Rubens Quartet and pianist Inon Barnatan
In collaboration with Brinks Artists Management, the Rubens Quartet offers you a special program with the phenomenal Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan. After an enormously successful tour in February 2010, the five-some is joining forces once again in the spring of 2012 with a transcendant program:
Ravel - Gaspard de la Nuit
Debussy - Quatuor, Op. 10
Franck - Piano Quintet in F minor
This program can be heard at the following venues:
April 17, 2012 Zwolle, Theater Odeon de Spiegel
April 18, 2012 Heemstede, Oude Slot
April 21, 2012 Gouda, Goudse Schouwburg
April 22, 2012 Roosendaal, Schouwburg De Kring
For more information, please refer to our Concerts page, or contact the Rubens Quartet at or Brinks Artists Management at www.brinksartists.nl, +31 20 6432043
Inon recently sat down with 1st violinist Sarah Kapustin for an interview:
SK: How did you first come in contact with the Rubens Quartet?
IB: “The first time I met the Rubens quartet was at the 100-year celebration of the Rotterdam Chamber Music Society in De Doelen, when the quartet, myself and Liza Ferschtman played the Chausson concerto together. It was so much fun, that we decided to play together again!”
SK: Do you often come to the Netherlands?
IB: “Yes, the Netherlands is perhaps my favorite musical destination in Europe. I come at least once a year, and often many more times than that. Last season, for example, I toured with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, played several concerts with Liza Ferschtman, played at the Concertgebouw with Janine Jansen and participated in the Utrecht and Delft festivals. I may be forgetting something...”
SK: What is your favorite piano quintet?
IB: “There are not that many piano quintets, but the ones we have are incredible. The Brahms, the Dvorak, the Schubert (Trout)... it is hard to choose. The Franck quintet is certainly up there with the greats. It is slightly less played than some of the others, but is a phenomenal piece. It brings together the scope and emotion we find in Brahms and marries it with the French feel for color and mood. The result is explosive.”
SK: Have you ever toured with the Franck?
IB: “I've certainly played the piece before, but this will be my first tour with the Franck quintet. I look forward to it!”
SK: What do you find artistically interesting about the tour program?
IB: “It is fascinating to hear how the three French composers on the program (Ravel, Debussy and Franck) differ in their approach to sound. It goes from the haunting and virtuosic Gaspard de la Nuit, to the sensual and fiery Debussy, and ends with the hyper-romantic and evocative Franck. These composers are perhaps the ones most responsible for what we think of as the French sound, yet each composer's sound world is so distinctive.”
SK: Can you tell me some of the upcoming highlights of your 2011-12 season?
IB: “The Ravel piece on this program, Gaspard de la Nuit, looms large over my season. It is one of the main pieces in a CD I am releasing in late 2011, titled Darkness Visible, with music by Ravel, Debussy, Thomas Adès and Benjamin Britten. I'll be touring a recital program with those pieces in the US, will perform a program with Christianne Stotijn in Brussels based on Gaspard, and will pair it with the Ravel Piano Concerto later in the season.
There are lots of other exciting things, and my website (www.inonbarnatan.com) will provide more information, as well as audio and video excerpts.”