Mathias Tacke Will Join The Orion Ensemble for May Concerts

Concluding its 27th season, The Orion Ensemble, winner of the prestigious Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, welcomes guest violinist Mathias Tacke, former member of the Vermeer Quartet, for a program featuring a quartet and two quintets. Performances, which also feature guest violist Stephen Boe, take place at a new venue this season--New England Congregational Church in Aurora--May 3; PianoForte Studios in Chicago May 6; and Music Institute of Chicago's Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston May 10.

The program

Mozart composted his Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581, in 1789 for clarinetist Anton Stadler (1753-1812), one of the first true virtuosos of this newer instrument. This work features the autumnal tranquilities that would resound in Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, which he composed just two years later. Of special interest is the third movement minuet featuring two trio sections: the first a highly expressive episode for strings, and the second, for the clarinet, drawing upon mixtures of rustic elegance.

For most audiences, Borodin is synonymous with the Polovtsian Dances. He composed the String Quartet No. 2 in D Major in 1891, dedicating the work to his wife as a 20th anniversary present. The third movement Nocturne is perhaps the work's most famous section.

Schumann's Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44, is the largest-scale piece on the program and has been hailed as a masterpiece of Romantic-era chamber music. A piano concerto in miniature, this work displays Schumann at his lyrical and passionate best. Every movement is large in scope, yet personalized in expression. The arresting main theme of the first movement and the triumphant ascending passages of the third movement are among Schumann's most unforgettable passages, complemented by the haunting second movement and glorious counterpoint of the finale.

Performance and ticket information

The Orion Ensemble's fourth and final concert program of its 27th season takes place Sunday, May 3 at 7 p.m. at its new venue, New England Congregational Church, 406 W. Galena Boulevard in Aurora; Wednesday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the PianoForte Studios, 1335 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago; and Sunday, May 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Music Institute of Chicago's Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue in Evanston. Single tickets are $30, $25 for seniors (65+) and $15 for students; admission is free for children 12 and younger. For tickets or more information, call 630-628-9591 or visit orionensemble.org.