The Abramyan Quartet likes to open its season in a big way. Last year, the ensemble — made up of Gerald Elias, Lynette Stewart, Scott Lewis and John Eckstein, all members of the Utah Symphony — collaborated with their boss, Utah Symphony music director (and pianist) Keith Lockhart, and his wife, violinist Lucia Lin.
This year, the quartet has brought in world-renowned pianist Andre-Michel Schub to join them in a performance of the Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat major, op. 44.
Although he's appeared in the past as a soloist with the Utah Symphony, tonight's concert will be Schub's local chamber-music debut. And Elias, the Abramyan Quartet's first violin, is delighted that Schub will be performing in Salt Lake City.
"I've known (Schub) for about 30 years now," Elias told the Deseret News, "ever since he was a student at Curtis and I was studying at Yale. But this will be the first time that we're actually going to perform together."
Elias also notes that Schub is doing more and more solo work now, rather than orchestral concerts. "He was a student of Rudolf Serkin, so he has a deep background in chamber music."
According to Elias, the Schumann quintet is the first major Romantic venture in the piano-quintet genre, and it served as a model for later composers. Brahms was inspired by the work, and there are a lot of similarities between the Schumann and Dvork's great A major quintet, op. 81, written nearly a half-century later.
"Schumann in his day was considered an innovator in harmony and melody, and this is apparent in the quintet," said Elias.
Local guitar virtuoso Michael Lucarelli also joins the Abramyan for a performance of one of the more obscure works in the chamber-music repertoire — Boccherini's Quintet for Guitar and String Quartet. And Elias admits that this will definitely be a musical adventure for most listeners. "You'll never hear another piece from the (classical) period that sounds like this," he promised.
What makes the Boccherini stand out is the strong Spanish influence in the finale. "The last movement is a fandango, but it's more like the flamenco music of today," Elias explained. "It even has castanets. It's pure folk idiom, and that's the main attraction of the work." Elias adds that there is nothing in the preceding movements to indicate that a Spanish dance will end the work. "There's nothing to give a hint of what is to come."
The final work on tonight's concert is Copland's Two Pieces for String Quartet. "They are two very enjoyable contrasting pieces," Elias said. "The first movement is a lyrical 'Lento,' and the second is a "Rondino," which has a jazzy rag feel to it. The two movements weren't written to be played together, but they're from about the same time — around the time Copland wrote "Music for the Theater."
The Abramyan has a new CD that is about to be released. Titled "Mr. Mozart and Friends," the album is geared toward a young audience. "There are seven or eight great movements taken from quartets throughout history, and these are interspersed with dialogue, spoken by all four of us. The final piece on the album is something I wrote. It's called 'When Mr. Mozart Came Home From the Ball,' and it's sort of like a young person's guide to the string quartet."
The Abramyan Quartet plays tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Libby Gardner Hall on the University of Utah campus. Tickets are $15 for adults and are available at the door. Students are admitted free of charge, and all proceeds from the concert will go to the university's department of music string area.
E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com