Take Two with the Takács

The Takács Quartet has been in residency at the Music Academy of the West for many years, but their appearance on January 22 as part of the Up Close and Unforgettable series of benefits has taken on added poignancy as cellist András Fejér, the foursome’s sole remaining original member, has announced that he is retiring at the end of this milestone 50th season. While the Hahn Hall concert, with the audience seating on stage, is an intimate affair with just a single piece of Dvořák’s “String Quartet No. 13 in G Major, Op. 106,” the limited tickets start at $500. For the less financially fortunate, the Takács, who will soon have just one member with more than eight years with the foursome, is also playing on Friday, January 23, for the St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley series in Los Olivos. With the Dvořák augmented by Beethoven’s “Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2,” and the commissioned Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s “Flow.” 

Visit www.squadup.com/events/takacs-string-quartet

Hahn Hall is back in action on January 24 for the Santa Barbara recital debut of Aristo Sham, the 17th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Gold Medal Winner – as if seeing five recent winners of other piano competitions collectively performing all of Beethoven concertos with the Santa Barbara Symphony didn’t sate us for seeing rising stars early. Sham will perform single works by Bach and Chopin and multiple pieces by Brahms. 

In between those dates, the crowning concert of the week brings the return of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to the Granada via CAMA on January 23, once again under the baton of its esteemed Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti. The program includes Brahms’ “Symphony No. 4” and Stravinsky’s Suite from The Fairy Kiss before closing with Ravel’s “Boléro,” which the Music Academy’s fellows orchestra performed with amazing aplomb last August. Aren’t we lucky to enjoy such riches? 

Closing out the week, UCSB presents violinist Nicola Benedetti, the Grammy-winning Scottish violinist and director of the Edinburgh International Festival, who will offer her signature blend of passion and virtuosity in an intriguing new ensemble featuring guitar, cello, and accordion, the latter in the person of old UCSB Arts & Lectures friend Hanzhi Wang. The foursome will feature reimaginings of beloved classical works by such canonical figures as Clara Schumann, Vaughan Williams, and Niccolò Paganini through the unique instrumentation at Campbell Hall on campus on January 28.