Brodsky's Wheel of 4tunes

[Deportee]

From St Georges Bristol, http://www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk/event ... y-quartet/

Brodsky Quartet Wheel of 4Tunes

The Brodsky Quartet has always stood out as a group that’s not afraid to do things differently, and audiences have never failed to be thrilled and moved by their bold, but always perfectly pitched, performances. More than almost any other quartet, the Brodskys have made a virtue of searching out new repertoire and combining it in adventurous ways with the more traditional, and to celebrate their 40th anniversary they’ve come up with a rather novel way of combining their many loves and inspirations in a ‘Wheel of 4Tunes’ evening.

During the concert a specially designed wheel is spun, and chance determines the programme to emerge from a selection of 40 of the group’s favourite string quartets and short pieces. With all the music close to hand, who knows what might happen – will it be Beethoven, Turina and Shostakovich with a Gershwin Lullaby, or will Death and the Maiden find its place between some Purcell, Alvarez and Mozart?

Very rarely miss a Brodsky's event at St G's, but I'm witnessing something at the other end of the musical spectrum that night - Rammstein at the O2!

[cwr]

So odd that there is no mention of Costello's Spinning Wheel in this...

[verbal gymnastics]

Given that this show is in February and Elvis' is in May, people might think Elvis has copied the Brodsky's idea.

[johnfoyle]

http://www.brodskyquartet.co.uk/




'Wheel of 4Tunes'

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the group, coming up next season, the Brodsky Quartet have devised a fantastic event which promises a diverse programme of music with an element of audience interaction: a 'Wheel of 4Tunes' comprising 40 of their favourite quartets and short pieces.

Throughout the evening, either the quartet or an audience member will spin the wheel 3 to 4 times, and the quartet will then play the pieces chosen by the wheel, thus choosing a full programme in an informal and fun way. The artists will take the music for the 40 quartets and short pieces to each venue and will keep it all at their feet throughout the concert - picking out each piece as it arises! The quartet will also discuss the music and invite questions from the audience - creating an 'Audience with the Brodskys' feel. There will obviously be no set programme, however audiences will be treated to that rare opportunity of actually getting to know the musicians and their history as a group. The Brodskys would love for this to be an informal evening, if possible, with the stage and seating set 'in the round' and with the audience being able to bring drinks into the venue etc.

Many promoters have already booked the group for this brilliant night's entertainment - contact Sarah at Hazard Chase if you want to join them or find out where it will be staged.



The same news page has, however, this bad news -

http://www.brodskyquartet.co.uk/concert ... certs.html

Thursday 12 January 2012

CANCELLED - Palau de la Musica i Congressos de Valencia, Spain
We are very sadly unable to perform in Valencia this week due to an arm injury sustained by cellist Jacky Thomas. Please watch this space for updates on forthcoming concerts.

[johnfoyle]

Brodsky Quartet just posted this to Facebook -


‎'Injury Update' In case anyone heard about Jacqueline Thomas' arm injury, this is just to let you know she has recovered quickly and is going ahead with their upcoming Japan concerts in February.

[johnfoyle]

Peter Gale has posted these photos to facebook - where's the go-go cage?!?!

[johnfoyle]

The Brodsky's talk about their wheel at about 1.53 into this radio appearance today - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b01c9nwz

[johnfoyle]

Brodsky Quartet tell me on F/book-

' Believe it or not, we only heard about Elvis Costello's Spinning Wheel after we thought our Wheel of 4tunes up! Such a coincidence but there you go. And no - our concerts won't be joined by his Go Go cage and lounge bar - haha!'

[MOJO]

That wheel chart looks like it was designed by a Harvard MBA grad. Sort of weak and not too fun. Can anyone read it?

[Man out of Time]

Forthcoming dates for the Wheel of 4Tunes.... seems to be popular in Holland.

Saturday 10 November 2012: Aalmarktzaal, Leiden, Holland
Sunday 11 November 2012: Concertzaal, Tilburg, Holland
Monday 12 November 2012: Musis Sacrum, Arnhem, Holland
Tuesday 13 November 2012: Zwolle, Holland
Wednesday 14 November 2012: Philharmonie, Haarlem, Holland
Thursday 15 November 2012: Utrecht, Holland
Friday 23 November 2012: Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Monday 26 November 2012: Birmingham Town Hall
Friday 30 November 2012: University of Kent, Canterbury
Tuesday 4 December 2012: Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester
Saturday 8 December 2012: Kings Place, London - The Brodsky Quartet at 40: A Celebration
Saturday 15 December 2012: Gouda, Holland
Sunday 16 December 2012: Delft, Holland
Monday 17 December 2012: Groningen, Holland
Tuesday 18 December 2012: Enschede, Holland


MOOT

[Man out of Time]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 93093.html

Article in The Independent by Will Coldwell:

Fortune smiles on Brodsky Quartet's Wheel of 4Tunes tour as stolen sheet music recovered
The classical group had music books stolen from the boot of a car while on tour

This weekend acclaimed classical group the Brodsky Quartet are celebrating their 40th Anniversary with concerts in London.

However, their Wheel of 4Tunes tour around Europe almost ended in disaster last week when all their sheet music was stolen from the boot of a car in Holland.

The musicians, who have collaborated with Elvis Costello and Bjork, were eating at a restaurant in Haarlem where they were due to perform their penultimate concert in the country, when they fell victim to a smash-and-grab theft in the car park.

One of the two bags taken contained clothes and a laptop, but the other contained all the cello and viola parts to be played in their upcoming concerts. This amounted to 40 string quartets. Some of the music had been carried by the group for as long as they had been together (since 1972).

At the Wheels of 4Tunes concerts the musicians invite audience members to spin a wheel (rather like television show The Wheel of Fortune) to decide what pieces are played, meaning the band need their complete collection of works at hand for the performance to work.

“It was horrifying”, says Jacqueline Thomas, Cellist in the Brodsky Quartet. “Any musician will know the importance of having your own well-loved marked part, with fingerings, bowings, cues, as well as clever page-turn tricks, all essential for a smooth performance under pressure all essential for a smooth performance under pressure, especially when the Wheel can throw up any one of 40 works! We were devastated!”

The Quartet were forced to perform a fixed programme in Utrecht using scores borrowed from friends.

But incredibly five days after the theft the bags were recovered by a traffic policeman who spotted them on the side of a road under a bridge.

“There was a canal they were probably aiming for but, happily for all their victims, they missed!” says Thomas. “ALL the missing music was there! Not a sheet out of place, as if the thieves had carefully packed it back knowing its importance!”

As for avoiding a repeat of the incident, Thomas says one suggestion they received was that they should only eat in drive-in restaurants.

“We’ll definitely get round to scanning the entire 250-odd string quartets repertoire one day and saving it to a memory stick, wonder how long that would take…”

Brodsky Quartet: The Wheel of 4Tunes is at Kings Place on Saturday 8 December.

Brodsky Quartet's Wheel of 4Tunes

Brodskys New Wheel.jpg (39.63 KiB) Viewed 11013 times

MOOT

[Man out of Time]

ABC.es previews two "Wheel of Fortune" shows by the Brodsky Quartet at the Teatros de la Canal in Madrid:

http://www.abc.es/cultura/musica/201301 ... 21635.html

The Brodskys and their Wheel

ruleta--644x362.jpg (40.75 KiB) Viewed 10395 times

MOOT