Pianist Wu Han and her husband, David Finkel, cellist with the world-renowned Emerson String Quartet, are regarded by their peers as the Power Couple of Chamber Music. And no wonder! When they are not performing as a duo or with their chamber groups for nine months of the year, they are the force behind Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society. This week, they return to Washington with the ESQ for a program of Haydn’s Quartet in F Major, Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G Minor and Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat Major.
They have great fondness in their hearts for the Schumann Quintet because it was their introduction to one another. They first met shortly after Wu arrived from Taiwan. Finkel came along with the prize she won in 1982 at a Hartt School student competition: an opportunity to play Schumann’s Quintet with the school’s chamber ensemble in residence, the Emerson String Quartet. Their musical relationship turned to thoughts of romance, and they were married in 1985.
“Each time I play the Schumann, it feels fresh to me,” Wu said. “Another work on the program that I love is Haydn’s String Quartet. In fact, this concert tells a little story of chamber music. Haydn was the father of the string quartet. He wrote right until the end, and this is one of his last three compositions. Even at an advanced age, his work was lively, youthful and innovative. He has inspired chamber musicians to this date.
| Onstage |
| Emerson String Quartet with pianist Wu Han |
| Where: The Music Center at Strathmore |
| When: 8 p.m. Wednesday |
| Info: $50 to $85; 202-833-9800; wpas.org; 301-585-5200; strathmore.org |
“Brahms was rooted in the Classical age even though he lived during the Romantic age. He wrote more than 350 works for a variety of genres. When he wrote his first Piano Quartet in 1861, nobody had ever thought of combining the piano and a string quartet. Since then, others who have followed his lead include Beethoven, Dvorak, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Schubert and Elgar. We especially love his last movement, the wild and free Gypsy rondo.”
The couple fulfill their various role with great pleasure. Two years in advance, they begin planning the programs for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Their deep knowledge of chamber music literature allows them to match artists and works without repetition.
Between Finkel’s ESQ tours (which include their four annual concerts at the Smithsonian) and Wu’s solo concerts, the couple circle the world so often that Finkel declares they have been married 26 years but have seen each other for only five. They will connect some this year, ending the season at Kentucky’s Festival of the Bluegrass. Finkel laughs and quickly explains that he is not starting a side career as a country bluegrass artist.
“This is a new festival in Kentucky named for the state’s bluegrass,” Wu said. “It’s located in the Shaker Village with performances in a lovely hall converted from a barn. This will be our fourth season there, and we love it.”
