There will be a few new faces, some old friends and new music at this year's Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival. The festival, which runs Sunday through March 11, also will include an encore performance of Czech composer Jiri Gemrot's Quintet for Piano and Strings, which the festival's sponsors, Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, commissioned in 2003. The composer is returning to Tucson for the world premiere next Friday of a followup Friends' commission, Quintet for String Quartet and Clarinet.
"It was so extraordinary we thought we should take advantage of the fact that he was coming back," Friends President Jean-Paul Bierny said about programming the 2003 piece again.
The Friends don't often return to the well with a composer for back-to-back commissions, Bierny said.
"It happens, of course, only when we find something extraordinary," he said.
"The first piece was an absolute masterpiece. It was very difficult musically, but the finished product was totally astounding for the audience. The audience didn't make a sound while it was being played, and they exploded at the end to the extent that I've never seen for a new work."
This year's festival includes the return of festival musicians including violinist Joseph Lin, the ever-popular Prazák String Quartet, and cellist and festival artistic director Peter Rejto, who now lives in Australia with his wife, violist Nicole Divall. Double-bassist Volkan Orhon, violinist Lucy Chapman and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman are all making festival debuts.
Stoltzman will join the Prazák Quartet to perform the new Gemrot commission, which Bierny anticipates will be a festival highlight.
Bierny also is excited about the program's Czechoslovakian accents, especially Sunday's performance of Janácek's String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata" and Tuesday's concert closer of Smetana's String Quartet No. 1 in E minor "From My Life," both to be performed by the Prazák.
Other musical highlights include Dvorák's String Quintet in G major (with bass) featuring Orhon and the Prazák on Wednesday, and Tuesday's back-to-back performance of Schubert's song collection, including "Trout," and Quintet for Piano and Strings, also known as "Trout."
This is the festival's 14th year. It has garnered national praise as one of the country's finest chamber festivals. American Record Guide said of it: "By almost everyone's account, it is one of the finest such festivals devoted to chamber music exclusively."
PREVIEW
Tucson Winter Chamber Festival
Presented by: Arizona Friends of Chamber Music.
When: Sunday-March 11. Sunday concerts are at 3 p.m.; evening concerts March 6, 7 and 9 begin at 8 p.m.
Where: Leo Rich Theatre, 260 S. Church Ave.
Tickets: $25 each performance, $10 for students. $265 for festival pass covering all concerts and a gala dinner concert March 10 at Arizona Inn, 2200 E. Elm St. Festival pass excluding gala, $120; gala dinner concert only, $150, 577-3769.
Et cetera: Dress rehearsals and master classes are open to the community at no charge. Preconcert commentary is presented a half-hour before concerts by KUAT radio personality James Reel. Dress rehearsals at Leo Rich are open to the public from 9 a.m. to noon on concert days except for this Sunday, and March 10. Free.
Master classes: 3 p.m., clarinet; 4 p.m., bass. March 10. Free.
Look for it: Review of Sunday's opening concert in Tuesday's Accent.
Festival artists
Prazák String Quartet; pianists Xak Bjerken and Miri Yampolsky; cellists Ron Leonard and Peter Rejto; violists Nicole Divall and Cynthia Phelps; violinists Joseph Lin and Lucy Chapman; Richard Stoltzman on clarinet; Volkan Orhon on bass; soprano Jennifer Foster; composer Jiri Gemrot.
Schedule
3 p.m. Sunday — Prazák String Quartet. Program: Schubert's String Quartet, "Death and the Maiden"; Janácek's String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata"; Schumann's Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44.
8 p.m. Tuesday — Festival artists. Program: Mozart's Trio for Clarinet, Viola, Piano in E-flat major "Kegelstatt"; Schubert's song collection, including "Trout," and Quintet for Piano and Strings "Trout"; Schulhoff's Duo for Violin and Cello; Smetana's String Quartet No. 1 in E minor "From My Life."
8 p.m. Wednesday — Festival artists. Schubert's Adagio and Rondo in F major for Piano Quartet; Loeffler's Four Poems Opus 5 for Mezzo-Soprano, Viola and Piano; Dahl's Concerto-a-Tre for Clarinet, Violin and Cello; Dvorák's String Quintet in G major (with bass).
10:30 a.m. Thursday — Youth Concert featuring festival artists. Nearly 600 kids have been invited to participate.
8 p.m. next Friday — Festival artists. Shepherd's "Triptych" for Soprano and String Quartet; Gemrot's Quintet for String Quartet and Clarinet (world premiere); Vaughan Williams' Quintet for Piano and Strings in C minor.
6 p.m. March 10 — Gala Dinner Concert at Arizona Inn.
3 p.m. March 11 — Festival musicians. Schulhoff's String Sextet (1924); Gemrot's Quintet for Piano and Strings; Mozart's aria "Parto Parto"; Mendelssohn's Sextet for Piano and Strings in D major, Op. 110.
