Acclaimed Takács Quartet takes on challenge of Beethoven

There’s more to Ludwig van Beethoven than Für Elise
and the infamous four-note introduction to Symphony No. 5. In fact,
among his catalog of works that number into the hundreds, Beethoven
wrote 17 string quartets.

And when it comes to playing these quartets, there’s no
better ensemble than the widely acclaimed Takács Quartet. In a
series of six concerts, two of which took place in October 2003,
the Quartet will be performing all Beethoven’s esteemed
quartets. The next two concerts in the cycle will be held in
Schoenberg Hall on March 6 and 7.

“(The Takács Quartet) is a world-class group which
performs the classical repertoire with finesse and
understanding,” said Paul Chihara, a composer and lecturer in
music theory and composition at UCLA.

After releasing over 15 albums, the Takács Quartet decided
to record all of Beethoven’s quartets in three volumes. Thus
far, two have been released to much praise, earning the Takács
Quartet a 2003 Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Recording for
their first installment.

“We feel, and most string quartets feel, (the Beethoven
quartets) are the single most challenging pieces a quartet can take
on,” said Edward Dusinberre, one of the two violinists of the
Takács Quartet.

Unlike pieces written today, artists don’t have the luxury
of directly asking Beethoven how certain melody lines should be
interpreted. Luckily for the Takács Quartet, there are four
members of the group that can either disagree or agree on the
interpretation of a piece.

The Takács Quartet hopes that in performing these quartets,
audience members will get a sense of Beethoven’s personal
struggles, which can be heard as he began with graceful works, then
moved toward a sense of inner struggle as he battled deafness, and
finally in his later works, which show a sense of spirituality.

“In these quartets we see the challenges (Beethoven) set
for himself, as he wrote pieces with variety and radicalism,”
said Dusinberre. “It’s a sense of him taking risks, and
challenging new boundaries.”

Proving their interpretations have worked as evidenced by their
accolades, the Takács Quartet will also be conducting a Master
Class to help UCLA music students by critiquing and giving them
advice on how to improve the performance of their pieces.

“They are an amazing quartet,” said Marisa Bushman,
a third-year music major specializing in viola performance.
“I will be playing in their Master Class, and seeing their
sense of unity when they play is something that can’t just be
learned but only forms over time.”