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Stories   >   theStrad reviews Dover Quartet, Leif Ove Andsnes - Turina, Dohnanyi, Brahms at NYC's Zankel - Carnegie Hall

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theStrad reviews Dover Quartet, Leif Ove Andsnes - Turina, Dohnanyi, Brahms at NYC's Zankel - Carnegie Hall

Posted: July 17, 2024

Named one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years by BBC Music Magazine, the two-time GRAMMY-nominated Dover Quartet is one of the world’s most in-demand chamber ensembles. The Dover Quartet is the Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music and holds additional residencies at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University and the Walton Arts Center’s Artosphere festival. The group’s awards include a stunning sweep of all prizes at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, grand and first prizes at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and prizes at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. Its honors include the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award, and Lincoln Center’s Hunt Family Award.

The Dover Quartet’s 2023-24 season includes a North American tour with Leif Ove Andsnes, performances with Haochen Zhang and David Shifrin, and a tour to Europe and Israel. A sought-after ensemble, recent collaborators include Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnaton, Ray Chen, the Escher String Quartet, Bridget Kibbey, Anthony McGill, Edgar Meyer, the Pavel Haas Quartet, Roomful of Teeth, and Davóne Tines. In 2022, the quartet premiered Steven Mackey’s theatrical-musical work Memoir, alongside arx duo and actor-narrator Natalie Christa. They also recently premiered works by Mason Bates, Marc Neikrug, and Chris Rogerson.

The New York Times calls Leif Ove Andsnes “a pianist of magisterial elegance, power, and insight,” and the Wall Street Journal names him “one of the most gifted musicians of his generation.” With his commanding technique and searching interpretations, the celebrated Norwegian pianist has won acclaim worldwide, playing concertos and recitals in the world’s leading concert halls and with its foremost orchestras, while building an esteemed and extensive discography. An avid chamber musician, he is the founding director of the Rosendal Chamber Music Festival, was co-artistic director of the Risør Festival of Chamber Music for nearly two decades, and served as music director of California’s Ojai Music Festival in 2012. He was inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame in July 2013, and has received honorary doctorates from New York’s Juilliard School and Norway’s Universities of Bergen and Oslo

In the 2023-24 season, Andsnes performs Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto on three continents: with the New York Philharmonic under Jaap van Zweden and New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas; on a Japanese tour with the NHK Symphony and Herbert Blomstedt; and in season-opening concerts with the Belgian National Orchestra, on tours with Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire and Gothenburg Symphony, and with Thomas Søndergård leading the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO). To complete his concert lineup, Andsnes rejoins the LSO for Mozart’s 22nd Piano Concerto under Nathalie Stutzmann and performs Rachmaninov’s Third with Lahav Shani leading the Philadelphia Orchestra, Manfred Honeck leading both the Pittsburgh Symphony and Danish National Symphony, and Klaus Mäkelä leading the Orchestre de Paris, among others. The pianist also embarks on high-profile solo recital tours of Japan and Europe, before joining the Dover Quartet for Brahms and Dohnányi piano quintets on a five-city North American tour, bookended by dates at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie’s Zankel Hall. Leif Ove Andsnes: The Complete Warner Classics Edition 1990-2010, a 36-CD retrospective featuring multiple Gramophone Award-winners, is due for release in October


theStrad's Leah Hollingsworth writes…A suspenseful opening with muted tremolo gave way to impassioned playing and beautiful phrasing in Turina’s La oración del torero, as presented by the Dover Quartet. Lyrical melodies sensitively coloured by vibrato alternated with turbulent, raucous sections, all played with passion and tremendous character.

Dohnányi’s lesser-known Piano Quintet – no.2 in E flat minor – followed, and the Dover was joined by Leif Ove Andsnes for a reading that gratifyingly brought out the drama and darkness of the key and the composition. The thickly textured development of the first movement was intense with rich layers; another highlight was violist Julianne Lee’s beautiful solo and clear, singing sound. The final Moderato led to a turbulent middle section brilliantly performed with passion, precision and power, while surprising tonalities – played with assurance and conviction – melted into a sublime conclusion.

Brahms’s Piano Quintet followed the interval and could not have been more satisfying. The warmth and generosity of first violinist Joel Link’s opening and the spinning, effervescent sound of Lee’s viola, combined with Leif Ove Andsnes’s sheer artistry, made for an entirely captivating movement. Second violinist Bryan Lee was out with an illness and Abi Fayette stepped in at the last minute, blending in seamlessly. The opening piano solo of the Andante was expansive and mesmerising, the strings creating an ideal fragility in the lilting waltz. The Scherzo was given with superb vivacity and the finale had the ideal mix of vigour, poise and intensity.

Photo: Richard Termine

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