Diderot String Quartet

Sunday, May 2, 2021, 4 p.m. ET
Online

From Russia with Love: String Quartets for Catherine the Great

The Diderot String Quartet’s energetic performers Johanna Novom, Adriane Post, Kyle Miller, and Paul Dwyer find themselves irresistibly drawn to unusual 17th- and 18th-century repertory. They have selected a fresh sounding quartet by Anton Ferdinand Titz, a favorite composer of Catherine the Great, doyenne of the Russian Enlightenment. Their second offering is Haydn’s Quartet in E-flat from his “Russian” quartets, nicknamed the “Joke.”

“Enveloped in the rich sound of period strings, the quartet as performed by Diderot was emotional, riveting and ultimately cathartic. Diderot isn’t the only early-music group trying to revive interest in the genre, but it’s right up there with the best in the field.”—Wall Street Journal

Run time: 54 minutes.

The virtual program remains available on demand until July 20.

Artist Bios and Program

The Diderot String Quartet is named after the 18th-century French philosopher and Boccherini enthusiast, Denis Diderot. It brings a fresh approach to works of the 18th and 19th centuries. Called “emotional, riveting, and ultimately cathartic” (Wall Street Journal), the quartet came together in 2012 after the members met at Oberlin Conservatory and The Juilliard School. The four musicians share a background in historical performance and a passion for the string quartet genre, and all of them find the thrill of exploring the quartet repertory on period instruments to be irresistible. Recent and upcoming engagements include Chamber Music Pittsburgh, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Lincoln Friends of Chamber Music (NE), Connecticut Early Music Festival, Friends of Chamber Music Vancouver and Early Music Vancouver, Music in the Somerset Hills (Bernardsville, NJ), Rockefeller University’s Tri-I Noon Recital Series, Carmel Bach Festival (CA), and The Crypt Sessions (NY). Diderot has also been featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Toledo Museum of Art, and the Morgan Library in New York. The quartet served as Quartet-in-Residence at Washington National Cathedral for five seasons and as guest faculty for Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute. It collaborates frequently with internationally acclaimed artists including David Breitman, Avi Stein, and Harry Bicket.

diderotquartet.com

Tickets

Individual Tickets: $15

Season Subscriptions: $50