October 26, 2008, 4:00 p.m.

Program
Mozart (arr.): Five Four-Voice Fugues from J.S. Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier
György Kurtág: String Quartet op. 28
Mozart: Adagio and Fugue in C minor K. 546
György Kurtág: Six Moments musicaux op. 44
Schubert: String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, op. 161, D. 887

The Keller Quartet opens the Candlelight Concert 2008-09 season on October 26th with an unusual program juxtaposing works of Bach and Mozart with the ensemble’s prominent mentor, the Hungarian composer György Kurtág. Founded at the Liszt Conservatory of Music in Budapest, the Keller Quartet achieved its international breakthrough in 1990 when winning prizes at the Évian and Borciani Competitions. The members of this distinguished ensemble, violinists Andreas Keller and János Pilz, violist Zoltan Gál, and cellist Judit Szábo, recently celebrated their twentieth year of musical collaboration with concerts at Wigmore Hall in London, at the Essen and Berlin Philharmonie, and in Milan, Hamburg and Brussels. Graduates of the Liszt conservatory, they were trained and have performed as soloists, but string quartet playing has always been their first love.

The Keller Quartet, which performs on modern instruments by violinmaker Peter Greiner, has enjoyed links to ECM for some time now and has recorded the Art of the Fugue by Bach as well as the complete works for string quartet of Kurtág. The year 2003 saw the release of a CD by ECM of Schnittke’s Piano Quintet (with Alexej Lubimov), along with the last string quartet of Shostakovich. A recording of all of Bartók’s Duos by the two violinists of the quartet has also appeared on ECM. At the end of the year 2004 a DVD with a Bach/Kurtág program was released by EuroArts, and the ensemble has also made a highly-praised recording of the complete string quartets of Bartók on the Erato label. Since July 2006, the quartet has been associated with the Yale Chamber Music Festival at Norfolk.

The October 26th concert takes place at 4:00 p.m. at the Wilton Congregational Church, just north of Wilton center on Route 33. Tickets may be obtained at the door for $25 dollars ($10 for students). For information on subscriptions to the entire four concert series, go to the ticket order page. Season tickets start at $90 ($75 for seniors); and patrons and benefactors of the series have the option of bringing two or four children under 16 (respectively) to the concerts free of cost. For more information on this concert or on the series or to order a series brochure to be sent to you, call (203) 762-3401 or (203) 762-5019. Candlelight Concerts benefits the Wilton Library, and happily accepts individual and corporate tax deductible contributions.