Dalí Quartet ushers Latin flair into Beaver Creek
Dalí Quartet returns for its second time with Bravo! Vail Music Festival, kicking off its performances at the Vilar Performing Arts Center on Sunday.
Founded in 2004 by Venezuelan violinist Carlos Rubio and Venezuelan violist Adriana Linares, Puerto Rican cellist joined Dalí Quartet just a few years later. Violinist Ari Isaacman-Beck is not only the recent newcomer, having auditioned in 2020, but also a self-described white, Jewish kid from Minnesota, he lightly added. All four have studied classical music at esteemed institutions and now base themselves in Philadelphia.
“We all studied Western European (classical) music, and we love it; it’s part of our identities as musicians,” Isaacman-Beck said.
But the quartet’s tagline — classical roots, Latin soul — characterizes its approach the best. Taking its name from the great Spanish artist Salvador Dalí, the quartet elevates the lesser-known — at least in North America — Latin American repertoire to stand equally alongside the classical and Romantic canon.
“It enriches the musical fabric of what people can appreciate. The contrast helps people appreciate European composers more — they have so many things in common (with Latin American composers),” he said. “Part of our interest in being ambassadors of Spanish-speaking and Latin-American composers is to explore the huge database of composers. There are tons of composers from different backgrounds that we feel very passionately about. It’s this rich tapestry.”
Sunday’s performance revolves around a folk-music element, which ties the program together.
“It’s an explosion of musical styles, as composers from different countries explored their heritage through very specific qualities,” he said.
The quartet opens with Juan Crisósotomo De Arriaga y Balzola’s String Quartet No. 1 in D minor. Having only lived from 1806 to 1826, the composer’s three string quartets, which he wrote at age 16, are rarely heard. Considered the Spanish Mozart, and later the Basque Mozart, he composed his first chamber work at age 11. At age 13, he wrote an opera, which was produced in Bilbao, Spain the following year.
“(String Quartet No. 1) has elements that remind me of Schubert and elements that remind me of Beethoven but with Arriaga’s unique (signature),” Isaacman-Beck said, describing how it begins “dark and stormy, with a Spanish-sounding theme” and then moves into a profoundly beautiful second movement and proceeds into “a devilish dance that ends quietly. It’s incredibly evocative music.”
Argentinian Alberto Ginastera wrote the second work on Sunday’s program: String Quartet No. 1, Op. 20. Like Arriaga, he produced numerous distinctive pieces as a teenager. He wrote String Quartet No. 1 in his early 30s, in 1948.
“It has incredible rhythmic vitality and drive. It’s from his first period, when he was writing in a folksy style. It’s an electrifying, folksy work. He plays with rhythmic elements, particularly in the first and last movements,” Isaacman-Beck said, pointing out how musicians don’t often see the markings “allegro violento ed agitato” in compositions, but this one starts out “violently fast and agitated.”
Both the first and last movements reference the malambo, a competitive dance in which Argentinian cowboys, or gauchos, partook. The third movement also contains an unmistakably Spanish and Latin American flair. The work ends with “allegramente rustico,” evoking a sense of the rugged, open space in which cowboys exist.
After intermission, Ernst Von Dohnányi’s Sextet in C major for piano, violin, viola, cello, clarinet and horn, Op. 37, calls upon the additional talents of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s principal horn Jennifer Montone, principal clarinet Ricardo Morales and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott. McDermott suggested the piece, which reflects the Hungarian folk tradition.
Like the evening’s other featured composers, Dohnányi found acclaim early in life, having won the Hungarian Millennium Prize in 1896, before the age of 20. The year prior, Johannes Brahms expressed deep admiration for the Hungarian composer’s C-minor Piano Quintet (Op. 1) and arranged it to premiere in Vienna.
“It doesn’t take itself so seriously. It’s wonderful and joyful and, at times, mysterious,” Isaacman-Beck said, describing it overall as “evocative storytelling.”
Along with the guest artists, the quartet shares a chemistry that allows them to explore every nuance of the works.
“It’s a really happy group. We all want to make vivid, incredible performances that are captivating and engaging for ourselves and for the audience. We recognize that there’s not just one way of playing. We have a lot of mutual admiration and respect for how each other plays. We have a great suppleness and generosity when we’re rehearsing and performing. We’re reciting a piece of music for it to be alive in the room,” he said. “Our priority is making sure the music is brilliant and comes out alive.”
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