By David N. Young
When Harumi Rhodes applied for a teaching position at the University of Colorado at Boulder, how could she have known that a twist of fate would hand her the “chance of a lifetime” to become a violinist for the Takács Quartet, arguably the most famous string quartet in the world.
“For me, it was a dream come true,” said Rhodes this week. When the Takács Quartet takes the Segerstrom stage Feb. 28, it will be the first time they have performed here since Harumi was named to replace founding violinist Károly Schranz.
Rhodes obviously landed the teaching position at the university where she remains a Professor of Violin, but her new job also placed her in close proximity to the Takács Quartet, who remain in residence there.
“I had a few chances to play with them before Karoly retired,” said Rhodes. Even though Rhodes is a world renown violinist in her own rite, the violinist was “beyond excited” when named as his replacement earlier this year.
“It is not an exaggeration to say that I have admired them my whole life.”
Rhodes is now second violinist in the internationally famous string quartet that originated in Hungary in the late 1970’s. Now entering their 44th season, the group has been residence at the University of Boulder since 1983, when they decided to move to the U.S.
Based in Boulder at the University of Colorado, the Quartet — Edward Dusinberre, Harumi Rhodes (violins), Geraldine Walther (viola) and András Fejér (cello) — perform eighty concerts a year worldwide.
For their Segerstrom engagement the program includes Haydn: Quartet Op. 76 #1, Bartók: String Quartet #6 and Grieg: String Quartet.
The Takács Quartet, in residence at the University of Colorado, has developed a program geared toward students who relish the chance to develop their artistry with a special emphasis on chamber music. Rhodes said she, and other students at the University of Boulder, enjoy thriving in a small, tightly knit community of chamber musicians, where students will not be lost in the crowd.
Members of the Takács admit a small number of students to their individual classes each year and work intensively with a resident graduate string quartet. Although the quartet maintains a high-profile international career, the schedule is managed carefully to allow for regular and frequent periods teaching in Boulder, according to information released by the school.
On stage, the Takács Quartet continues to blend their “trademark intensity” with the delicate lightness for which they are known and applauded at each performance around the world.
The New York Times recently lauded the ensemble for “revealing the familiar as unfamiliar, making the most traditional of works feel radical once more”, and the Financial Times described a recent concert at the Wigmore Hall: “Even in the most fiendish repertoire these players show no fear, injecting the music with a heady sense of freedom. At the same time, though, there is an uncompromising attention to detail: neither a note nor a bow-hair is out of place.”
It is perhaps difficult to comprehend how such incredible sounds and melodies that form the music filling a Takács Quartet concert hall. Sounds that seemingly come to life created by four master musicians manipulating 16 strings of steel and gut strung between four wooden instruments.
But to hear Rhodes explain it, we begin to better understand why string quartets evoke such emotion. She explains that a violin is considered to be the closest musical instrument to a human voice. There are forests in Italy from which comes the wood that these delicate instruments are made. The violin played by Rhodes dates back to the 1700’s.
And the violins, viola and cello (the only instruments used by the quartet) are all similar sounding instruments. According to Rhodes, it is kind of like “members of a family having a deeply personal conversation with music.”
“A conversation between like-minded instruments,” she said.
As the stringed instruments begin to speak to one another, the sounds evoke “wild emotion” among its audience. “It’s raw emotion,” she says, “yet loving and sincere,” she explains with the same deep commitment that seemingly comes from the music itself.
“Beethoven and the most renown composers in history “all wrote their most intimate compositions for the string quartet,” she said. The unity, expressiveness and musical bonding of a string quartet, she said, is incredibly unique and moving.
Such harmony is, in this unique characterization, very difficult if not impossible to achieve with larger ensembles.
Long associated with Chamber music, Rhodes was very accomplished before being named to Takács Quartet. According to information published on the University’s website, Rhodes has been acclaimed by the New York Times as a “deeply expressive violinist.”
“Ms. Rhodes has gained broad recognition as a multifaceted musician with a distinctive and sincere musical voice. Her generosity of spirit on stage is contagious, making her one of the most sought-after violinists of her generation.”
The Takács Quartet plans to perform a variety of compositions at the California show, but among them is the String Quartet#6 by Bartók, which Rhodes calls a “absolute masterpiece.” Rhodes said she was especially excited about performing the Bartók piece at their upcoming Feb. 28 show in Costa Mesa. He reportedly composed the piece in a state of deep and utter sadness prompted by the loss of his mother and the outbreak of World War II.
Rhodes said of all the “intimate” pieces ever written for string quartets, this is perhaps, “the most profound piece of music ever written.” Quite a statement from one of the world’s youngest masters of the violin. After all, her instrument has given Rhodes a voice in the world’s most famous string quartet; and she’s got plenty to say in her conversation among the strings.
The Takács Quartet returns to Segerstrom Center for the Arts on February 28, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. in Samueli Theater. Single tickets start at $39 and are now available online at www.SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling (714) 556-2787. For inquiries about group ticket savings of 10 or more, please call the Group Services office at (714) 755-0236.