Stradivari Quartet Comes To University Auditorium In Gainsville 11/8

The Stradivari Quartet, made up of four extraordinary artists performing on a unique set of Stradivarius instruments, provided by the Stradivari Foundation Habisreutinger, will bring their distinctive sound to University Auditorium on Sunday, November 8 at 2 p.m.

The Swiss Stradivari Foundation Habisreutinger lent four exceptional Stradivari instruments to four outstanding young musicians from England, Austria, Poland, and Switzerland, who formed the Stradivari Quartet, based in Zurich. After a stunning debut concert, the Quartet was celebrated with standing ovations in its hometown as well as on its debut tour to Munich, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Eisenstadt, Salzburg and Vienna. In autumn 2008 the Stradivari recorded a double CD of Haydn's Opus 50 string quartets, which will be released by Sony BMG in late 2009 for the Haydn anniversary. In 2009 the Quartet will perform in the United States, China and the United Kingdom, among other places, and will visit the United States, Great Britain, and Japan on further debut tours. The Budapester Zeitung titled the Quartet's debut as a moment "when stars are born," and praised the "incomparable warm sound" and the "fabulous" interplay.

The legend behind these Stradivari instruments is just as fascinating as the performers themselves.

Violinist Bartek Niziol plays the Aurea. The "golden violin" comes from Stradivari's ‘Golden Period' (ca. 1700-1720). During this period the master's genius reached maturity and he made his best instruments, including the Aurea, which was made in 1715. Presumably Stradivari proportioned this violin according to the "Golden Section" (sectio aurea), which is the name given to the special mathematical relationship according to which the smaller part relates to the larger part as the larger part relates to the whole.
Violinist Xiaoming Wang plays the King George. This valuable violin dates from 1710 and is named after its owner King George III. In 1800 he gave it to a Scottish officer, whose motto was "Not without my Stradivari," for he worshipped this instrument. He fell in the Battle of Waterloo in July 1815, but the violin survived undamaged in his horse's saddle bags.

Violist David Greenlees plays the Gibson. It was surely with a trembling hand that in 1734 Antonio Stradivari - already 90 years old - gave what was presumably his last contralto viola (which was smaller than his tenor violas) a craftsman like and artistic vitality which made it an instrument of unusual tone color and beauty. This is perhaps the most priceless of the instruments of his "Golden Period."

Cellist Maja Weber plays the Bonamy Dobree Suggia. The English scholar Bonamy Dobree owned this 1717 Stradivari cello. The moving story of this valuable instrument actually begins with the mysterious, diva-like Portuguese cellist Guilhermina Suggia (1885-1950), who when playing her favorite cello combined technical perfection and interpretative feeling, enchanting her public with her playing as well as her warmth and depth of tone. Outwardly extravagant and lively, inwardly intelligent and warm-hearted, Suggia lived many lives: in Paris as the pupil and lover of Pablo Casals, in London as a "Grande Dame" and cosmopolitan figure, in Portugal as the yearning woman seeking her homeland. After Suggia's death the cello was sold and the proceeds used to provide grants for students at the Royal Academy of Music.Ticket Prices: $23.25 - $34.00

Web sites: University of Florida Performing Arts: www.performingarts.ufl.edu

Stradivari Quartet: http://www.stradivariquartett.com/

To Purchase tickets, call the Phillips Center Box Office at 352-392-ARTS (2787) or 800-905-ARTS (toll-free within Florida) or call Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 (toll-free). Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Phillips Center Box Office, the University Box Office at the University of Florida Reitz Union or from any Ticketmaster outlet, or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Cash, checks, MasterCard and Visa are accepted.

To post a comment, you must register and login.