Foursome convenes for a rare quartet

04/17/08
By Anthony Sclafani



Non-string quartet ensembles are rare in the world of chamber music. But when Baltimore Symphony Orchestra cellist Ilya Finkelshteyn got together with fellow classical musicians Kenneth Goldstein, William Jenken and Sylvie Beaudoin for a concert last year, musical sparks flew.

So the quartet decided to reunite for a concert at Sundays at Three, happening April 20.

"We did a concert (for the Chalice Series) last year," explains pianist Beaudoin, "and that included the Brahms Trio we're doing in this program (Trio in A Minor, Op. 114 for clarinet, cello and piano). We had such a great time together that we presented a program to Sundays at Three.

"The Brahms is such a wonderful piece, we wanted to do it again," she adds. "The blending of the clarinet and the cello is so beautiful."

The fact that the quartet performed a composition meant for trios is significant, Beaudoin says. They looked long and hard for pieces all four of them could play and found few, so they decided to program mostly duos and trios, with a rare quartet composition -- Hindemith's Quartet for Clarinet, violin, cello and piano -- closing the program.

"There's not enough repertoire to do a full program of quartets, definitely not," she explains. "And even the other ones we found were quite obscure."

The quartet grew together out of two duos, Beaudoin says. Finkelshteyn and violinist Goldstein performed chamber music together over the years. Meanwhile, Jenken, who is the second clarinetist for the B.S.O., has been performing with Beaudoin for over a decade.

That's because the duo are married couple. The natives of Canada have been married since 1999 and have lived in Columbia ever since. They've also been actively involved in the local arts scene, having sat on the artistic committee for Sundays at Three nearly a decade ago.

"Bill and I used to play quite a bit for the series shortly after we moved here," Beaudoin explains. "We've been building up quite a big repertoire together so we always are looking for new pieces to do and other musicians."

All four musicians boast an impressive array of credentials. Finkelshteyn was appointed to be the BSO principal cello in 2002 under former music director Yuri Temirkanov. Beaudoin has performed as a recitalist, soloist and accompanist across Canada, Europe, Asia and the United States since 1975. She also teaches at her private studio in Howard County.

Goldstein became a member of the first violin section of the B.S.O. in 1980. For the past 13 years, he's been the concertmaster of both the Baltimore Choral Arts Society Orchestra and the Maryland Philharmonic Orchestra. Jenken joined the B.S.O. in 1998 and was a member of several Canadian orchestras before that. In Vancouver, he was a member of the chamber group Curio.

Besides the works by Brahms and Hindemith, the musicians will tackle Debussy's "Premier Rhapsody" for clarinet and piano, Schumann's "Romance in A Major, Op. 94, No. 2 for violin and piano" and Mozart's Piano Trio in C major, K. 548.

"The Debussy piece is from 1909," Beaudoin notes. "He liked that piece so much he later orchestrated it. But, actually, Bill prefers the version with piano.

"We've never done the Debussy with other musicians, so I wanted to open the program with that," Beaudoin explains. "And then Ken wanted to do the Schumann, which is a really delightful piece as well. There's a little bit for everybody there in terms of styles."

If the featured works all seem very different in character, well, that's the point Beaudoin notes.

"One of our first concerns was trying to find pieces that contrasted from one another," she explains. "And also, the length of the compositions is such a big issue when you put up a full program like this. So we came up with this Ð we start with duos and move to trios. We then get together at the end with the Hindemith quartet."

Although the Hindemith quartet is considered a modern work, having been first published in 1938, it won't seem out of place with its elder brethren, Beaudoin notes.

"It is contemporary, but it's very tonal and very accessible with very rich and poignant harmonies," she explains. "It's quite romantic, too."

Ilya Finkelshteyn, Kenneth Goldstein, William Jenken and Sylvie Beaudoin will perform in the Sundays at Three concert series April 20 at 3 p.m., at the Christ Episcopal Church in Columbia (at the intersection of Oakland Mills and Dobbin roads). Tickets are $15 general, $10 for unaccompanied full-time students. Anyone younger than 18 will be admitted free when accompanied by an adult.