Cuarteto Casals

Saturday, November 7, 2020 | 8:00 pm

Chamber Arts Series

Duke Performances is excited to present our Virtual Fall season – The Show Must Go Online! High-quality, commissioned films featuring artists originally slated for in-person performances will premiere on Vimeo for ticket holders. Each film, shot following local safety protocols, is made in collaboration with an audio and video crew in each artist’s home city. 

General admission tickets are $10 per presentation and Duke Student tickets are available free of charge through the support of the Provost and the Vice Provost for the Arts at Duke University. Chamber Arts Series subscriptions, including all four concerts, are available at a discount of 25% off for $30. Before the premiere, ticket buyers will receive a unique Vimeo link to stream each performance online at the scheduled time. After the conclusion of the premiere, films will be available for viewing for 24 hours.

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In 2017, a critic for The Times (London) wrote, “The Cuarteto Casals’ sound is so arresting that any scientist would be itching to put it under the microscope.” Back by popular demand, the Spanish quartet returns for Duke Performances’ virtual season for a multi-colored, emotional program.

The ensemble begins the evening with one of the 20th century’s most gripping chamber pieces, Shostakovitch’s mesmerizing String Quartet No. 8, dedicated “to the victims of fascism and war.” Written in a time of personal and political turmoil, the Eighth is renowned for its deeply personal touch, with Shostakovich’s signature motif — his name spelled out in musical notes — peppered throughout. The program closes with Beethoven’s second Razumovsky Quartet, op. 59, no. 2, full of Slavic fire and ferocity.

— Freya Parr

Click to view the full program for this performance.

Program

"...No other quartet can match this group’s four-voiced marriage, with its particular blend of fine-honed precision and passionate expressiveness."