Brodsky Quartet/Schubert, Shostokovich, Verbey, Debussy

Last Thursday, Nov. 15th, 2012, the Brodsky Quartet had their final concert in Utrecht, Holland in their 40th anniversary tour called ‘The Wheel of 4 Tunes’. By turning a big wheel with names of pieces and composers, fate decides the program. Unfortunately, the night before had turned into a nightmare for violist Paul and cellist Jacky, since their car was broken into and all their sheet music was stolen. With thehelp of friends and patrons and people like myself, it was possible to make a nice program for the Utrecht Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh. Of course, it was not possible to do it according to the original plan with the wheel. The concert opened with Schubert’s Quartetsatz (C minor, 1820). They continued with Shostakovitch’s Eighth Quartet. After the break, they played my quartet Spring Rain (from 2001), followed by the amazing String Quartet (1893) by Debussy. In the end it turned out to be a very enjoyable evening with excellent performances combined with spoken comments on the history of the Brodsky Quartet and the introduction of the pieces. I also gave an impromptu introduction to Spring Rain. About four hundred people seemed to have a good time that night in Utrecht, making it a very special way to help the Brodsky Quartet celebrate their 40th anniversary. Let’s hope they get their sheet music back. (Theo Verbey)Follow up: On November 21st, the Brodsky Quartet reported they’d had news their music was found in Haarlem, the Netherlands.

Schubert: Quartet for Strings no 12 in C minor, D 703/Op. posth. “Quartettsatz”
Artists:
Ian Belton (Violin);
Daniel Rowland (Violin);
Paul Cassidy (Viola);
Jacqueline Thomas (Cello)
Ensemble: Brodsky Quartet

Shostakovich: Quartet for Strings no 8 in C minor, Op. 110
Artists:
Ian Belton (Violin);
Daniel Rowland (Violin);
Paul Cassidy (Viola);
Jacqueline Thomas (Cello)
Ensemble: Brodsky Quartet

Verbey: Spring Rain
Artists:
Ian Belton (Violin);
Daniel Rowland (Violin);
Paul Cassidy (Viola);
Jacqueline Thomas (Cello)
Ensemble: Brodsky Quartet

Debussy: Quartet for Strings in G minor, Op. 10
Artists:
Ian Belton (Violin);
Daniel Rowland (Violin);
Paul Cassidy (Viola);
Jacqueline Thomas (Cello)
Ensemble: Brodsky Quartet