The Takács Quartet opens the 1996-97 Cornell Concert Series Sept. 19 at 8:15 p.m. in Statler Auditorium with a program of works by Mozart, Bartok and Schubert.
Tickets are available from the Lincoln Hall Ticket Office, 105 Lincoln Hall, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., or by calling 255-5144. Tickets are $13-$22; students $10.50-$17.50.
One of the world's pre-eminent exponents of the great Central European quartet tradition, the Takács Quartet (pronounced TAHK-ahsh) follows in the lineage established by the Budapest and Amadeus Quartets. Recent performances have reminded critics of sophisticated interpretations that "illuminated worlds within" and a spirit of ensemble that "in the manner of excellent quartet playing, the whole exceeds the sum of the parts" (The Washington Post).
The quartet was formed in 1975 by four students at the Franz Liszt Academy and named after founding first violinist Gabor Takács-Nagy. The quartet's early years were marked by a rapid rise to international prominence, winning five string quartet competitions between 1977 and 1981.
By the late 1980s the quartet, whose repertoire includes the work of Beethoven, Bartok, Brahms and Schubert, was performing every three nights and rehearsing more than five hours a day, six days a week. The strain took its toll, and in 1994 Takács-Nagy left the group because of poor health; a year later violinist Gabor Ormani died of cancer. Their places have been taken by two Englishmen, violinist Edward Dusinberre and violist Roger Tapping.
The "new" Takács Quartet has not missed a beat, playing to critical acclaim. Reviewing the quartet's recent all-Beethoven performance, Philadelphia Inquirer critic Diana Brugwyn wrote: "The musicians of the Takács Quartet were so completely at one in timbre, dynamics and emotional content; I was hard-pressed at times to tell where one instrument ended and another began. The players sounded ... as if they had been born an ensemble."
The Cornell Concert Series continues Oct. 17 with a performance by American baritone Thomas Hampson. Other Bailey Hall performances are Yo-Yo Ma, Nov. 7; Garrick Ohlsson, Feb. 8; Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Feb. 27; Academy of Ancient Music, April 1; and James Galway, April 8. Statler Auditorium performances are the Guarneri and Orion String Quartets, Dec. 6; and Musica Antiqua Köln, March 11.
Subscriptions to the entire Cornell Concert Series are available through Sept. 19. The Cornell Concert Series is on the World Wide Web at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/Cornell_Concert_Series/.