BOSTON CLASSICAL REVIEW: Aizuri Quartet impresses in classics and contemporary works at Rockport
BOSTON CLASSICAL REVIEW: Aizuri Quartet impresses in classics and contemporary works at Rockport
BY AARON KEEBAUGH
“Caroline Shaw and Gabriella Smith hold the string quartet tradition in such high esteem that each composer out to build upon the styles of past composers. Shaw’s Blueprint from 2016 reworks a familiar quartet by Beethoven. Smith’s more eclectic Carrot Revolution from 2015 brings together the diverse sound worlds of Bartók, Ligeti, Steve Reich, and even The Who.
But when played by the Aizuri Quartet, who offered them as part of the Rockport Chamber Music Festival at the Shalin Liu Performance Center Thursday night, these works revealed just as much about the ensemble for which they were written.
Shaw and Smith wrote their respective scores for the Aizuri musicians, who recorded them for their debut album, Blueprinting, in 2018. Both pieces require a bit of daring. Timbres change on a dime, and the music churns ever forward through shifting textures and bristly soundscapes.”