This coming Tuesday evening (Feb. 8) at Meany Hall on the U.W. campus, the Chiara String Quartet will be playing two Beethoven quartets, one from the early Opus 18 set and the late quartet in B flat Opus 132 with its huge and granite-like concluding fugue. The young quartet, known for playing in diverse venues, will also appear at the eclectic music club Chop Suey.
Also on the Meany program will be the first performance anywhere of a new string quartet by Daniel Ott, a Juilliard graduate and faculty member. Ott once lived in Puyallup and played in the Tacoma Youth Symphony. Advance information on Ott’s quartet suggests that it is concerned with the deaths of children and focuses on Liszt and Mahler, both of whom lost offspring. I do not know Ott’s music but he has composed a number of scores for the New York City ballet and enjoys a rising reputation.
The 10-year-old Chiara quartet, returning to Meany since its debut here in 2007, has residencies at Harvard and the University of Nebraska. They are offering a compelling program. The next night the quartet will play another program — including excerpts from the Beethoven quartets and sections of two newly commissioned works by Huang Ruo and Nico Muhly — at the club Chop Suey (1325 E. Madison in Seattle) on Wednesday (Feb 9). Tickets at the Meany box office or online. Chop Suey tickets are only $10.
