Concerts

For its first outing with new cellist Caroline Stinson, the Ciompi Quartet maintains its annual tradition of beginning each new season with a string quartet from Haydn, the architect of the form. The Ciompi plays the first quartet of his final set Quartet in G Major, op. 76, no. 1 before turning to Legacy, composed in 1999 by new Durham resident Andrew Waggoner. An explosive piece inspired by Jimi Hendrix’s guitar bravado, Legacy pays homage to early American feminist icons through evocative, surging interplay. The Ciompi then turns to one of the final quartets of Beethoven. Written two years before his death, his intense Quartet in E-Flat Major, op. 127 echoes passages from his mighty Ninth Symphony.

FEATURING ELIZA BAGG, SOPRANO

Now recognized as a modern classic, Steve Reich’s Different Trains won a GRAMMY in 1989. It remains among his most popular works, a powerful reflection on the Holocaust and World War II as seen from both sides of the Atlantic. Composer Daniel Wohl’s newest electroacoustic piece, commissioned by the Ciompi, features the voice of soprano Eliza Bagg, a native of Durham. Lauded on NPR as “both aggressive and gorgeous,” Wohl’s style “quietly erases the line between electronic and acoustic music.” Two new transcriptions of sixteenth-century songs by Claudio Monteverdi complete this wide-ranging program.

FEATURING ELIZA BAGG, SOPRANO

Now recognized as a modern classic, Steve Reich’s Different Trains won a GRAMMY in 1989. It remains among his most popular works, a powerful reflection on the Holocaust and World War II as seen from both sides of the Atlantic. Composer Daniel Wohl’s newest electroacoustic piece, commissioned by the Ciompi, features the voice of soprano Eliza Bagg, a native of Durham. Lauded on NPR as “both aggressive and gorgeous,” Wohl’s style “quietly erases the line between electronic and acoustic music.” Two new transcriptions of sixteenth-century songs by Claudio Monteverdi complete this wide-ranging program.

Would J.S. Bach be known to us if Mendelssohn had not discovered his scores? Would we know Mahler if he had not been championed by Bruno Walter and Leonard Bernstein? In this program, the Ciompi Quartet follows this tradition of rediscovery, playing works of nineteenth century composers Marie Jaëll — pianist, pedagogue, and friend of Franz Liszt — and Guillaume Lekeu.

FEATURING SUSAN FANCHER, SAXOPHONE

The Ciompi Quartet opens this concert with Arvo Pärt’s landmark Fratres, an engrossing 1977 piece that seesaws between hyperactive flurries and halcyon stretches.