Planning a live performance tour is a giant deal, and selecting simply the best venues is essential. The esteemed Takács Quartet, mapping out its fiftieth anniversary tour, made a number of dozen stops, together with Seoul, London, Milan, Vancouver, plus a particular go to to play behind a desk in our Washington, D.C. workplace. For sure, we had been honored.
Takács cellist András Fejér is the only real unique member of the string quartet. He instructions a goldmine of institutional reminiscence, from co-founding the group in communist Hungary within the early Nineteen Seventies, to the band’s 1986 defection to Boulder, Colo. (the place the members proceed to show), to profitable a Grammy in 2003, to the departure of band members (from demise and retirement), to the addition of violist Richard O’Neill in 2020.
This Takács set is a microcosm of the band’s broad-minded programming creed. They start within the 18th century with Haydn, the pioneer of the string quartet, discovering humor in his false cadences, whereas passing themes to one another like scrumptious canapes on a tray. Then it is a quirky waltz, from a brand new quartet written for Takács by Nokuthula Ngwenyama. And eventually, a shimmering gem of the repertoire, a plucky and magical motion from Ravel‘s 1903 String Quartet in F.
“We really feel fortunate to play string quartets,” violinist Edward Dusiberre, who joined the group 32 years in the past, tells the NPR viewers. “One way or the other the medium evokes composers to specific themselves of their most daring, imaginative and humorous methods.” And for 50 years, the Takács Quartet has been the eloquent voice of these expressive composers.
SET LIST
- Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in D minor, Op. 42: IV. Finale
- Nokuthula Ngwenyama: Movement: III. Quark Scherzo
- Maurice Ravel: String Quartet in F main: II. Assez vif – très rythmé
MUSICIANS
- Edward Dusinberre: violin
- Harumi Rhodes: violin
- Richard O’Neill: viola
- András Fejér: cello
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Tom Huizenga
- Director/Editor: Maia Stern
- Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
- Host/Sequence Producer: Bobby Carter
- Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Sofia Seidel
- Audio Engineer: Hannah Gluvna
- Manufacturing Assistant: Dora Levite
- Photographer: Grace Raver
- Tiny Desk Crew: Ashley Pointer, Kara Body
- Sequence Editor: Lars Gotrich
- Govt Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Sequence Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
- VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
