|| About This Week's Broadcast ||
String Quartet Legacy at the Library
February 11th, 9:00 p.m.
The Library of Congress has been famous for its superb chamber music, and particularly for string quartets, since the series was founded in 1925. Hundreds of concerts by three generations of great quartet players have helped to create a special reputation for the Library in this realm. It's no exaggeration to say that, for a quartet lover, the Library would be one of the top three or four destinations in the world. One historic reason for this is the long residency here of a group whose name is preceded by the word, "legendary," the Budapest String Quartet, which gave 462 concerts here, from 1940 to 1962.
You'll hear some of our archival recordings of the Budapest in this hour, stunning performances that explain the quartet's fame; the Mozart quartet, and their surprisingly creditable jazz recording of the song, Dinah, are available now on I Tunes, through a partnership with Bridge Records. Ending this 13-week series of broadcasts—the Library's return to radio after a ten-year absence—is a wonderful performance of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, by the Leipzig Quartet with the terrific clarinetist Ricardo Morales. Bill McGlaughlin is already recording a second series of great Coolidge Auditorium concerts, coming up next season here at the Nation's Library.
|| Leipzig String Quartet ||
Hailed as "one of the towering and most versatile quartets of our time," the sophisticated and imaginative Leipzig String Quartet has toured extensively throughout Europe, Israel, Africa, Southeast Asia, Central and South America.
|| Ricardo Morales ||
Ricardo Morales was appointed principal clarinet of The Philadelphia Orchestra by Wolfgang Sawallisch in 2002 and joined the Orchestra in 2003. Prior to this, he was principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, a position he assumed at the age of 21 under the direction of James Levine.
|| Budapest String Quartet ||
A 1940's photograph of the legendary Budapest String Quartet in the Library's Whittall Pavilion. The Budapest was in residence at the Library from 1940 to 1962.
|| Past Broadcasts ||
Korngold Quartet no. 3; Scaramouche
Monday, February 4th, 2008
9:00 p.m.
Copland and Shostakovich: Wartime Compositions
Monday, January 28th, 2008
9:00 p.m.
Chamber Music with Steven Isserlis and Friends
Monday, January 21st, 2008
9:00 p.m.
The Corigliano Quartet and the Artis Quartett Wien
Monday, January 14th, 2008
9:00 p.m.
The Coolidge and Whittall Legacies of Sponsorship
Two extraordinary benefactors, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge and Gertrude Clarke Whittall, made possible the distinguished chamber music tradition at the Library of Congress
Last Updated: 02/08/2008