The Jerusalem Quartet per forms
April28 in Ann Arbor.

The string players of the Jerusalem Quartet are at home throughout the world.

DIANA LIEBERMAN

Special to the Jewish News

Ann Arbor
he performing schedule for the Jerusalem
Quartet brings to mind the travels of Phineas
Fogg, hero of Around the World in 80 Days.
A quick summary of recent concert venues
includes London's Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam
Concertgebouw, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Carnegie
Hall and the Bolshoi Hall in Moscow. The quartet
was among the featured performers at the inaugura-
tion of the new Jewish Museum in Berlin and made
its Japanese debut in fall 2004. A tour of Australia
and New Zealand in 2003 was so successful that the
group was immediately booked for a return in 2004.
"We spend six months in Israel and six months
traveling," quartet members explained in an e-mail
to the Jewish News. "During our time in Israel, we
have our own music series, which performs in the
major cities in Israel. We invite musicians from
throughout the world to perform chamber music
with us."
Although they have never performed in the so-
called Mideast "occupied territories," the quartet did
present "the first classical concert in Jordan since the
[October 1994] peace agreement," they said.
The four young musicians — Alexander Pavlovsky
and Segei Bresler, violinists; Amihai Grosz, violist;
and Kyril Zlotnikov, cellist — come to Ann Arbor's
Rackham Auditorium Thursday, April 28, for a sin-
gle concert of quartets by Beethoven, Shostakovich

T

and Dvorak. The Jewish News is among the sponsors
of the concert, which is presented by the University
Musical Society.
The quartet arrives in Michigan straight from
Mexico, where they perform three concerts April 24-
26. After Ann Arbor, they're off for another two
weeks at various sites in the United States before fly-
ing to Brussels to begin a European tour.
According to Strad Magazine, "what distinguishes
this particular quartet is its sense of refinement and
natural feeling for line, coupled with a fever-pitch
intensity and commitment to the music. Musical
electricity may be unfathomable, but one thing is for
sure — they have it."
A reviewer for Chamber Music New Zealand wrote,
"The Jerusalem Quartet is astounding. First there's
their age — they look so young I wouldn't be sur-
prised to be told their grandparents were a rock
group, close friends of the Rolling Stones perhaps.
Then there is the valuable mix of maturity and
adventure that enlivens their playing; these are not
just inspired students we're hearing, but neither are
they jaded old professionals touring the classics year
in, year out."

Maturity And Adventure

After first being matched up by their teachers at the
Jerusalem Music Center, the Jerusalem Quartet has
performed together as a group since 1995.
Grosz was born in Israel, while the other three
musicians came from the former Soviet Union —
Bresler from the Ukraine, Zlotnikov from Minsk

and Pavlovsky from Kiev. The three Russian-born
musicians made aliyah to Israel in 1991.
All four have completed their military service.
"As musicians, the first few months of military
training was compulsory," they wrote. 'After that,
our duties were mainly guard duty and performing
for troops."
"Playing in front of the troops gave us so many
different opportunities to perform, and we were
exposed to many different opinions and approaches
to classical music. Throughout our military training,
we continued to play throughout Israel, but the
majority of our concerts were for the troops."
In 2003, cellist Kyril Zlotnikov performed with
the East-West Divan Orchestra, a cooperative classi-
cal music group founded by the late Palestinian
intellectual Edward Said and pianist Daniel
Barenboim. Later this year, he'll be joined by violist
Amihai Grosz.
"We both feel it is very important as Israelis to
share the performance of music with others from
Arab nations and allow music to connect us," they
wrote. "Working with Daniel Barenboim (who con-
ducts) is inspirational and a real pleasure. The musi-
cians are all auditioned and come from Israel, Syria,
Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Kuwait."
The Jerusalem Quartet recently began recording
for the Harmonia Mundi label, with a CD of Haydn
repertoire released in spring 2004. Their recording of
three Shostakovich quartets was released in the

SIRING

QUARTET

on page 55

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4/21
2005

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