Diva/Mensch pair for Sept 25, 2024

The winner of the 1965 Grammy for Best Classical Music Performance, Chamber Music was the Juilliard String Quartet for their recording of the six Bartók quartets.

Diva: the 4th quartet

Mensch: the 6th quartet

The 4th quartet is my favorite string quartet ever. It bristles with vitality, wit, and passion. It's challenging not in the sense that it's a challenge to listen to it but because the quality of the music inspires you to sit up straight and really LISTEN. It's like a gauntlet thrown but not the violence of the duel.

The 6th quartet opens with a heartbreaking viola solo. My first roommate in New York was Greg Beaver, cellist of the Chiara String Quartet. I heard them play a two-concert cycle of the Bartók quartets. I heard them do this TWICE! Their violist, Jonah Sirota, is a sublime musician and always made me cry when he played this solo. It felt like a prayer.