All three pieces in the programme were written far from their composers’ place of birth. Dvořák’s ebullient and joyful quintet was written in America, the same year as his symphony ‘From the New World’. For this performance, the New Zealand String Quartet are joined by violist Richard O’Neill from Takács Quartet. The second piece is from Efraín Oscher, who was born in Venezuela and educated in the life-changing Sistema music programme before moving to Germany. His virtuosic, Latin-inflected duo is sure to be a showstopper in the hands of Sergey Malov (viola) and Hiroshi Ikematsu (contrabass). To finish, the Takács Quartet presents one of Beethoven’s great Rasumovsky quartets, written in Vienna, far from the composer’s native Bonn, and dedicated to the Russian Ambassador to Vienna.
Dvořák – Viola Quintet in E flat major op. 97 – Richard O’Neill (viola), New Zealand String Quartet
Oscher – Escenas del Sur – Sergey Malov (viola), Hiroshi Ikematsu (contrabass)
Beethoven – Rasumovsky String Quartet in E minor op.59/2 – Takács Quartet
