By Mike Telin, ClevelandClassical.com
Sometimes personalities and musical sensibilities between members of a chamber music ensemble just seem to click. Such is the case with the acclaimed Jerusalem Quartet, who first came together while still in high school. But according to violinist Alexander Pavlovsky, at that time, becoming a world-class string quartet was the furthest thing from their minds. “We did not think a lot about the future. We were only concentrating on building a repertoire and enjoying every moment of being part of such an amazing ensemble.”
On Tuesday, February 24 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church, the Jerusalem Quartet, made up of Alexander Pavlovsky and Sergei Bresler, violins, Ori Kam, viola, and Kyril Zlotnikov, cello, will return to the area for a concert for the Cleveland Chamber Music Society, their third appearance on the series since 2010. The program features Mozart’s Quartet in G, K. 387, Schulhoff’s Five Pieces and Schumann’s Quartet No. 3 in A, op. 41, no. 3. David Rothenberg will give a pre-concert lecture beginning at 6:30 pm.
The quartet, which is currently in the middle of a North American tour, was unable to speak with us by telephone. However, Alexander Pavlovsky graciously agreed to answer questions by e-mail.
Mike Telin: I like your program very much. Can you say a few words about it?
Alexander Pavlovsky: I think this program has a nice combination of three different styles: the classical, 20th century and the romantic. The Mozart quartet is a miracle of musical creation, imagination, taste, part-writing and proportion. It works great together with the beautiful Schumann quartet, which probably has the most amazing slow movement in all the romantic repertoire. And the Schulhoff 5 Pieces as the middle work makes this program well balanced.
(To read the rest of ClevelandClassical’s interview with Pavlovsky, click here.)
This article appears in Feb 18-24, 2015.