ...

A small group, an intimate setting, music written to showcase the talents of the individual players and create a cohesive whole.

Aesthetically the simplicity and beauty of chamber music has made it a longtime favorite of many classical music lovers. Additionally, chamber music has long been the favorite place for composers such as Haydn or Beethoven to express some of their most complex musical ideas.

Before public concert-giving began in the late 17th century, the main places to see set musical performances were in church, in the theater or in the halls of royalty and aristocracy.

The chamber music tradition came from the third and while church music, theater music and large performances of orchestral music have changed considerably over the centuries, chamber music has kept many of its original characteristics.

While Chamber Music Concerts Series can't boast a centuries-old history, the SOU-based series celebrates its 20th anniversary season this week with a performance by the acclaimed Amati String Quartet at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10 in the SOU Music Recital Hall in Ashland. The ensemble will perform string quartets by Beethoven, Bartók and Debussy.

The Amati Quartet includes four players: violinists Willi Zimmermann and Anahit Kurtikyan, violist Nicolas Corti and cellist Claudius Herrmann. Since its founding in 1981, the group has won several prestigious prizes, including the "Premiere Grand Prix du Concours" in Evian (1982), the "Kunstpreis" of the City of Zurich (1983) and the first prize in the Karl-Klingler Competition in Munich (1986).

The ensemble tours regularly throughout Europe, Japan and in the Near East. In North America, the quartet has been engaged by chamber music series of Toronto and Vancouver, Mexico City and Monterey, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and in New York City by the Frick Collection and Carnegie Hall's quartet series. In addition, the group has appeared at the well known festivals of Kuhmo, Gstaad, Berlin, Ascona, Schwetzingen and Luzern, and has made numerous radio and CD recordings. Two of its CD recordings were honored with the Prize of the German Record Reviewers, and their recent Haydn release was awarded the prestigious Choc Musique.

For CMC's season opening concert, the Amati Quartet will perform Beethoven's String Quartet in A Major, Op. 18 No. 5; Bartók's String Quartet No. 5; and Debussy's String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10.

A free pre-concert lecture by musicologist Ed Wight will take place at 7 p.m. in the choir room of the Recital Hall.

Tickets are $24/26, with a special $5 price for students. If available, door rush tickets will be sold for $10 at 7:45 p.m. For more information and concert tickets, call the CMC Box Office at 552-6154 or visit our web site at www.sou.edu/cmc.