June 14, 2007
FOUR NO MORE:
Guarneri Quartet to Retire in 2009 (Kevin Shihoten, 11 Jun 2007, PlaybillArts)
The Guarneri String Quartet announced today its plans to retire in 2009. After 45 years of performing, the group's members — Arnold Steinhardt and John Dalley (violins), Michael Tree (viola) and Peter Wiley (cello) — feel that it's time to leave the stage.Said the quartet in a press release, "This has not only been a long journey, but a deeply satisfying one as well. What could be better than performing the inspired string quartet repertoire, traveling the world, and meeting wonderful people along the way!"
Founded in 1964 at the Marlboro Music Festival, the quartet is noted for its stellar interpretations of repertoire ranging from 18th- and 19th-century standards to Bartók, Stravinsky and Walton.
They've played Saint Paul Sunday several times and you can listen online:
Guarneri String Quartet performs Mozart, Ravel, Dvořák (Saint Paul Sunday, October 29, 2006)
On the heels of their 40th anniversary, the Guarneri String Quartet returns to Saint Paul Sunday with music by Mozart, Dvořák and Ravel — works that reveal the heart and soul of this revered ensemble as movingly today as they did when it first performed them. Each composer's distinct voice shines, but refracted through a sound and mastery wholly the Guarneri's own. After more than four decades, both remain undimmed.
Guarneri String Quartet: Four by Forty (ST Paul Sunday, 1/25/04)
Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Guarneri String Quartet is among the most revered and enduring ensembles of its kind in the world. It makes a warmly awaited return visit this week to perform Zoltán Kodály's songful and incisive second string quartet, two haunting movements of Robert Schumann's third quartet, and some variations by the "Spanish Mozart"—Juan Crisostomo Arriaga—who earned the moniker for the brilliance of his too-brief career. As it has for four decades, the Guarneri lends a peerless radiance to every note and phrase.
Guarneri String Quartet (Saint Paul Sunday, 2/03/02)