Alexander String Quartet and Lecturer Robert Greenberg March 14, 2009

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of composer Felix Mendelssohn's birth, the Alexander String Quartet and Music Historian-in-Residence Robert Greenberg offer "Happy Birthday, Felix, From Your Friends!" a series of five Saturday morning concerts with lectures, presented by San Francisco Performances. The program for this fourth installment of the series features works by Mendelssohn's good friend, Robert Schumann. Pianist Roger Woodward joins the Alexander on stage.

The program for this concert "Quartet, Opus 41, No. 1" and Robert Schumann's "Piano Quintet, Opus 44." Before 1829, Robert Schumann had written only one piece of chamber music, but this year saw an explosion of chamber works from Mendelssohn's friend, including the Piano Quintet. It is credited as the first Romantic work to join piano and string quartet, setting the stage for generations of composers to come. Schumann's first String Quartet, Opus 41, No. 1 remarkably shows him as a fully formed, sophisticated writer for chamber ensemble. It is more like his large-scale symphonic works in its ambitious scope, drama and detail than it is his smaller forms, including the piano works.

Throughout history, the best chamber music has been created and performed among friends and colleagues who enjoy not only a close rapport, but a passion for the intimate musical experience. Such was the case with composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), whose creative relationships resulted in some of the 19th century's most remarkable chamber music. In a contemporary parallel, members of the Alexander String Quartet and Music Historian Greenberg have enjoyed a close relationship - under the auspices of San Francisco Performances - that has resulted in dozens of performances, recordings, premieres, and in-depth surveys of important chamber music.

The Alexander Quartet and Greenberg have been exploring masterworks of chamber music in this unique Saturday-morning format for nearly 15 years.

$36/$24.

Official Website: http://www.performances.org