The Ciompi Quartet present an all-Viennese program, opening with the early romantic “Rosamunde” Quartet of Schubert, filled with restless melancholy. Webern’s lush, tonal Langsamer Satz (Slow Movement) is followed by his brief Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, an early atonal work that marks his transition into expressionism as influenced by his mentor, Arnold Schoenberg. The evening culminates in Schoenberg’s romantic-expressionist String Quartet No. 2 in F-sharp Minor, op. 10, with soprano Tony Arnold, a leading proponent of new music last seen in Duke Performances’ sold-out presentation of David Lang’s The Whisper Opera, and praised by The New York Times as “a bold, powerful interpreter.” Op. 10 is a mesmerizing work of striking contrasts, and Schoenberg’s first departure from conventional tonality.
PROGRAM:

Schubert: String Quartet in A Minor, op. 29 (“Rosamunde”)
Webern: Langsamer Satz
Webern: Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, op.9
Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 2 in F-sharp Minor, op. 10 with Tony Arnold, soprano