| IF YOU GO |
| Tokyo String Quartet with Jeremy Denk |
| » Where: The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda |
| » When: 4 p.m. Sunday |
| » Info: $35 to $85; 202-785-9727; wpas.org |
In the world of classical performance, there are musicians and there are those who write about the music. Pianist Jeremy Denk does both. One discipline, more or less, nourishes the other, making him a most sought-after team player.
“There are a lot of thoughts when you’re practicing and you don’t necessarily take the time to distill them, or make them clearer,” Denk said. “I often come to certain realizations while writing about [a piece] that I only vaguely had an idea about when I was practicing. The [blog, ‘Think Denk,’] gives me an outlet which can be very useful.”
Denk knows this will be the case when he joins forces with the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet at Strathmore in a concert presented by the Washington Performing Arts Society.
“I haven’t worked with the quartet before, but I have worked with [two] of the people individually,” Denk continued. “There’s an incredible amount of great music written for chamber combinations and I intend to learn a great deal from my fellow artists.”
The quartet’s musicians — Martin Beaver, Kikuei Ikeda on violins, Kazuhide Isomura on viola and cellist Clive Greensmith — will present Mozart’s Quartet in D Major, K. 575 and Barber’s Quartet for Strings, Op. 11. They will then be joined by Denk for Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81.
“A concert with this caliber of performers is … not to be missed,” Neale Pearl, president of the Washington Performing Arts Society, said. “The Tokyo String Quartet has for many years been one of the pre-eminent ensembles of our time. Jeremy Denk is one of the finest chamber musicians in the world today and can pick and choose the people he wishes to work with. So, it is no surprise that he has worked for many years with violinist Josh Bell and is now on tour with the Tokyo String Quartet.”
Denk, who modestly credits the brilliance of the composition, points to its timelessness.
“Dvorak’s [Piano Quintet] is one of the most generously, joyful perfect pieces ever written,” he said. “I suppose right now, at this moment, with everything the way it is, it’s just what we need.”
