Friday, Sunday, January 17, 19, 5pm
St. Paul's Church, Cardo 6
$200, $350, $450

Dali String Quartet, ProMusica

What happens when an explosive mix of Latin American, Classical and Romantic music is allowed to co-mingle? The world-renowned Dali String Quartet is the passionate result and they will bring their distinctive sound for a debut performance in San Miguel January 17th and 19th at 5 p.m. The quartet’s unique practice is to work with esteemed members of world orchestras that reflect their classical roots and Latin soul, such as percussionist, Orlando Cotto and acclaimed pianist Vanessa Perez. Based in Philadelphia, members of the quartet have studied at institutions such as the Cleveland Institute of Music, Yale University and the Simón Bolivar Conservatory in Caracas, Venezuela. They currently serve as faculty at West Chester Universtiy Wells School of Music as the Quartet in Residence. Their engaging style is gaining critical acclaim as they “leave the audience almost dancing in the aisles."

Friday’s concert opens with Hector Villa-Lobos’s String Quartet No. 5, also known as the "Quarteto popular". This is a reference to the use in the work of popular Brazilian folk melodies which the composer picked up after he returned from Paris to Brazil in the 1930s. Next we have Schubert’s String Quartet No.10.This sparkling piece evokes the influence of Antonio Salieri and bounces along ending electrifyingly in a rambunctious allegro. Also by Schubert, we have the Quartettsatz. Schubert was famous (or infamous!) for not finishing works, such as the extraordinary B minor Symphony ("the Unfinished") and this piece is the glorious long opening movement of what would have been a string quartet.

We close with Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 6. His last complete string quartet is a dark tour de force celebrated for a blistering intensity. The work is packed with passionate drama and his signature nervous drive; high strung, anxious and ready to explode.

Sunday we present a completely different program opening with Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga’s String Quartet No. 3. A child prodigy who died before age twenty, he is known as “the Spanish Mozart”. This piece, written when he was just sixteen, illustrates the depth of his musical thought and composing skills. Next up is Puccini’s Crisantemi, written in a single night and a single movement as an elegy. Despite its dark theme of death, the piece illustrates the opera composer's mastery of writing for strings.

After intermission we will hear Hugo Wolf's Italian Serenade in G major. mThis ever popular piece, based on an old Italian melody is joyously lively and optimistic, evoking the ‘Italianate’ love of life. We end the evening with Beethoven’s String Quartet in C Major, one of the last of his sixteen quartets. It is considered by many to be his greatest chamber music work and is a master class in string writing, demonstrating the composer’s complete mastery of the form through its sensitivity and drama.

Tickets for the concerts at St. Paul’s are $200, $350 and $450 pesos donation each, and are on sale at the Bookshop in the Biblioteca Pública; through our website with no booking fee, and at the concert 45 minutes before performance time.

Details of all Pro Musica’s concerts and Patron Membership are on our website, www.promusicasma.org, or contact us at promusicasma@aol.com.

Please visit this link to enjoy photos from our recent concert featuring Mark Kososwer, and the supper afterwards. https://youtu.be/c82-TxEaEKI

Sincerely, Michael Pearl, President, Pro Musica

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