Dessert as the main course – on „After Hour“ the Fauré Quartett presents a collection of very
personal encores
Encores for a concert are like a dessert for a multi-course meal: there is always room, they are the crowning finale, the icing on the cake. The four musicians of the prestigious Fauré Quartett – Erika Geldsetzer (violin), Sascha Frömbling (viola), Konstantin Heidrich (cello) and Dirk Mommertz (piano) – are notorious for their entertaining and perfectly customised encores that go beyond the classical canon of piano quartet repertoire. Whether arrangement or original composition: on “After Hours”, the Berlin based quartet brings together a variety of companions – musicians, arrangers and composers alike – to pay homage to the magical moment after the concert.
The quartet describes its love of encores like so: “The encore can be a counterpoint, fulfilment, relativisation; it can puzzle, amuse or insert an earworm into the minds of the departing audience for days to come. In fact, the encore is often what people remember as the stand-out highlight of the event.”
During their time as artistic directors of the Festspielfrühling Rügen (2012-2017) in particular, the four musicians rethought and expanded their relationship to the encore. Breaking up classical concert programmes, jam sessions with colleagues and confronting the familiar with the spontaneous have been constant companions for the Fauré Quartet ever since. This is also reflected in the five-movement centrepiece of “After Hours”, Jarkko Riihimäki’s “The Last 11 Years”, in which Matthias Schorn has taken on the clarinet part. Riihimäki, the Berlin-based Finnish universal artist and long-time friend of the ensemble, sees himself as a researcher, who is on the trail of the secrets of emotion and the human condition with the possibilities of music.
As the second guest, soprano Annette Dasch expands the spectrum of sound colours and styles with Weill’s “Youkali”, “Glücklich am Morgen” by Eduard Künneke and the song “Sometimes I’m happy” by Vincent Youmans.
Other musical companions include Alexandre Tansman and his “Symphonie Concertante for
Piano Quartet and Orchestra”, which was premiered by the ensemble in 2008; his “Scherzino” comes from his “Suite Divertissement” as a tribute to the collaboration. The “Faurétango” was composed especially for the quartet two decades ago by Eduardo Hubert. Fritz Kreisler’s Dvořák arrangement “Songs My Mother Taught Me” was reworked by the ensemble for the unique characteristics of the piano quartet instrumentation. Richard Strauss’s “Ständchen” appears far less heavy with meaning than in many of his works and Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” bridges the gap to the usual concert repertoire.
