Tokyo String Quartet : News

A Personal Note

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 00:00:00 -0400

In the Fall of 2011, we wrote to you about Kikuei and Kazu's decision to retire. Martin and Clive had no shortage of fine applicants auditioning for the positions of 2^nd violin and viola, but after a great deal of thought, they have decided that the Tokyo String Quartet's extraordinary 44-year history will officially come to an end in July of 2013.

In this our last season as a quartet, we feel that we have never played better.

But as Martin notes: "It is a difficult prospect to replace one long-standing quartet member. To replace two of them simultaneously is a Herculean task. With the retirement of our colleagues in our minds, we increasingly felt over the last few months that the most fitting way we could honor and celebrate our quartet's long and illustrious career was to bring it to a graceful close."

Warmest thanks to all the Tokyo Quartet's audiences, past and present, who have supported and cheered us along the way.

All our best wishes,

Martin Beaver

Kikuei Ikeda

Kazuhide Isomura

Clive Greensmith

In the U.S.

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0400

In residence at New York’s 92^nd St. Y since 2003 and beloved by Y audiences since its debut concert there in 1977, the Tokyo in its final season performs Bartok, Haydn, a new ‘farewell’ commission by Lera Auerbach, and the Schubert Quintet with cellist Lynn Harrell.

Domestic tours include cities such as San Francisco, Raleigh, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Tulsa, Miami, Kalamazoo, Seattle, Portland and Philadelphia and feature quintets with pianists Jon Kimura Parker, Alon Goldstein and Jeremy Denk.

The ensemble’s final U.S. concert will be under the roof of the Music Shed at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival on July 6th, 2013.

Performances abroad

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Long embraced by audiences in such international cities as Madrid, Vienna, Copenhagen, London, Paris and Rome, the Tokyo Quartet returns for three tours in Europe this season, offering master-classes at the Conservatoire de Paris and at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall.

In Canada, the Tokyo completes the Bartok cycle for Music Toronto in the second of a two-year series, and also performs in Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and for the Ladies’ Morning Musical Club in Montreal.

The Nippon Music Foundation hosted the quartet in Encounter with Stradivari 2012 in the fall, featuring 10 Stradivaris in concert at three different venues. The “Farewell Tour” in Japan will take place in May, 2013, with concerts in Musashino, Tokyo’s Oji Hall and Tokyo Opera City.

Musica Viva and Chamber Music New Zealand present the quartet in late spring in extensive tours of Australia and New Zealand.

Old Friends and New Collaborations

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0400

The quartet will be performing the Schubert Cello Quintet with Gary Hoffman in Madrid and David Watkin in Florence; the Brahms Piano Quintet in Edmonton, Canada with pianist Jon Kimura Parker and with Javier Perianes in venues in Spain. In The Netherlands, the Tokyo will share the stage with extra violist Gil Sharon for the Mozart String Quintet.

Czech CD

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0400

807429 Dvorak and Smetana String Quartets - Tokyo String Quartet

John Terauds - The Toronto Star - John Terauds

Tokyo String Quartet holds bows high on final recording

3.5 stars (out of 4)

"The combination of force and quiet restraint, powerful passion and surreal stillness that the Tokyo brings to this late-Romantic music is gorgeous. All four instruments are perfectly balanced, each player knowing exactly when to come to the fore and when to retreat into the background. These four men may have been around the world umpteen times, but they always make their music sound fresh and spontaneous. ...the Tokyo can hold their bows high as they make the most graceful of exits. "

Michael Tumelty - Herald Scotland

"When I reviewed the Tokyo String Quartet's CD of Brahms Quintets with guest musicians Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu last November, I knew it was the group's penultimate recording. Violinist Kikuei Ikeda and violist Kazuhide Isomura had decided to retire and the remaining duo, violinist Martin Beaver and cellist Clive Greensmith, after months of agonising, decided not to replace the irreplaceable in an ensemble with a unique sound and a 45-year career at the top of the business, but call it a day and gracefully disband. One final CD was promised, and here it comes, due out a week tomorrow. It presents two of the greatest masterpieces from the Czech repertoire in Dvorak's American String Quartet and Smetana's First String Quartet, From My Life. They are quintessential Tokyo recordings, steeped in wisdom, flawless clarity of ensemble, unforced and reaching to the heart of the music. There will be no more from these magicians, but the legacy of recordings will endure."